NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - Charities have benefited from the long odds of getting into the New York City Marathon.

LISTEN: WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond reports

“You know, that was the idea in beginning – to leverage the demand to support good causes and it’s now taken on a life of its own,” race director Mary Wittenberg told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond.

83 charities will be represented on Sunday.

Wittenberg says, “What’s so compelling about this is, you know, five years ago, it was a couple million dollars. Today, we’re going to raise $1 million a mile.”

In a field of 43,000 runners, over 7,000 gained entry by raising the minimum $2,500.

Some wanted to run so badly, they took the cash right out of their own pockets.