Help Fight Diabetes While I Race The Chicago Marathon

On October 10, 2010 I will race the Chicago Marathon for the 4th time. This year I am running for the benefit of a charity, the Chicago Diabetes Project. And I need your help to reach my goal.

Cellmates On The Run is a group of runners raising money and awareness in the fight against Diabetes, to fund the Chicago Diabetes Project, and I am one of them.

I think we all know or have known someone with Type I diabetes and are familiar with how problematic this condition can be. The need for a cure is critical, and a group of world-renowned experts is racing towards a solution.

I am raising money to help this effort. Click here to reach my personal donation page. Even as little as $10 will help. A cure is possible within our lifetime with the help of generous donations from people like you.

If you know anyone who might want to help me in this endeavor, please forward them the link to this blog entry.

On a personal level, I have hopes 2010 will be the year I break the 3 hour mark and find my way to Boston in 2011. As of today, I am injury free and my training is going very well. But I need your help to make it happen.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me at marcus@schantz-law.com

Thank you all!

Marcus

Here is some basic information on this group:

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. In 1985 there were 30 million diabetics. Today the number has skyrocketed to more than 197 million. By the year 2025, diabetes will affect more than 300 million people worldwide if the epidemic isn’t stopped.

But a cure is coming. The mission of the Chicago Diabetes Project is to make islet cell transplantation the most viable option for diabetes treatment. This international collaboration of qualified researchers and physicians is dedicated to  finding a functional cure.

And here is the project's research focus:

With advances in islet cell transplantation, researchers are successfully replacing damaged insulin-producing cells  with healthy islet cells from a donated pancreas.  This pancreas comes from an organ donor the same as a kidney or liver for transplant would.  Most recipients in islet transplant clinical trials will reach insulin independence, maintaining this insulin independence and an improved quality of life for years.
 
How Does Islet Transplantation Work?

Using state of the art laboratories, teams of surgeons and scientists work to isolate insulin-producing cells from a healthy, donated pancreas. The cells are counted and tested to ensure they are high quality and are appropriate for transplant.

Three of the leading Chicago area hospitals are involved in this effort. Currently this proposed method of treatment is for Type I diabetes only.