Anybody have any experience as a sponsored runner (for a non

I wondered if anyone has any experience or knows of resources for runner sponsorship. We have some family friends who lost a 10-year old this year and I felt led to contact them about combining my running endeavors to raise awareness and funds for the cause that was a major assistance to them in their son's last several months.

They are interested, but they're also grieving, so I'm hoping to put some information together so I can just bring them a proposal and minimize their need to worry about any of the details.

I really don't know how this could work. Would it be kosher to raise funds to partially or completely cover race fees? I figure the more races the more awareness. Naturally I'm very careful even thinking about this because I don't want to make it seem like I'm just trying to fund my hobby. I'm also aware that running for a cause can be an incredible motivator, so I don't take that lightly, and that my success could be success for the fund-raising component, etc.

Interested in any thoughts or ideas, but especially from those who might have experience in any part of this type of sponsorship.