Run for the Ocean

Join a PADI AWARE team at a world-class marathon.

FIND YOUR RACE
Home / Conservation / PADI AWARE Foundation / Become a Fundraiser / Run for the Ocean

 

 

Divers spend their lives horizontal.

Our runners decided to do the opposite. Join a PADI AWARE team at a world-class marathon, and every mile funds the conservation work divers lead around the world.

Pick Your Race

Liz Parkinson holding her finisher’s medal under the LA Marathon finish banner
LA Marathon · 7 March 2027

Run with team captain Liz Parkinson. We cover your race entry, you raise $650. Places are limited.

Join the LA Marathon
Runner on the harbour foreshore beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunrise
TCS Sydney Marathon · 29 August 2027

42.2 km across the Harbour Bridge. Already have an entry? Choose us as your charity and run with our team.

Run Sydney with us
Two smiling divers holding Dive Against Debris bags after a cleanup dive
Running something else?

Hundreds of runs and swims across Australia and New Zealand, or start your own page in ten minutes.

Start your page

Already registered for LA? You can still join the team as a fundraiser, with no minimum to raise: Join as a fundraiser →

 

 

Meet your captain

Liz Parkinson smiling with her Chicago Marathon finisher’s medal
From New York to LA

Liz Parkinson leads the PADI AWARE Foundation marathon teams as team captain. She joined our New York City Marathon team back in 2012, and for years ran New York and Chicago back to back, only a month apart. Liz has been registered to run the New York City Marathon seven times and ran the Chicago Marathon five years in a row, raising over $20,000 for the ocean. In 2026 she led our team back to the start line at the LA Marathon, and in 2027 she is captaining our teams at LA in March and the TCS Sydney Marathon in August.

Run with Liz
Scuba diver recording a reef survey on a slate, with a second diver in the background
Your story could be next

First marathon or fifteenth, diver or not yet, there’s a place on the team for you.

Join the LA team

Why run with us

  • A team of divers, ocean lovers and first-time marathoners
  • Team captain Liz Parkinson, running for the ocean since 2012, cheering you on
  • Your own fundraising page and our two-page guide for runners
  • A real person at [email protected], all the way to the finish line

 

 

Sunlight on the ocean surface seen from underwater

Can’t run this year? Back someone who is, or give today and power the programs divers see the need for on every dive.

Give Today

The small print

Charity places come with a fundraising minimum: $650 USD for the LA Marathon. If it isn't reached by the deadline, the balance is charged to the card on file. Race entries can't be refunded, transferred or deferred. Marathon training is demanding, so check with your doctor before you start. Questions? Email [email protected].