It is the beginning of the year and you know what that means… New Years resolutions. The majority of people’s resolutions involve getting active. They plan to be healthier, more fit, or at least try to walk a mile a day I try to to go to the gym, run, or do yoga about 4+ times per week and some days, it is really hard to get moving.

My motivation this year is Charity Miles. Charity Miles is an iPhone and Android app that tracks the distance you run, walk or bike. Before you exercise you open the app, then you choose whether you want to walk, run or bike, then you decide on a charity. A sponsor will donate $0.25/mile if you run or walk and $0.10/mile if you bike. How can you say no to that? Not only are you getting in better shape, but you are helping someone else in the process.

Charities include:

1. Achilles International
2. Autism Speaks
3. Feeding America
4. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
5. Habitat for Humanity;
6. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
7. The Nature Conservancy
8. Pencils of Promise
9. The United Nations World Food Programme

via http://charitymiles.tumblr.com/HowItWorks

Awesome idea, right? I’m sure you have questions. I did. So, I found answers on the Charity Miles Blog.

Where does the money come from?
Charity Miles, LLC is backing the initial $1,000,000 and issuing a worldwide challenge to see if people can earn it for the charities within a year.

Can I do anything other than walk, run or bike?
Absolutely!  Skipping, skating, hoping, rolling and all other human-propelled activities are perfectly acceptable.  The app does not feature a setting for every activity.  You should just choose whatever setting (Walk, Run or Bike) that is most applicable to what you are doing.

Will the app work indoors?
Not yet, but we are developing features that will allow the app to work indoors.  Stay tuned.

When does the challenge start and end?
Charity Miles’ challenge launches on June 1, 2012 and ends on May 31, 2013.

What happens after the challenge expires?
We plan to have another challenge with more charities and an even bigger sponsorship pool.