Our new marathon goal - the Pacific Coastal Highway, which includes Highway 101

Brain Injury 101 – a Marathon for Awareness

Date: Saturday June 11, 2011

Location: Pacific Coastal Highway

For the purposes of:

• promoting public awareness of Acquired Brain Injury
• raising money to allow us and you to continue helping clients and caregivers
• joining with other groups for awareness and fundraising

Lets join together to go the distance!

For the past 2 years, we have held a walk/run/ride marathon on our part of Highway 101 for the purposes of fundraising & awareness.

This year we are extending the distance to the entire length of the Pacific Coastal Highway – from Lund, BC, Canada to Quellons, Chile.

That’s a long way….

…. but not if we all do a small part of it.

Participants and their supporters from groups and organizations along this route are invited to complete either a 1, 5 or 10 km walk, run a marathon length of highway, or bicycle a desirable distance.

Whatever your level or fitness and ability, there is an option to participate!

You are invited

You are invited to join us in this momentous event.

Brain injury & related organizations as well as running & cycling clubs from the full length of the Pacific Coastal Highway are being invited to take part.

The main purpose

The main purpose for this event is to increase public awareness of Brain Injury through media coverage and social networking, and to raise funds for the groups involved. An event of this size will attract much publicity and public interest.

Sponsor signs on Highway 101 near Powell River.

We will be contacting businesses in your area to sponsor part of the highway at $100 per kilometre, for which they will receive public recognition and appreciation. We suggest participants request pledges from their friends and contacts.

Link to Google map for details of route and participants.

This route passes through several cities near the Pacific Ocean from Lund (British Columbia) in Canada, to Quellons (Chiloé Island) in Chile.

The marathon is always the second Saturday of June each year. Every year we invite more and more organizations and sponsors to be part of this project. Thus, we have a record number of participants in the event each year.

Each group is free to define the distances they prefer and to contact their own sponsors to make this work the best way for them. Each participant and sponsor fills out a registration form, which is used to encourage more people to take part and participate actively to our cause.

The aim is to build international relations contributing to:
• Make your organization known internationally
• Share information about brain injuries in your community and ours.
• Define appropriate responses for our clients.
• Provide technical support via Internet and chat.
• Promote participation at international conferences.
• Communication about new research articles
• Making new friends and professional contacts.
• Collection of money from participating in the marathon for our organization AND yours.

We invite you to contact us for more information.

Phone toll free: 1-866-499-6065

Email: 101@braininjurysociety.ca

Fax: 1-604-485-6008

Please participate in this event, we need you!

Cyclists & runners: Why support this cause?

You may have noticed more news recently about brain injury, particularly regarding sports and veterans. Maybe you know someone who is not the same as they used to be after being involved in a car accident or being assaulted. You may have even noticed changes in yourself after a concussion.

Brain Injury Facts:

What is Acquired Brain Injury?

Harm to the brain that occurs after birth, causing impairment of normal brain function.
Symptoms and effects are different and unique for each person.

How does brain injury happen?

• car accidents  50%
• sports injuries 20%
• assaults 9%
• work accidents
• not wearing a helmet
• lack of oxygen
• strokes
• tumors
• & many other ways…

*** Injury can happen without loss of consciousness ***

Who is at highest risk for brain injury?

• ages 15 – 24  and over 60
• 2:1 male to female

How long does it take to recover?

This is different for everyone. It is very important to get correct diagnosis and treatment, and have good support for the entire family.
Changes and improvements can continue for many years but may be so slight they are hard to notice.
Many people with brain injuries never recover.

Is there a cure?

Although much advancement has been made in treatment of brain injury, only PREVENTION is fully successful.

Possible functional deficits resulting from acquired brain injury:

• debilitating fatigue
• personality change
• balance problems
• coordination problems
• chronic pain
• headache
• difficulty dealing with change

Brain Injury Statistics

About two million head injuries of all types (including skull and facial fractures) occur each year in the U. S. (175 to 200 per 100,000 population)
300,000 individuals each year suffer brain injuries severe enough to require hospitalization, with 99,000 resulting in a lasting disability.
A total of 56,000 people die each year as a result of traumatic brain injury.
An estimated 62.3 per 100,000 adults age 15 and over are living in the community with enduring functional impairments due to TBI (excludes most survivors of mild TBI).

History of our marathon

In 2009 we walked the length of our section of Highway 101. This part of the Pacific Coastal Highway is 56 kilometres in length, starting in Lund, passing through Powell River and ending in Saltery Bay, where the ferry connects to the next part of Highway 101.

This first walk was completed over 3 days. Participants were clients, professionals and ordinary citizens who wanted to take part in this public awareness project. Money was raised with pledges of support to the walkers as well as business sponsors for each kilometer .

In 2010, our second year, we offered more options on distance to complete – 1, 2, 5 or 10 kilometres, or for the truly fit, the entire 56 kilometres. Those who participated did so by walking, running or bicycling. Participants were not only clients, family and ordinary citizens, but also athletes and sports associations were invited to join our cause and complete the 56 kilometer ultramarathon.

In both years, we fulfilled our goals of raising money and awareness, but as you know, there is always room for growth in both these areas.

This year, we invite your organization to this international project by being part of this gigantic journey through the Americas, following the Pacific Coastal Highway.

We invite you to contact us for more information.

Phone toll free: 1-866-499-6065

Email: 101@braininjurysociety.ca

Fax: 1-604-485-6008

Please participate in this event, we need you!