Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. The 2008 Chicago Marathon will be my 7th marathon. In years past, my goal has simply been to better my time. This year, I have decided to try to use my running to help others. I am raising money and awareness for Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or FSMA.  Please visit their site: http://www.fsma.org/

My original goal this year was to raise $3,000 to help find a cure for SMA. After an amazing first day, we raised the goal to $7,500.  We smashed through that goal on Day 3. We then decided to raise the goal to $20,000.  We broke that mark in mid-July. We reset the goal to $25,000 and surpassed that in late July. We have reset the goal to $30,000.

The reason I chose to run for SMA is this:
In June of this year, my co-worker and friend Ken's baby boy Cruciano was diagnosed with SMA Type 1. Cru and his family have an extremely tough battle ahead of them. Please help me support  FSMA as I run for Cru to help find a cure through research.

SMA can be a deadly and relatively common genetic disease and is the leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers. It is the absence/defect in the Survival Motor Neuron Gene (SMN1) that causes Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The SMN1 gene codes for survival of motor neuron (SMN) protein, and this protein is critical to the survival and health of motor neurons, nerve cells in our spinal cord that our brain uses to control our muscles. Without sufficient SMN protein, motor neurons shrink and die. As the motor neuron network breaks down, the ability of the brain to control muscles diminishes and with less control and use, muscles weaken and waste away.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts. If you feel more comfortable writing a check, please email me at paulkapellas@hotmail.com and I can send you more information on how to get it to me.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too. Every little bit helps. Your dollar could be the difference.

Please visit my marathon training blog at http://runningforcru.blogspot.com/