For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — The public is invited to join the third annual ALS Steps for Hope Saturday, Aug. 27, for a one-mile walk or, new this year, 5K run through Wildwood Park & Zoo. Register at marshfieldclinic.org/giving/running-cycling-events/als-steps-for-hope-registration or at 9 a.m. prior to the race Aug. 27.

A family welcome with guest speaker Dr. Jaime Boero, who leads ALS research at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the 5K at 11 a.m. and the walk at 11:30 a.m. At noon will be a family picnic lunch. Then at 12:30 p.m., Fun Run awards will be given, and door prize and raffle winners will be announced.

The cost is $25 for adults and children 12 years and older. Registration includes a T-shirt, lunch, and a chance for door prizes. Children under 12 are free.

There will be a children’s area with face painting, balloons, bubbles, an obstacle course, and a bounce house.

A crippling disease

There is no cure for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As motor neurons — the nerve cells that help control muscles — die in a person with ALS, muscle control is lost. People in later stages of the disease may become paralyzed, and ALS ultimately leads to death.

ALS Steps for Hope was first held in 2014 to honor John Braun, who lost his battle to ALS in February 2014. The event was started to raise funds for ALS research at Marshfield Clinic and to raise ALS awareness in the community and central Wisconsin.

The first two years of the event have raised more than $11,000 for ALS research.

“Every dollar makes a difference, and it provides hope for future generations that they perhaps will not have to face this disease without a chance of survival,” said Lynn Braun, event coordinator.

Braun family members have been subjects of ALS research through Marshfield Clinic for more than five years. Boero looks at genomes of family members to find the change in the DNA that causes motor neurons to die.

“The Braun family has a slowly progressive form of ALS, but by conducting large-scale sequencing of the DNA and finding the mechanism that causes motor neurons to die, we can find the specific cause of ALS in them as well as understand how to slow ALS in other families,” Boero said.

Email questions to alsstepsforhope@gmail.com, or visit marshfieldclinic.org/giving/running-cycling-events/als-steps-for-hope-donation to make a donation.