Running the Boston Marathon for ALD research

We’re excited to raise money for, and awareness of, Adrenoleukodystrophy or ALD. Braden (age 12) was diagnosed with ALD in early 2019. Braden is receiving fantastic care at both Boston Children’s Hospital and at Massachusetts General Hospital. The latter is where we met Dr. Florian Eichler, Braden’s neurologist. When we first received Braden’s ALD diagnosis, we were in a dark place regarding our understanding of this terrible disease. On the day of Braden's diagnosis Dr. Eichler said to us, “this diagnosis is not a death sentence.” We’ve held on to those words as our guiding light over the last year. Dr. Eichler is an incredible man who has dedicated his professional life to wiping out ALD.

Please take a couple minutes to watch this short video of Dr. Eichler explaining some of the research that he is working on related to ALD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zamKqfbtexE

As many of you know, Chris was supposed to run the Boston Marathon in April, but because of the pandemic the race was postponed and then changed to a virtual event - the first time in the 124 year history of the Boston Marathon. As a result, Chris will be running a virtual marathon on Saturday, September 12th. As part of his training Chris decided to challenge himself further by attempting to  run every street in Grafton, all 345 of them. We're happy to report that he completed this challenge on August 4th. 

Finally, as a family, we have always believed in giving back - whether that’s through our actions or our wallet. We support causes that we know are important to our family and friends. As you can imagine, this cause could not mean more to us. That’s why this page exists. We’re asking that you help us by donating. 100% of the donations received will go directly to Dr. Eichler and the potentially life-saving research that he is doing for all ALD patients, Braden included.

Thank you!
Chris, Katie, Ryan and Braden, and Arby

#BfightsALD