This weekend, the Running for Nana team will gather together at the Colfax Marathon Weekend to support Achieving Cures Together (ACT) and their remarkable fight against C. difficile!! I absolutely cannot wait to see our team participate in the half marathon, 10-miler, and 5K races – I’ll be in 10 mile too! 

We will also have an Achieving Cures Together tent in Charity Village at the finish line! Christie Lansdowne, Executive Director of ACT, is flying in from Minnesota to be with us, and will be at our tent to meet everyone!! We are so grateful that Christie can join us. 

As many of you know, since 2016, we’ve partnered with ACT and Dr. Khoruts from the University of Minnesota’s Microbiota Therapeutics Program (MTP) – two of the leaders in C. difficile research. Because of the generosity of each of you through philanthropic support, we’ve raised ~$93,000 in the fight to end C. difficile since Running for Nana started! This year, our goal is to pass the $100,000 mark. Thank you SO much to everyone who has already donated and helped us move toward our goal! 

If you would like to help us reach this goal, please visit the ACT Fundraising Link: https://www.achievingcures.com/colfaxmarathon. 

To date, these donations have significantly helped to advance the fight against C. difficile:

• Over 800 patients with recurrent C. diff that could not be cured with standard antibiotics have been successfully treated (98% success rate) at the University of MN through the intestinal microbiota transplantation (IMT) procedure – all at no cost to the patient.
• The MTP developed capsules of the IMT treatment, making it more accessible to fight recurrent C. diff.
• The team has increased their ability to provide the capsules for critical clinical trials. All therapeutic microbiota is manufactured in accordance with pharmaceutical protocols.
• There are five active research trials utilizing the treatment including the MATCH Trial, which is a multi-center, placebo-controlled study at the VA. This is the largest study of its kind. The team continues to explore uses for the treatment beyond C. diff, and the other active trials are for patients with advanced liver disease, autism, ulcerative colitis, and intensive chemotherapy. 

This progress would not have been possible without each of you, and I cannot thank you enough for being a part of these advancements! I know Nana would be thrilled to know that fewer people have had to suffer the awful effects of C. difficile.

I’ll send another update after our weekend is complete. Thank you again for being a part of this adventure!