On December 21, a group of runners will celebrate the winter solstice with an all-day ultra run, starting at sunrise and continuing until sunset along 40 miles of beaches, coastal dune lakes and state forests of 30A.

The Winter Solstice Run is not a race, it’s all about fun, adventure and camaraderie, and raising awareness and funding for women in the DR Congo.

Annual runs at the summer and winter solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year, have become beloved traditions for adventurous runners. Participants can choose to run the whole shebang: 40 miles with a cutoff of about 12 hours, meaning a minimum pace of about 18 miles per hour. Or, runners can sign up for 20 miles, do the full length as a four-person relay team or run the first 10 miles in support of a team doing the entire length.

The run benefits On the Ground‘s Project Congo, which focuses on supporting gender equality and raising awareness about the key issues faced by coffee-farming families in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Their initiatives aim to break the chain of poverty and conflict while supporting women empowerment groups in coffee communities of the region.

Amavida Coffee, a big supporter of the run, has several runners participating. Check out more about the event and their runners, make a donation or sign up to be a volunteer on their website. Runners sign up here.