On Saturday, Sept. 14, The Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) will host its 23rd Annual International Race for Research, both in person on its Peabody course, and again offering a virtual option. The race kicks off a community-wide celebration weekend in Peabody, culminating in the city’s renowned International Festival the next day, when PRF will also be selling refreshing slush generously donated by Peabody’s world-famous Treadwell’s Ice Cream. PRF’s Race for Research is the longest-running, largest, and most family-friendly race in the city! This year’s race theme is SCIENCE + LOVE = CURE! highlighting the love our supporters have for PRF’s mission and our friends around the world with Progeria. Participants will receive thematic race T-shirts as our growing community helps to spread the love every step of the race.
Sponsored by PRF and its long-time partner, North Shore Bank, this signature event features a 5K road race and 2-mile walk, complete with a dog watering station, energizing music, and delicious refreshments after the race. Runners and walkers can join in person in Peabody or virtually in their own communities in support of PRF’s mission to discover treatments and the cure for Progeria and its aging-related disorders, including heart disease. Progeria is an ultra-rare, fatal, “rapid-aging” condition. Without treatment, children with Progeria die of heart disease at an average age of 14.5 years – the same heart disease that affects millions of normal aging adults. Thanks to the passion and dedication of researchers, volunteers, and supporters of events like the Race for Research, children and young adults with Progeria are living an average of 30 percent longer lives with long-term use of lonafarnib, the only FDA-approved treatment for Progeria.
“We’re delighted to continue our longstanding tradition of hosting PRF’s signature road race with our amazing Peabody community – and thank you, as always, to our friends at North Shore Bank for once again being the lead sponsor,” said Audrey Gordon, President and Executive Director of PRF. “Our expanding community of supporters is helping us move science toward the CURE. And it all starts with LOVE! We hope past and new runners and walkers will join us.”
Participants at the in-person race in Peabody will include PRF co-founders Drs. Leslie Gordon and Scott Berns. They will be joined by special guests from the Progeria community – 14-year-old Carlos of Massachusetts and 6-year-old Kahlil of Guyana. Online registration is available at www.prfroadrace.org or by calling 978-535-2594.
“North Shore Bank is honored to support The Progeria Research Foundation and to once again be the title sponsor of the International Race for Research,” said Kevin Tierney, Chief Executive Officer at North Shore Bank. “Our commitment to this cause reflects our dedication to making a meaningful impact in the lives of those affected by Progeria and supporting the Foundation’s groundbreaking research efforts. Thank you to everyone who has registered to come out to run and walk for this special organization.”
About The Progeria Research Foundation
The Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 by the family of Sam Berns, a child with Progeria. PRF funds and conducts research-related programs, including the clinical trials and studies that led to approval of the first-ever FDA-approved treatment for Progeria, lonafarnib. PRF is the only organization in the world solely dedicated to finding treatments and the cure for Progeria and its aging related conditions, including heart disease. Due to the discovery of the biological connection between Progeria, heart disease and aging, finding the cure for one of the rarest diseases on earth could provide keys for treating millions of adults with heart disease and stroke associated with the natural aging process, as well as help the entire aging population. The organization fills a void, taking these children out of the background where they had been for more than 100 years, and putting them and Progeria at the forefront of scientific efforts. For more information, and to support PRF’s mission, please visit www.progeriaresearch.org.
About North Shore Bank
North Shore Bank is a full-service community bank based in Peabody, Massachusetts and serving the personal and business banking needs of the North Shore, eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Established in 1888, the bank operates out of fifteen area offices, located in Beverly, Danvers, Merrimac, Middleton, Peabody, Reading, Salem, Saugus and Newton, New Hampshire. Call 978-573-1300 to be connected to any office, or visit www.northshore-bank.com to learn more about the bank’s products and services.
