Fast food, fast runner? It may seem antithetical, but on March 20, Chicago-area runner

finished the Los Angeles Marathon in 28th place with a personal best time of 2:36:14 after eating only food from McDonald's for the 30 days leading up to the race. Now an Arizona woman is upping the ante with a goal to eat only McDonald's for the 31 days prior to running the Long Beach Marathon on Oct. 9 (see video below).

The woman, 36-year-old

, will exclusively eat items from the fast-food chain's menu for every meal, every day until the day of the race, with the goal of raising $10,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Phoenix. (D'Amico also ran to raise money for charity, raising more than $40,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana.)

Like D'Amico, Strunk-Helm keeps track of her daily training and meals on her website. She ran five miles yesterday, Sept. 15, and ate the following from McDonald's:

1 Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

1 Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 Hot and Spicy McChicken Sandwich

1 Small French Fry

2 Large Diet Cokes

1 Large Vanilla Cone

1 Crispy Chicken Ranch Wrap

1 Medium French Fry

1 Apple Pie

Eating fast food for every meal, every day to raise money for charity may seem extreme given the risks — the

, for instance, have found that eating at fast-food restaurants more than twice per week is associated with more weight gain and insulin resistance in otherwise healthy young adults — but given that a lot of people eat fast food without working it off, without a 31-day limit or a charity goal to shoot for, it's hard to judge the process.

What do you think: Would you eat fast food for 31 days straight, then run a marathon to raise money for charity? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

For more information about Strunk-Helm's "31-Day Challenge," check out her website at

or visit her

.

Simon A. Thalmann is the online editor for Booth Features. He can be reached at sthalmann@kalamazoogazette.com.