Race raises awareness and funds for rare disease
Racers at last year’s Race to Save Face competed for their personal best as well as to raise awareness about trigeminal neuralgia and to raise money for the Facial Pain Research Foundation.
The sixth annual Race to Save Face is scheduled for Friday, July 13 at the School House Winery in Dover. The event will include races, music, an auction and refreshments.
The event is to raise awareness about trigeminal neuralgia and to raise money for the Facial Pain Research Foundation. It includes 5- and 2-mile races, a 2-mile walk and a 1-mile kids’ fun run.
Organizer Jessica Ferris started the race at the urging of her aunt, who suffers from the rare disease.
“I have a lot of people say, ‘Why can’t you just have a 5k?’” Ferris said. “I was trying to have a niche, something a little different.”
Being a runner, Ferris knows many runners are beginning to train for half-marathons in July and feels the out-and-back course is a great way to start training while contributing to a good cause.
The event also will feature music from Mobile Jams Entertainment, a silent auction and a raffle.
The raffle for a one-of-a-kind, handmade quilt from Janet Stull is a big draw for nonrunners looking to help with the cause. Stull has contributed a quilt every year of the race’s existence and always designs her own patterns and sews them by hand.
Race to Save Face was one of the first events organized to raise awareness about trigeminal neuralgia. Ferris said it wasn’t scheduled for National Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day on Oct. 7 because when they started the race, that hadn’t been established yet.
Many people with the disease support the cause by participating in the 2-mile walk. The event has become a meeting place for those with trigeminal neuralgia to gather and take comfort in being around others with the same disease.
“It gives you a feeling that you’re doing something to fight it,” Ferris said.
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic disorder and has been called the worst pain in the world. Some sufferers say the pain is worse than childbirth. That pain and lack of a cure has caused many affected to take their own lives and led to the sickness being labelled the suicide disease.
Race to Save Face spokesmen David Bundy has suffered from trigeminal neuralgia since 2007. He said one of the worst things about having such a rare disease is that there aren’t a lot of resources to help those who suffer.
“We want people to understand what this is,” Bundy said.
All money raised by the event goes to the Facial Pain Research Foundation of Gainesville, Florida. They are a nonprofit conducting research into ways to treat the nerve disease. Founding trustee Michael Pasternak, Ph.D., makes the trip from Florida to Dover every year to lend his support.
The disease affects about 12 out of 100,000 people. It tends to affect more women than men and those over 50 years old. There is no known cause, but often the disease appears after a car accident or major dental surgery.
Surgery can be effective in treating the pain but not always. Many patients take numerous pain medications and tricyclic antidepressants to help manage symptoms.
Bundy said those with chronic pain conditions are dealing with an unintended result of the opioid epidemic. “It’s a pain now to prescribe pain medication,” he said.
Bundy finds it frustrating that doctors can only prescribe him enough medication for 27 days and that the government is restricting and regulating how those in the medical community are allowed to treat patients. “Pain itself is a sickness,” he said. “Without pain medication I would be stuck in bed all day.”
New research is looking at which genes can cause trigeminal neuralgia, growing myelin that will cover the exposed nerves causing pain and developing new pain medications.
The 1-mile kids’ fun run will start at 6 p.m. The 5-mile race will start at 7 p.m. The 2-mile race and 2-mile hope walk will both begin at 7:10 p.m.
Registration is $25 until the day of the race when it will increase to $30. Registration for the 1-mile kids’ fun run is $10 until the day of the race when it will increase to $12.50.
Paper registrations can be found at Ferris Chevrolet, Tuscarawas County YMCA, and Route 250 Health and Performance at New Towne Mall. Runners may register online at www.ohiochallengeseries.enmotive.com/events/register/2018-race-to-save-face-5-miler.
More information can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/racetosavefacedover.
School House Winery is located at 455 Schneiders Crossing Road NE in Dover.