8:00 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. - Check-In and Race Day Registration
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - 5K Run/Walk
~10:30 a.m. - 1 Mile Run/Walk

Activities:
Games for kids, a silent auction, snow cones, popcorn, and a bake sale.

After several months of realizing that something was just off with our Dad, the day that sticks out in our minds is the one in late August 2005 when our Mom called to tell us he was diagnosed with Parkinson 's disease. It was a horrible day knowing that the man we loved so much faced the difficulties of such a terrible disease, yet there was hope knowing that there were medications to help the symptoms and so many other new procedures that he could possibly be a candidate for. In our minds, this was no way a death sentence. The man who beat cancer, and picked himself up and kept fighting so many times before could and would do it again.

The doctor's started him on medications and instead of any improvement we saw a decline in his condition. Even newer symptoms presented themselves such as falling down, choking, and extreme eye sensitivity. We prayed for an answer to the strangeness of what was going on with him and in February of 2008 when going for a second opinion we heard the news that changed our lives forever. He was misdiagnosed with Parkinson's and in fact the disease he was struggling with was Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. With the answer we had prayed for, we were now faced with the terrifying facts that there is no cure, no medication to help the symptoms, and still no known cause for the disease.

Our Dad spent the next four years going to see doctor after doctor, participating in research studies, trying this medication and that, all in hopes of finding something that might work. The hardest part of this disease is that it literally robs you of life. Our Dad was a farmer. From sun up to sun down he was outside working (or playing) and loving every minute of it. He had to give up farming, hunting, and fishing because of PSP. He had such a contagious smile and wanted nothing more than to be a Papaw to his grandkids and husband to his wife of 44 years. PSP is a disease that slowly took that away from him. We felt so helpless watching his health deteriorate and knowing there was nothing we could do about it. No way we could make him more comfortable, or allow him to be himself for even a day. He lost his smile because PSP effects your facial expressions and how you are able to show emotion. So instead of being the Papaw or that he always wanted to be, he would have to let his grandchildren push him in a wheelchair, help feed him, and read his birthday cards to him because he lost the ability to read them for himself. His wife, our mother, became his full time caregiver. Instead of having these years of their life to enjoy retirement, grandchildren, and just being together, they were spending their days falling down together, in and out of the emergency room for more stitches, struggling in and out of chairs, beds, trying to making Dad comfortable. We could go on about how hard it was for us to see the man we loved so dearly suffer in this way, however he wanted us to know that he would try anything to find a cure and that after he was gone, he wanted us to continue that fight for him. His words were, "If it can't help me maybe someday it can help someone else."

Our father passed away August 26th 2012 after a long hard fight with PSP. He donated his brain for research in one last effort to find a cure. As a family, our Dad was always encouraging us to keep going, never give up, and be the best we can be. We are taking his lead and in his honor starting a 5k race and 1 mile family fun walk to raise funds and awareness for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and other related brain diseases. Please join us in our goal of raising 5,000 for the CurePSP foundation.

CurePSP, an organization founded in 1990 as the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, now known as CurePSP - Foundation for PSP|CBD and Related Brain Disease, is the only organization in the United States, Canada and Australia offering worldwide research efforts, as well as outreach, educational programs and services to families affected by PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy; CBD - Corticobasal Degeneration, MSA - Multiple System Atrophy and related brain diseases. CurePSP is making a difference in the lives of people with atypical Parkinsonian Disorders. The mission of CurePSP is to "Increase awareness of progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and other atypical Parkinsonian disorders; fund research toward treatment, cure and prevention; educate healthcare professionals; and provide support, information and hope for affected persons and their families."