Crystal Gill

Hi! I'm Crystal Gill. Despite how much time I spend running these days, I am not a runner. I'm just a Disney Parks enthusiast who needed to find a way to get some excercise with a baby and a toddler when the world shut down in 2020. So, I bought a jogging stroller and attempted to burn a calorie or two. I found out quickly that running is hard. If I was going to keep going, I needed a goal, and what better goal than to run a marathon. I couldn't think of anything better than doing it in my favorite place, Walt Disney World. So, I signed up for the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon when runDisney started back up. I had never run a race before, ever. I trained, I showed up, and I did it! It was an experience far more transformative that I ever imagined and I found myself asking, "what's next"? In 2023, I completed the Dopey Challenge, running all 4 distances at Marathon Weekend - the 5K, the 10K, the Half Marathon and Full Marathon totaling 48.6 miles over 4 days. I have become a bit of a runDisney fan and have since been thinking of new goals and ways to make my runs more meaningful. At the 5 different runDisney race weekends I have participated in, I started to notice that some runners were running for a cause. This has brought me to a new goal, making my runs not about me, but about others.

During my careers as a licensed clinical social worker, I've worked with children and families amid all kind of struggles, some diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. Did you know that 1 in 36 children are now diagnosed with Autism? Turns out, my child is one of them. I am all to familiar with the impact of this neurological condition on the child and the family. This is why I run. I run for me, I run for my child, I run for all impacted by Autism. Join me as I set a new goal - a Coast to Coast Challenge. I will complete my first set of races in California at the Disneyland Resort in September.  My 5K distance run  directly benefits the Doug Flutie Foundation for Autism. Thank you for your support!

Thank you for signing up and fundraising for the 2023 Springtime Surprise Weekend! This is your fundraising page where you can set a goal, upload images, and share on social media with donors. 

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