She's young.

She's female.

And she's eager to raise money for charity.

"I thought this would be a great opportunity to raise money for children who don't have the means that a lot of us do," she said, "like being able to sign up for soccer and play those kinds of sports that most of us take for granted."

By running the 26.2-mile race with her husband - in under 4 hours and 15 minutes, she hopes - the 25-year-old from Salt Lake City expects to raise about $2,500 to benefit the Team for Kids, one of about a dozen charities affiliated with the world's largest marathon.

And in so doing, Gay is becoming part of a massive social movement that has seen more women than ever running marathons and other races, largely as a way to support meaningful causes while accomplishing what is often a lifelong goal for themselves.

"It's really a good combination," said Scott Kerr, the race director for the Salt Lake City Marathon in June. "It's just a win-win situation for everyone involved."

Every major race in the country now has charity partners that allow runners to help support their favorite causes - fighting everything from cancer and other illnesses to illiteracy, hunger, domestic violence, homelessness and children's poverty.

The effect has been staggering.

Nearly 153,000 women finished marathons last year, according to marathonguide.com, a 36 percent increase from just five years ago.

Women now account for a record 40 percent of marathon finishers, too, as well as half of the charity runners and walkers who helped raise $656 million last year, according to USA Track & Field.

The 25-29 age group of which Gay is a part comprises the largest segment of female marathon finishers, nearly 20 percent.

"Nationwide, I know that charities have been a drawing card, and it has attracted a different group of people," said Kent Perkins, the race director of the St. George Marathon in October. "When they opened the door in that regard, we saw that there were a lot of quote-unquote housewives or others who hadn't seen themselves as runners before who had the motivation to get out and do something that they hadn't done. . . . They were attracted first because they saw it as an opportunity to make a difference."

The popularity of charitable running - especially among women - indeed has attracted many more casual athletes to a race distance once considered almost inhuman, and affected a seismic shift in the marketplace.

While the training groups provided by many of the charities have turned workouts into social events, race directors cater to the "average" runner like never before, transforming races into virtual carnivals with rock bands, friendly pace groups and post-race parties and concerts.

Sales of women's running shoes have skyrocketed in recent years - up 40 percent last year alone, one company reported - and one race, the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, even offers free chocolate to runners passing Ghirardelli Square as well as a pedicure stop along the race course.

The race last month sold out its 15,000 entries for the third straight year since its creation, and already has raised some $40 million for charity.

"It is great to see so many women running," said Joan Benoit Samuelson, the winner of the inaugural women's Olympic marathon in 1984 whose victory inspired the Nike race. "The strength, determination and commitment these women demonstrate is motivational and inspirational to anyone who wants to accomplish a goal of completing a marathon."

Charitable work

The charity movement had its start nearly two decades ago, on the heels of the original running boom - and just before Benoit Samuelson became a national icon at the Los Angeles Games in her white baseball cap and oversized racing singlet.

Women seeking to raise money to fight breast cancer in the name of a deceased sister and friend founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and its Race for the Cure in 1983, while the purple-clad Team in Training program enjoyed its start at the 1988 New York City Marathon, where 38 people raised $322,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Now, those organizations are the heavyweights in the charity division.

Together, they have raised some $1.3 billion for their causes - the Race for the Cure now has its 5-kilometer races in more than 100 cities, including Salt Lake City in May - and spawned countless followers.

The Salt Lake City Marathon features a "Hometown Heroes" program that raises money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, for example, while the St. George Marathon has partnered with a half-dozen charities, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and The Christmas Box House. Many of the runners who participate have deeply personal connections to the charities they help.

"The marathon started pure and simple as a competitive pursuit," Perkins said, "and now they have become a lot of things to a lot of people."

Typically, runners agree to raise money by soliciting donations for a charity in exchange for training support, lodging and transportation to races - and sometimes, guaranteed entry into an otherwise sold-out event.

That's how Gay wound up at the starting line in New York.

The race already was full by the time she decided to run, with thousands of applicants having been turned away.

But the race, like many others, holds open a certain number of entries for those willing to run for charity. Gay already had helped raise money for The Christmas Box House while running the Wasatch Back Relay, and liked the idea of helping underserved children in New York, San Francisco and Tampa, Fla.

"Once I read about the charity, I thought, 'this is really cool,' " she said.

Obviously, she's not the only one who thinks that way.

mcl@sltrib.com