Keith Willner and Essie Reed - Schrader's Fundraiser for the Dup15q Alliance in the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon

We are excited to announce that we have signed up as Charity Runners in the 2024 NYC United Airlines Half Marathon to support the Dup15q Alliance! The mission of the Dup15q Alliance is to provide family support and promote awareness, research, and targeted treatments for Dup15q syndrome.

We are running in honor of Keith's 2-year-old daughter Claire who has Dup15q. She is still learning to walk and can't talk but she is a very happy toddler. She gets physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy multiple times a week and has to see a lot of different doctors. Even so, she loves her family, hugs, her dog Rudy, and she is very excited that her daddy and friend Essie are running a big race so she can eat more of her favorite food, carbs!

Dup15q syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by having an extra copy of a portion of chromosome 15 in the 11.2 – 13.1 region in combination with a number of symptoms that may include hypotonia and motor delays, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and epilepsy, including infantile spasms.

We will be taking on 13.1 miles of New York City streets on Sunday, March 17th to support families affected by Dup15q syndrome. We cannot express strongly enough how much of difference the Alliance has made for our family, the Willners, since Claire's diagnosis and we want them continue and expand their efforts for families like ours.

Join US in supporting real change. Let’s support good in the world and make a difference!