The benefit run/walk is a longstanding tradition, here and elsewhere -- all sorts of causes and nonprofits put them on.  Runners or walkers or moms with strollers gather pledges or simply pay a fee then take off from some designated location, circle around some specific distance and come back. Last time I visited San Francisco, pink ribbons were tied to poles all over the Mission Dist. marking a route for women (many of them in pink) running for breast cancer awareness and research.

This Sunday the folks from Catalyst are organizing something like an omnibus run/walk event, Run for Your Cause. (You remember Catalyst from "Beer Me, Jesus" NCJ, Aug. 19.) As they explain on their Web site, "Run for Your Cause is exactly what it sounds like, you run to support the cause of your choice."

The 5-kilometer "fun run" is meant to support the nonprofit of your choice and to raise awareness for those doing good work for the community. An associated "Nonprofit Fair" on the Arcata Plaza (also the starting and finish line) has tables for participating organizations so you can see what they're up to.

So far they have 15 lined up, everything from Betty Chinn, Eureka's angel for the homeless (and NCJ readers' choice as "Best Person" in Humboldt County) to Miranda's Rescue (helping abandoned, abused and injured domestic animals), from CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates, assisting abused and neglected children) and CCAT (the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology) to HCAR (Humboldt Community Access and Resource Center). Run to feed the hungry (Food for People, Community Garden Cooperative, Garden of Eatin) or to see that kids on the streets get schooling (Homeless Education Project). The Red Cross will be there, St. Joe's Hospital, HSU's YES House (that's Youth Educational Services, volunteer coordinators on campus), Humboldt Bay Rowing Assoc. and Humboldt Community Breast Health Project, which may mean some women with pink ribbons. And let's not forget Catalyst Service Fund, the group putting it all together.

It's pretty easy: Gather $20 or more, put the cash (or check) in a envelope with the name for your favorite nonprofit on the outside and bring it to the Plaza on Sunday morning by 10. Wear your running togs or walking shoes. The Catalyst will give you a bib with a number for the run and see to it all of the money you bring in goes to the cause of your choice. If your chosen cause is not represented or if you work for a nonprofit you'd like to see included, send an email to levi@provokechange.org.

Run For Your Cause launches Sunday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. on the Arcata Plaza, where you'll find the Nonprofit Fair. For further information go to provokechange.org/runforyourcause.