When choosing the date for Jingle Jam 10K registration, there has always been an intention behind it. Every year since JJ10K’s inception, registration has opened on September 1 in honor of our Founder and Race Director’s birthday. After taking a year off, we have reflected and re-evaluated, which has led to a new beginning.
A New Beginning Requires Reflection
To start fresh, you have to reflect on the past. So, as a team, we reflected on where we started. We reconnected with the root of our passion for JJ10K. As we approached this year as a new beginning, we returned to the very beginning– why a small group of volunteers started Jingle Jam 10K in the first place. The founder of Jingle Jam 10K is a domestic violence survivor who created JJ10K to celebrate her transformation and to support victims like herself that receive help through SafeHomes Domestic Violence Center.
Every JJ10K team member in the past and present has been affected in one way or another by domestic violence. It is what connects each of us. It drives us to endure the stress of putting together this annual event. And every year, we work to create a celebration so bright that it overrides the darkness of our overarching goal of bringing awareness to domestic violence.
Our Mission Drives Our Opening Date
So here it is– the reason why JJ10K 2022 opens on October 1, and it is the reason that registration may open on the 1st of October in years to come. We have chosen to open registration on October 1 because that is the day that Domestic Violence Awareness Month kicks off. Since 1987, October has become a month to connect and unite individuals and organizations who work on domestic violence issues and raise awareness for those issues.
JJ10K is More Than a Race
Jingle Jammers, this is your reminder. It is a reminder for all of us. Whether you run JJ10K to train, for fun, or to be a part of the community– your participation means more than that. Your participation in JJ10K is a celebration of victims of domestic violence who transform into survivors. It is an outright show of support for victims looking to escape. And it is a moment to honor those we lost to domestic violence.
Set your calendars on October 1, 2022, at 9 am EST, set your calendars to register for Jingle Jam 10K. Take a moment that day to share with those around the reason why you’re registering. You are registering to help end domestic violence once and for all.
