BY SCHUYLER KROPF
The Post and Courier
ISLE OF PALMS - Lou Gehrig's disease struck Kelly McDavid's family in March, when her grandmother was diagnosed.
She responded by vowing to run in ALS races all over the country until a cure is found.
"Look at the crowd. It's a great turnout," the Mount Pleasant resident said Saturday while wearing a "For Nana" T-shirt.
More than 530 people took part in the sixth annual 5K Beach HOPE Race, where a record $30,000-plus in cash and in-kind sponsor contributions was collected.
That's a far cry from the first race, when barely 120 people came out and $2,200 was raised.
Former medical student and now physical therapist Hayden Woollen launched the race six years ago. She credited a general awareness nationwide to the heightened interest in finding a cure.
The disease, scientifically known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is named for the New York Yankees baseball hero. It progressively kills nerve cells while victims lose the use of muscles until they become paralyzed and die. No cure exists. Death occurs usually in two to five years.
Because it is considered a terminal disease, research and treatment hasn't been as widespread as it has for other diseases. That's changed in recent times as new equipment has come out to help patients function and stem cell research has progressed.
"There is so much more known about it," Woollen said.
A South Carolina ALS Association recently opened as well.
Saturday's race, under clear skies on Front Beach, also drew retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Mikolajcik, who has the disease and is lobbying Washington for more research funds.
Races such as Saturday's "put a face to a patient," he said, and bring "hope for people like me and in the future."
The only drawback of the race was that at the halfway turn, the racers passed by a wedding that was taking place in the nearby dunes.
The race participants divided the attention of the wedding guests between them and the bride and groom and filled normally scenic photographic backgrounds with sweaty runners.
ALS awareness Gov. Mark Sanford last week signed a proclamation designating June as ALS Awareness Month in South Carolina. According to estimates, more than 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed each year with ALS.
Local chapter The South Carolina Chapter of the ALS Association can be reached at: 802 Savannah Highway, Suite B, Charleston, SC 29407; phone: 971-0933, or toll-free at 866-442-5772.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.