In its 21-year history, the Great Aloha Run has never had a title sponsor, but that changed yesterday when race founder Carole Kai announced that Hawaiian Telcom will help underwrite the costs of the charitable event.

"It's hard to think of a better way for us to do our part in giving back to the community that makes our business possible," said Mike Ruley, chief executive officer of Hawaiian Telcom.

Ruley said Hawaiian Telcom's goal is to attract even more participation to the race and increase the amount of donations given to local charities.

The 2005 run had 19,207 participants and raised $250,000 for Hawai'i charities. With the new partnership, Kai said she is confident the numbers will increase.

Kai also announced yesterday that more schools will be asked to participate in next year's run.

"Students who participate will improve their physical fitness and expand their knowledge about healthy food, diet, exercise and overall healthy living," Kai said.

Hawaiian Telcom is including applications for the Feb. 20 run in its Yellow Pages directory, which is being distributed on O'ahu this month.

Proceeds from the run will be donated to Catholic Charities Hawaii, United Cerebral Palsy and the Variety School.

The Great Aloha Run is Hawai'i's largest participatory annual fundraising event for local charities. The run, a subsidiary of Carole Kai Charities Inc., has given more than $6.5 million to more than 100 charitable organizations in Hawai'i.

"Hawaiian Telcom and the Great Aloha Run are building an alliance that will make our community stronger and healthier in years to come," Kai said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.