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Runners and walkers will gather at Devereux Beach in Marblehead on Saturday, Oct. 17, for the annual Miles for Mary 5K. It is the first of two fall events the local organization is hosting to raise money for brain cancer research.
The group will follow the race with a research seminar Monday, Nov. 2, at Eastern Yacht Club. The featured speaker is Dr. Elizabeth Gerstner, a neuro-oncologist whose work on brain tumor treatments the group helps fund.
Both events honor the memory of Mary Park and other loved ones lost to glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Proceeds support treatment research at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute. Miles for Mary has raised more than $900,000 for that research to date.
Gerstner and her colleagues are investigating new treatments for brain tumors. Their work includes INCIPIENT, a clinical trial testing an advanced form of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, known as CAR T-cell therapy, for glioblastoma. CAR T-cell therapy reprograms a patient's own immune cells to attack cancer. In the trial's initial results, tumors shrank rapidly in the first three patients treated.
Registration for the 5K costs $35 in advance at milesformary.com or $40 on race day. Race-day registration opens at 9 a.m., and the run/walk begins at 10 a.m. Awards will go to the top overall finishers, the top finishers in each age group and the best team. The race is part of the Marblehead Road Race Series.
Tickets for the research seminar cost $70 at milesformary.com. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and Gerstner's presentation begins at 7 p.m.
People who cannot attend either event can donate directly to brain cancer research at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute through a link at milesformary.com.
