ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation is excited to announce the kickoff of the 9th Annual RunTough 5K and 1M Fun Run, which will be held both virtually and in person at Saline Hornet Stadium on October 1, 2022. This family-friendly 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run is the foundation’s longest-running event. The 9th Annual RunTough 5K and 1M Fun Run will have different ways to participate:
- SALINE LOCAL RACE — Register for the local 5K or 1M race and join us in person on October 1 in Saline! Packet pickup will be Friday, Sept 30 from 4-6pm at Saline High School's Hornet Stadium and starting at 7:45am the morning of the race. Opening ceremony is at 8:30am, and race begins at 9am.
- VIRTUAL WITH OR WITHOUT A SHIRT — You can register for our virtual race with or without a shirt! You choose the date, the time, and the location to run, walk, or do the activity of your choice (or not — we won't tell!). If you register for a shirt, we'll mail you a race packet.
- ADDITIONAL EFFORTS — For more information about efforts being led by our Family Partners as well as other families affected by pediatric brain cancer, please go to www.chadtough.org/runtough. Information for these efforts will be updated as it becomes available.
RunTough originated in 2014 when a group of neighbors in the Saline area came together in support of Chad Carr, a 3-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer called DIPG. Since then, RunTough alone has raised over $1.5 million for pediatric brain cancer research and inspired more than 13,000 registrants. Brain cancer kills more kids than any other type, and DIPG is responsible for almost half of all pediatric brain cancer deaths. With a nearly 0% survival rate and less than 1% of federal cancer research funding earmarked for ALL types of pediatric brain cancer, it’s no surprise that the standard of care has not changed in the six decades since Neil Armstrong’s daughter died of DIPG. But thanks primarily to DIPG families like the Carrs, who have channeled their grief into an effort to fund game-changing research on DIPG, doctors have begun to discover breakthrough treatments that are showing great promise, so much so that they now believe a cure will be found in our lifetime. All proceeds will go to the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, whose mission is to inspire and fund game-changing research to discover effective treatments for pediatric brain cancer, with an emphasis on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Brain cancer kills more kids than any other type of cancer, and DIPG is responsible for almost half of all pediatric brain cancer deaths. Finding effective treatment options for this complex disease is one of the best ways to save kids from cancer! To learn more about the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, go to
www.chadtough.org.
In early 2021, The ChadTough Foundation and Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation united to become the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation. For the last five years, both foundations worked, separately and as partners, to fund pediatric brain cancer research with a focus on DIPG. These two original foundations committed over $12 million in research funding across 21 institutions prior to uniting. The new foundation remains committed to this same, shared mission. 
