Event Information
About March for Marrow Walks (formerly Hope, Steps & A Cure Los Angeles)
This will be our sixth annual 5K run at Shoreline Village. The course is flat, fast and ideal to beat your personal best. We'll run south along the beautiful Long Beach Shoreline, along the Queen Mary jetty and back.
Awards - we are upping the ante!
Top prizes will be $200 cash prizes for the first male and female finishers who beat the previously established fastest times for the 5K. The top male time to beat is 18:45.20 set by Clint Lindsly in 2014 and the top female time to beat is 19:57.00 set by Maria Castaneda in 2015.
NEW! This year we are adding cash prizes for our Masters category, which we define as male or female runners who are 70 years old or older. There will be $50 cash prizes for the male and female who beat the previously established fastest times. The top male time to beat is 39:25.81 set by Leonard Wyss in 2015 and the top female time to beat is 39:12.59 set by Annie Quinonez in 2014.
Please note that, if there is a tie of individuals breaking the old mark, the prize money will be split between/among the winners.
All other awards will be given to 1st overall M/F, 1st Master M/F, and then by age group in five-year increments starting with 14 and under to 70+.
Early Bird Registration up to Midnight, Wednesday, April 27, 2016
5K - $30 for adults 15 and older
5K - $20 for youth 14 and under
Walk and 5K - $40 for both regardless of age
Special Group Rate for Youth Running Club - $15 per runner. Email stephanieforaamds@gmail.com to qualify,
Price Break for 5K Runners who want to run and walk:
Available only at www.AAMDS.org/Walk.
Price Break for 5K Runners who want to run and walk available only at www.AAMDS.org/Walk
If you would like to walk with a patient as part of their team please sign up at www.AAMDS.org/Walk for the Los Angeles event.
5K Run Teams
Runners may form teams to run in the March for Marrow LA 5K. Feel free to wear costumes, create your own identity, and celebrate your unique participation in our 5K Run!
Late Registration, after 12:01 am, Wednesday, April 27, 2016
NOT AVAILABLE ON THIS WEB SITE. Late registration available at www.AAMDS.org/Walk, at Packet Pick-Up or on-site, Saturday, April 30, 2016.
Late Registration for the 5K - $35 for adults 15 and older
Late Registration for the 5K - $25 for youth 14 and under
Walk and 5K - $45 for both regardless of age
Race-Day Registration
Saturday, April 30, 2016, 7:00 am - 7:45 am, at Shoreline Village, 429 Shoreline Village Drive, next to Parker’s Lighthouse.
Packet Pick-Up
Packet Pick-Up will be Friday, April 29, 2016, 3:00-6:00 pm, at RUNNERS HIGH, 5338 E. 2nd St, Long Beach. Come in to meet our Assistant Race Director, Laurie Beverage, and pick up your packet and number.
Rainy Day Policy
Rain or shine we will walk and run. But in case of thunder and lightning - we will not. The event will not be re-scheduled, but we hope you understand that there will be no refunds either. Your donation is tax deductible at the rate of $20.00 per $30.00 spent with us at the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. (or $25 per $35 spent if you are a late registrant.)
T-Shirts
The first 200 runners to register will receive our unique dry-fit t-shirt (unisex sizing) that features our new logo.
Parking at or near Shoreline Village
Parking at Shoreline Village:
Up to 2 hours - $1 with validation with a minimum purchase from Shoreline Village merchants.
More than 2 hours - $2 per 20 minutes/ $8 maximum
Beach Parking at Shoreline Village:
Metered parking for roughly $6
Please do not park in spaces marked "For Boat Owners"
Parking in Downtown Long Beach:
Parking structures are available for $5.
Ride the Passport, a free shuttle bus service, to Shoreline Village'
Schedule for the Passport Bus line can be found here:
lbtransit.com/Services/Passport.aspx
Post 5K Run Activities
After your run along the Long Beach Shoreline Marina and back to Shoreline Village please join us in front of the Funnel House for the Awards Ceremony where we will post your times and serve a simple breakfast. The March for Marrow team has also prepared an exciting Silent Auction for your bidding. The Auction will feature gift certificates to Long Beach and Los Angeles experiences, themed baskets, autographed memorabilia and children’s and adult’s gifts and services.
"Be the Match" will be on site to register potential donors for the National Marrow Donor Program. A simple cheek swab is all it takes for the chance to give someone the gift of life. Bone marrow and stem cell transplants are currently the only cure for bone marrow failure diseases.
Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches will also be with us to share the stories of minority and mixed-race in need of marrow donors.
