Race Website
Additional race information can be found at http://www.reefsrun.com.
Place
300 Hwy 50
Zephyr Cove, NV 89448
Description
This year marks our 7th Annual Reef's Run for Hydrocephalus Awareness! We will come together again on Sunday, September 8th, 2024 at the beautiful Round Hill Pines Resort. Check-in and day-of registration begins at 7:30 am and the run begins at 9:00 am. Racers can don costumes on this Fun Run / Walk / Stroll through picturesque Lake Tahoe. Participants can enjoy coffee, water, juice, snacks before the race, a complimentary beer for those over 21, after the race, and light snacks and desserts. After the run, you can enjoy our silent auction, raffle, and activities for the kids. Net proceeds will be going to charitable foundations actively searching for a cure for hydrocephalus, charities helping families in need, and directly to families in need, on a word-of-mouth basis. Last year we were able to give over $12,000 to local families in need!
Hydrocephalus is a little-known condition that affects more than 1,000,000 Americans, including my son Reef. Hydrocephalus is the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that causes the ventricles in the brain to become enlarged. Reef was born 9 weeks early and developed Hydrocephalus due to complications of prematurity. Before Reef was 17 months old, he had undergone 6 brain surgeries due to malfunctioning shunts. Right now, Reef has been brain surgery-free for 6 1/2 years! He could need surgery again tomorrow or never again. We pray we can help be a part of finding a cure within his lifetime.
This unique event will spread smiles, a sense of community, and a winning spirit. This event will not only raise awareness for hydrocephalus, which affects 1-2 in every 1,000 babies born, but it will also help to raise funds to support research for a much-needed cure. The only treatment for hydrocephalus is brain surgery, and 38,000 operations are performed annually, that’s one every 15 minutes.
Our goal is to help raise awareness for a condition most have never heard of before. My son, as well as all the other children and adults with hydrocephalus, deserve a cure. A tomorrow free from the fear that their shunt may malfunction at any moment. Please help us fight for their better tomorrows.
Race Contact Info
If you have any questions about this race, click the button below.
Hydrocephalus Facts
- The only treatment for hydrocephalus is brain surgery, where a shunt is placed to drain the excess spinal fluid. New techniques like Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) with Choroid Plexus Cauterization (CPC), are starting to come forward but only a handful of surgeons in the country are trained to do so.
- The primary treatment uses a device (shunt) developed fifty years ago that has one of the highest failure rates of any surgical treatment.
- Reef's VP shunt is a tube placed through the skull and into a ventricle in his brain. The tube is connected to a valve that regulates the spinal fluid buildup. A tube is connected to the valve and goes behind his ear, across his chest, and coils into his abdomen where the spinal fluid can be reabsorbed.
- A shunt malfunction can happen at any time.
- 40,000 hydrocephalus operations are performed annually. That’s one every 15 minutes.
- The medical costs of treating hydrocephalus are over $1 billion per year, yet the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests less than $1 million per year in hydrocephalus treatment.
- Hydrocephalus is the most common reason for brain surgery in children.
- 1,000,000+ Americans live with Hydrocephalus
- 1-2 in 1,000 infants are born with Hydrocephalus
- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that causes the ventricles in the brain to become enlarged, sometimes with little or no increase in intracranial pressure (ICP).
- 1 in 100 seniors develop normal pressure hydrocephalus, which is often confused with Alzheimer’s
- 1 in 10 dementia patients have normal pressure hydrocephalus, but may never be diagnosed
- NPH is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s because of the triad of symptoms: mild dementia, impaired bladder control, and gait disturbance.
- 80% of all shunts fail, and 50% of those fail in the first 2 years of placement.
- A child will on average have 2-3 shunt replacements during their childhood.
- Hydrocephalus can only be treated with BRAIN SURGERY, and there is currently NO CURE.
- September is Hydrocephalus Awareness Month
- 60% of children with hydrocephalus will not be independent as adults
- It really IS brain surgery, but it shouldn’t have to be.
Directions
Round Hill Pines Beach Resort
300 Hwy 50
Zephyr Cove, NV 89448
MapMyRun Map
Race Participant Survey
Please complete the following survey to help us better understand your race experience.
