The 4th Annual Defeat DIPG Superhero Sprint & 6K was the biggest yet, raising over $245,000 (and counting) with an incredible 2,400 participants. This included 1,800 people registered for the in-person event on the grounds of our Community Partner Westfield Montgomery in Bethesda, and 600 virtual runners supporting the event across the world!

We want to especially thank our special superheroes who joined us at the race: Delaney Heller, Jack Overton, Maddie Hartman, and Mikeal Richardson. We were so thankful to have them with us, and we stand with them as they fight so bravely against DIPG. We also send love to Libby Goodwin who was unable to make it but had her father and sisters representing her at the event.

Special congratulations to all of our Top Race Finishers. Scott Anderson of Washington, DC was the 1st place male open finisher and #1 overall with a time of 22:13. Rachel Greszler of Bethesda, MD was our top female open finisher with a time of 25:46. Thank you to Urban Plates for donating gift card prizes for the top male open, female open, and masters runners.

Our top fundraising team for the event was the amazing MIRAH’S MANY, created in memory of and inspired by sweet Mirah Chhabra, who passed away from DIPG in December 2018. Her parents, Mandeep and Hanita, and sister, Hanna, led their team to raise over $48,000, with over 700 runners registered. We thank all members of Mirah’s Many who helped with this incredible contribution to the mission to Defeat DIPG. Our top individual fundraiser for the event was a member of Mirah’s Many, Zachary Zimmerman, who raised over $1,600.

Together, all participants who have fundraised for this event generated over $121,000 and counting.

Our event sponsors made this great race possible. Our Presenting Sponsor Headfirst Summer Camps brought their incredible team out to ensure that all participants had a wonderful time, especially our youngest runners who had entertainment throughout the day at our Superhero Central. Please join us in also thanking our Platinum Sponsors Center for Vascular Medicine, DARCARS Automotive Group, My Mental Health LLC, and Silver Lining Design Group; our Gold Sponsors Borrus Family Dentistry, Kaiser Permanente Thrive, and The Abramson & Posner Families. Please check out our Sponsorship page to see our full list of generous sponsors, and be sure to support these philanthropic businesses.

We thank Tommy McFly from The Tommy Show! and NBC4Washington for his time, energy and passion for the cause; DJ Jamaal for the awesome tunes that kept us all having fun yesterday; and Joanna Little Photography and Yee-Ann Soong for capturing event photos (which we will share soon!); Quiet Sweep for generous assistance with race cleanup; Elizabeth O’Connor, Jen Davis, and Gina Spallina for their work on the Salute Our Superheroes Wall; and Alex and Ari Reichmann from Rock Creek Velo for doing a great job as our bike leads.

We had a stellar group of volunteers that worked incredibly hard and made this event possible. We thank the excellent event staff from Montgomery County Road Runners for their expert assistance on race day. We thank the management and secuirty teams at Westfield Montgomery for their invaluable support. And, we are grateful to the spectators that made key contributions to the fun and festive atmosphere.

We are so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for your support for our event and the fight to Defeat DIPG!