spotlight

Introducing

Run For Papa

_LJEPRIN

Annual fundraiser helps fight dementia.

Ryan Fishman

THE BIRMINGHAM HOME COLLECTION

Special to the Jewish News

dozens of stores + infinite style + one location

I

YOUR SOURCE FOR STYLISH LIVING,
CLOSE TO HOME...

Whether you're furnishing your entire house or looking for a "just
right" room accent, your local Blueprint merchants offer a myriad of
looks in all the latest styles. Join them for:

FASHION YOUR HOME

SPRING/SUMMER 2013

Thursday-Saturday May 2-4 • 10am-6pm (Thursday until 9pm)

Don't miss three days of home decor and design inspiration
including merchandise previews, in-store guests, design
consultations... and even a perk or two.*

Visit www.enjoybirmingham.com/events and click on the Fashion Your Home
link for a list of participating stores and complete details, or call 248-530-1200.

*All store programs and services during this event are complimentary. No purchase required.

1831700

E

OTARY
ARNIVAL

MAY 1 6- 1 9

www.RotaryCarnival.net

Corner of M5 & Pontiac Trail I

Attractions
GU mine
Midway Se
Carnival

Commerce Township

Suumen

Free

Free

Entertainment
Jack Dempsey
Se Friends
Tavistock

Toppermost
-.a Beatles
Tribute_
Lookin' Back
...a Bob Seger
Tribute...

Whispering
Pines
Petting Zoo

Reptile
House

Carousel Acres
Pony Rides

Novi Brass Band

Open Door do
Hospitality House
Non-Perishable
Food Drive

Backseat Remedies
WL Western
Jazz Band

Mr. Moody

Shop or Browse
Vendorwares

:agles Beer Tent

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Free Admission

I

$5 parking

Advanced Discount Tickets: www.elliottsamusements.com

52

April 25 • 2013

n 2010, Jason Boschan hadn't run

a marathon in 10 years; in fact,
he'd sworn he would never run
another marathon. Three days before
the New York City Marathon that year,
a friend called with a bib number she
couldn't use, and offered it to the then-
31-year-old marketing professional.
As if it were a dare, Boschan decided
to challenge himself, without the
average runner's months of training,
explaining, "It's 80 percent mental, 20
percent physical:'
After successfully completing the
marathon, the Charlotte, N.C., resident
walked through Central Park with his
brother Jared, who reluctantly told
him about a marathon on the Great
Wall of China, reasonably worried he
just might do it.
Boschan went on to
run that race, but this
time with a purpose
— to raise funds for
dementia research,
inspired by his
grandfather, Dr. Louis
Heyman, living with
Dr. Louis
Primary Progressive
Heyman
Aphasia (PPA).
He called it "Run
for Papa," and through fundraising
last year, he was able to raise nearly
$17,000.
Motivated by his numerous sup-
porters, from family and friends to 50
years' worth of his grandfather's pedi-
atric patients, Boschan realized he was
onto something.
"This was just meant to be an idea,
a one-year project," Boschan says,
"but after meeting so many people, I
realized I was having a much greater
impact than I expected. There were
too many people, too many families
being positively affected by this out-
side of our own to stop:'
Over the course of the last year,
Boschan has trained and run, leaving
clues after each of his 11 races on his
website, www.run4papa.com, to his
next big undertaking.
He recently competed in the ill-fated
Boston Marathon, and was not able to
complete the race because the bomb-
ings at the finish line shut the course
down at the 25.5-mile mark; he made
it to this point safely.
This year, he plans to run the Big
Five Marathon in South Africa, named
for the country's "big five" game ani-

Jason Boschan

mals. Runners trek through the wilds
of the African savannah on a game
reserve. No fences or rivers separate
the runners from the lions, leopards
and other exotic creatures that call the
course home.
For 2013, Boschan has teamed
with Northwestern University to fund
a first-of-its-kind national speech
therapy clinical trial for PPA patients,
conducted over the Internet.
"No matter where they live, if a
patient has this form of dementia and
qualifies, a speech therapist doctor can
conduct numerous trials with them
over Skype, and avoid the burden of
flying in week after week. It's never
been done before," Boschan says.
The Boschans will host a fundraiser to
help raise the $25,000 necessary for the
research trial from 1-3 p.m. Sunday,
May 5, at their Bloomfield Hills home.
The event will feature Jason and
nationally known expert Dr. Emily
Rogalski, head of Northwestern's
Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's
Disease Center's research projects.
Guests welcome; RSVP required: email
Shelley@run4papa.com or call (248)
225-1700. Donations can be made at
www.run4papa.com.
Boschan, who used to wear a T-shirt
and shorts at races, now runs in a lab
coat to raise awareness of PPA.
"I get weekly emails from families
asking what they can do in their com-
munity to set up fundraisers and pro-
mote this cause or run for their own
papa; it's really amazing and it's not
something I thought would take off the
way it has," Boschan says.
"This is something I really love to
do, and I feel honored to be a part and
see so many others raising money,
raising awareness and giving back. I
don't think I'll ever stop until there's a
cure for this disease:'

❑