How to help the Australian wildfire crisis by running a 5K

The massive tragedy that is the Australian wildfires -- pushing some species of plants and animals to the lip of extinction and expected to send smoke around the entire globe -- has left people wondering how they can help. 

When such worldly devastations occur, many people are left with a sort of paralysis: It feels like this event is so far away from you and is happening on such a large scale that there's nothing you can do to help. But the truth is, a big part of natural disaster relief is the collective effort among the billions of people who make one small effort. 

Of course, the troops of volunteers, firefighters, medical professionals and other personnel on the ground are integral to the fight. But so are you. And one thing you can do is join the Strava Challenge, a Relief Run that sends 100% of every participant's AU$50 ($34.52 USD) registration fee to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. Anyone who has the Strava app can participate in the challenge. 

To participate, join the Strava Challengeand pledge your run at Relief Run. 

Pay the AU$50 registration fee and run or walk at least 5K during the challenge window, which starts on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 at 12 a.m. and ends on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. The start and end times apply to each athlete's local time zone.

All runs, walks and wheelchair activities count toward the challenge. Treadmill, manual and GPS entries are all eligible. If you can't run or walk, but still want to contribute, you can make donations through Relief Run here. 

As of this writing, 8,740 participants from every continent have raised $507,656. Numbers continue to be updated on the Relief Run page.