On behalf of Fools Five Road Race committee we would like to say THANK YOU!! To our volunteers, our community, and those who participanted in the race, 3048 of you, we raised over $85,000.00 for cancer research.
“Be The Match” added 40 more people to the national registry!
If you are between the ages of 18 and 44, please consider joining the Be the Match Marrow Donor Registry on race day. It only takes about 15 minutes and a few swabs of your mouth. Your decision to join the registry could be a lifesaving cure for someone struggling with a blood cancer or other diseases for which a bone marrow transplant is the best hope for survival.
Bone marrow donor registration drives were added to the Fools Five Road Race 2009 in honor of Nora E. Suranyi, the child of local family whose disease had no cure. Nora passed away in 2009 at the age of 14 months but her short life has resulted in five marrow matches and three marrow transplants. In honor of what would have been Nora’s 5th birthday, please consider joining the registry in 2013.
Through the generosity of Nora’s family, there is no charge to register.
To find out more about joining the registry and if it is right for you, click on the logo: 
We are proud and excited to announce, Gabriele Anderson, an Olympic Trials finalist and a two time cancer survivor as our guest speaker for this year’s race.
Gabriele Anderson is a 2004 graduate of Perham (MN) High School where she was a four-time all-state performer in cross country, and was the 2004 state champion in the 800 meters.
At the University of Minnesota, she was a three-time NCAA Cross Country Championships competitor and was second team All Big Ten in cross country in both 2007 and 2008.
In 2009, while still running as a Minnesota Gopher, she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma. After surgery and radiation therapy, she worked her way back to not just running, but competing, setting the University of Minnesota school record for 1500 meters at 4:13. Eighteen months later, she was diagnosed with aggressive thyroid cancer, unrelated to the first. She had surgery to remove the thyroid, followed by a series of treatments, the last radioactive iodine dose endured just six months prior to her amazing performance at the Oxy High Performance Meet, in Eagle Rock California in May 2012.
For more information regarding Gabriele’s story, click on the links below:
Running Competitor article or Team USA Minnesota Bio
Follow Gabriele on Twitter: @GabrieleAnde or become a fan on Facebook: Gabriele Anderson
Cancer research aims to identify causes of the disease and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately finding a cure. Much progress has been made since Fools Five began raising funds for research, but cancer is extremely complex and varies greatly among types, leaving much to be discovered. We encourage you to learn more by following the links to the two medical institutions that receive our donations.
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of virtually every type of complex illness.
Gundersen Lutheran is a physician-led, not-for profit healthcare system including one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group medical practices.