Press Release - Cleveland Marathon - 12/22/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   St. Albert the Great Teachers & Students to Run Cleveland Marathon in 
          Support of Classmate with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

North Royalton, Ohio: St. Albert the Great teachers and students to run in 
the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon on May 19, 2013 in support of their 
nine-year-old student and classmate with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

First grade teacher, Kelly Beskid, Kindergarten teacher, Caroline Halle and 
eight students have committed their legs for John Owen Dumm, a third grade 
student at St. Albert the Great, who is in a wheel chair and cannot dream 
of running. 

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic muscle wasting disease that 
has robbed John Owen of his leg muscles and is slowing taking over all the 
muscles throughout his body. The teachers and students know John Owen very 
well and are dedicated to raising funds and awareness for his special 
non-profit, John Owen's Adventure, Inc (JOA). JOA seeks funds for research 
to cure DMD, the number one killer of young boys. 

As a first time runner, Beskid will tackle the 10k in remembrance of the 
times John Owen was able to run. Halle is a long time runner and decided 
she will join the fight to derail Duchenne by running the 10k. John Owen's 
classmate Evan Rosberil has been his friend since Kindergarten and is 
running the 5k to help John Owen get better.

"Having your child's teacher and 9-year-old classmate become your son's 
advocate is just overwhelming," says Jen Dumm, mother and V.P. of JOA. 
"Knowing how much they love our child not only during the school day but 
enough to train for hours on end running for him is something I just can't 
put into words."

These teachers and students are part of the more than 60 JOA Moving Spirit 
Team runners who are training together for the Marathon on May 19. This is 
the second year for Moving Spirit. In 2012, the team raised over $16,000 
for research while building their strength as a team and hope for a cure 
for John Owen.

"The science is there" says his father, Tony Dumm, President and founder of 
JOA. "But Duchenne research is extremely under-funded in comparison to 
illnesses that are much more common. Having this great support for our son 
with their intense training and dedication lifts our hearts and our faith 
that the science will become real."

DMD is 100% fatal and typically only affects boys. A very tiny part of the 
boy's X chromosome was deleted. This deletion makes it impossible for him 
to build muscles because the message 'build dystrophin' never gets to his 
brain. Eventually, all of the muscles in his body will breakdown making it 
impossible to walk, eat and breathe. Soon after that his little heart 
muscles will breakdown as well and we will be forced to say goodbye to him 
well before he has fully enjoyed his 20's. One in 3,500 boys has DMD. 

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