Downturn Slows Elite Charity Events

Registration for the Pan-Mass Challenge is down 10 percent this year, and coordinators are promoting shorter routes with lower fund-raising thresholds.

Other walkathons that have no minimum pledge are trying to draw more participants, anticipating that each one will have less to contribute.

"We're definitely bracing for the worst," said Kelly Gaule, director of development for the AIDS Action Committee, which produces AIDS Walk Boston, an event that drew more than 15,000 people and raised nearly $1.2 million last year. "What we're doing is working diligently to raise the number of participants. If we went status quo with what we've done in the past, we would see a decrease in donations."