A message from AANR President Susan Weaver:

If you are like me, you have a couple of perfectly good running shoes in the closet that didn't quite fit as comfortably as you hoped.  Or maybe a pair of hiking shoes when you have more or less given up trail hiking.  Or a couple of nice dress shoes that you never wear anymore. Maybe your children or grandchildren have outgrown all those cute shoes that fit so perfectly just a few months earlier.

There are people who can use and would welcome all of these.  Over 300 million children in the world do not own a pair of shoes. AANR is partnering with Soles4Souls, a charitable Foundation that supplies shoes to needy children and adults throughout the world.  To date, various schools, organizations and individuals have provided over 3 million pairs of shoes to those in need.

Soles4Souls has designated June 1 as National Barefoot Day  and is enormously excited with AANR's fundraising slogan -- "Barefoot From The Toes Up!"  The Foundation has created a donations profile specifically for AANR on their website. Regions, clubs and individuals can give virtually by visiting AANR's profile page.

But there is also an opportunity here for us to give in actuality.  Bring gently used shoes to your club's Memorial Day event, to be collected and donated to Soles4Souls.  

Already, donations have started to come in. To read more, donate to Soles4Souls from the AANR page or to view AANR's donation tally, click here.  

It's that time again for the annual Zazzle Bay to Breakers 12k held in San Francisco, California. This year the race is celebrating its centennial. Bay to Breakers is one of the world's largest and oldest foot races.   

According to the official Bay to Breakers website, the name reflects the traditional course which takes tens of thousands of participants from the northeast end of the downtown area near  the "bay" side of the city to the west end of the city and the "breakers" of Ocean Beach. The 12K race traditionally brings together world-class athletes, costumed runners, nudists and anyone looking to have a great time running and walking through San Francisco.

Click here to read more.