Last spring Chase Hay, a third-year economics and film and television student, competed in his first long-distance race.
Hay ran the 26-mile Los Angeles Marathon with a team from his fraternity, Sigma Pi, to raise money for charity.
He personally earned more than $100 through pledges from friends and family.
This year, Hay said he hopes to raise thousands in preparation for the Palos Verdes Half Marathon.
In addition to collecting monetary pledges, he is selling Sigma Pi running apparel, “Sigma PInk,” in the two weeks leading up to the half marathon on May 2.
“I felt like this would be a great way to raise money to benefit a good cause,” Hay said. “Hopefully the clothing line will be a big contribution that will help us raise even more than we have in the past few years.”
Designs for the Sigma Pi attire are modeled after PINK, a Victoria’s Secret clothing line that markets to high school and college-aged students, Hay said.
Proceeds from the marathon and clothing line will benefit the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.
“I think this is a really beneficial cause, and I’m very proud of everyone in Sigma Pi for everything they’re doing,” said Nicole Clark, a second-year business economics student. “I definitely intend to buy one or two things.”
Hay created a Facebook group to promote his clothing line, which will be sold exclusively online. He also contacted 132 Sigma Pi chapters from colleges across the United States and Canada.
Fourteen chapters have agreed to promote the Sigma Pi attire so far, Hay said.
“I’ve received a lot of interest from people at other schools. I just sent out a mass e-mail, and from that I’ve gotten tons of great feedback and responses, even from chapters that say they aren’t allowed to sell stuff on their campus,” he said.
Hay said he hopes to sell about 500 articles of clothing.
Sigma Pi has raised over $12,000 in marathon pledges for the treatment center over the last two years, said Michael Spiker, the Sigma Pi philanthropy chair and a third-year anthropology student.
The fraternity decided to run in the Palos Verdes Half Marathon this year to encourage more students to participate in the race, Spiker said.
The team, which is not limited to Sigma Pi members, currently has about 70 members.
Spiker said the team is training weekly to prepare for the 13-mile race.
“I’ve done the marathon now for the past two years, and it really is a great experience,” he said.
“Running it is always a challenge, so it’s reassuring to see that other kids are willing to dedicate a lot of time to this just for the individual accomplishment, or to give something back.”