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The Jingle Bell Run, which features a holiday costume contest, kids’ zone and fun run, music and a sponsor expo, will be held at Purchase College at 10 a.m. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. inside the Performing Arts Center.
More than more than 1,000 people including competitive and recreational runners, walkers, medical and corporate teams and families are expected to participate this year. The race, which is timed by NYC Runs, is run on a USATF-certified 5K course with finisher awards in each age bracket.
Arthritis affects more than 50 million Americans or roughly one in five adults. More than 300,000 children also live with juvenile arthritis (JA) including 14-year-old Jared Heller, from Katonah, this year’s Jingle Bell Run Youth Honoree who was diagnosed with arthritis when he was three years old.
Heller first participated in the Jingle Bell Run two years ago and decided he wanted to help other kids like him by raising money during his Bar Mitzvah project to help kids attend the Arthritis Foundation’s summer camp for kids with JA. “My purpose is to raise awareness that arthritis doesn’t only affect adults. Kids get arthritis too,” Jared said.
“When people think of arthritis, they automatically think of minor aches and pains, which is far from the truth,” said Dr. Stephen Smiles, Clinical Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Arthritis & Autoimmunity at NYU Langone Center, and this year’s Jingle Bell Run Medical Honoree. “Arthritis is the nation’s leading cause of disability. Here in New York, more than 3.6 million people struggle with the disease.”
To learn more and register for the Westchester Jingle Bell 5K Run/Walk, visit www.jbr.org/westchester. or call 212-984-8702.
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