Shoreline Village offers an array of shops and restaurants for your shopping pleasure. Plan to spend a few extra hours ambling along the boardwalk after your workout.
WHAT are Bone Marrow Failure Diseases? www.AAMDS.org
Hope, Steps & A Cure 5K Run and Patient & Family Walk events were started in 2010 by a group of patients and families in Los Angeles who are living with bone marrow failure diseases or who have lost a loved one to these rare diseases. Bone marrow failure diseases affect the production of healthy red and white blood cells and platelets:
• Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues and organs
• White blood cells help fight disease and infections
• Platelets help blood clot to stop bleeding
If the bone marrow "factory" breaks down and fails to keep up with the body's needs for healthy blood cells, the result is called bone marrow failure. Aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) are bone marrow failure diseases.
Today there are several treatments to prolong and improve the quality of life for patients and March for Marrow events seek to educate the public about the important work that the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation does to inform and educate patients, family members and medical professionals about these diseases, their symptoms and the resources available to help them. Please visit http://www.AAMDS.org.
March for Marrow 5k runs and walks, which take place every year in many different communities across the country, are also fundraising and community building events where patients and their supporters come together to compete at raising as much money as they can for the patient and family services offered free-of-charge by the Foundation. We join together to celebrate and remember wins and losses and to run/walk for a CURE!
To date we have been able to raise $210,000 for the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. in Los Angeles.
Thank you for your support!
History of Past Hope, Steps & A Cure 5K Runs and Walks
2015
Mia Hamm, Oliver Wyss, Krissy Kobata, Lisa Massacani and Mia Stoutenborough joined the 6th Annual Los Angeles Hope, Steps & A Cure 5K Run and Walk held on Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Oliver Wyss from Solothurn, Switzerland, played for the Swiss National Men’s Team and in the United States for the L.A. Salsa in the USISL Pro Division and the Anaheim Splash in the CISL, before being diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 1997. Oliver underwent an emergency bone marrow transplant at City of Hope. Oliver is the founder of Soccer for Hope in Laguna Nigel, Head Boys Soccer Coach at San Juan Capistrano and Head Coach of the Orange County Blues FC, a USL team. In addition both Oliver and wife Jamie have worked tirelessly to raise funds for children with brain tumors – having lost both son Hudson at 3 and more recently, daughter Abella at 11 to a rare, cancerous brain tumor known as choroid plexus carcinoma.
Krissy Kobata was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2008 at the age of 25. An active, healthy young adult, who works at an LA advertising firm, she and her family learned that this diagnosis was far from normal. The only cure at this point in time is a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, her one and only brother was not a match for her and therefore, she has been looking on the National Registry for the past seven years.
Ethnicity can play a key factor in finding a bone marrow match and Krissy is of mixed race - Japanese and Caucasian - also known as "Hapa." This has made it decidedly more difficult to find her a match as there are simply not as many mixed race or minority people on the registry.
Lisa Massacani, a Long Beach resident and aplastic anemia patient, actively supports local bone marrow donor drives and Hope, Steps & A Cure Los Angeles. Lisa was 15 in 1985 when she was diagnosed with bone marrow failure disease and to date has managed to survive following ATG treatments and vigorous follow-up. The ATG protocal was considered experimental but was her only hope since she had no match for a bone marrow transplant. After surviving the treatment and some life-threatening bouts with serum sickness, her blood counts eventually began to slowly increase. At the age of 18 and with blood counts in the normal range, Lisa’s doctor declared her in remission.
Mia Stoutenborough is a born athlete with talent, beauty and a heart of gold. However, she was that one person in a million to get severe aplastic anemia (SAA). Mia was diagnosed on January 27th of 2009 at the age of 15. She started having staring seizures and doctors believe that the medicine that was prescribed caused the onset of SAA. The only cure for aplastic anemia is a bone marrow transplant. Mia's only sister was not a match; nor did they find a match on the registry.
Growing up, sports were a huge part of Mia’s life. She loves to surf, swim and play water polo. Her passion in the water had her hoping to obtain a college water polo scholarship. All that ended when she was diagnosed with SAA.
Mia went through one round of rabbit-antithymocyte globulin (r-ATG) at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center but her blood counts did not improve and she was still transfusion dependent. She then participated in a protocol at National Institute of Health using Horse ATG; her response was slow but positive. In October 2010, her doctors classified her “in remission.”
Our fabulous 5K Marketing Committee
Gus Quinonez, Laurie Beverage, Shahana Larson and Lisa Massacani