Saturday, May 20th, 2023
The MAHA (Multiple Sclerosis at Home Access) Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center will be hosting the inaugural ‘MS Strong’ race event with proceeds being utilized to directly empower people living with MS and other demyelinating diseases with disability in our community.
Race will include a fun run, 5K and 10K run to ensure that regardless of ability people can participate. Event will include coffee & food trucks, DJ, and other family fun activities.
2023 MS Strong Race Information
RACE DAY
Race Date: Saturday, May 20, 2023
Start Time: 9 am – 3 pm
Start-Finish Location: Aksarben Village – Stinson Park
2285 S 67th St, Omaha, NE 68106
REGISTRATION PRICES
Fun Run & 5k – $30
10k – $40
Price Includes: Race Entry, Race Bib, and Official Race Shirt
**MAHA participants and kids 4 & under are free. Email mseducation@unmc.edu if want to participant but cannot afford.
Race Day PACKET PICK UP
At the starting line area from 9 – 10 A.M.
About the MAHA Program
MAHA is derived from the name of the Native American Omaha tribe originally settling in the area. The term meaning against the wind, against the current, originally referring to the unimaginable strong winds and currents over the plains and the Missouri River. Respectful to its meaning, persons with MS and significant disability, their family, friends, care givers and health care providers, face strong winds of adversity in meeting the basic needs on a day-to-day basis. Living with and learning about these struggles is not for the faint of heart.
Understanding the needs of individuals with MS, their caregivers, and families, is the foundation of the UNMC/Nebraska Medicine MAHA program. With over a decade of learned experience and “walking with” extraordinary individuals with MS, despite significant disability, together WE have persisted, making MS care more accessible, meaningful, and productive.
The purpose of the inaugural fundraiser is to continue to directly empower those individuals served in the MAHA program with priority funding directed toward exercise scholarships. Our bigger vision is one of a MS Day Achievement Program and ultimately a Community-University Complex, a very costly and time intensive endeavor.
If you are interested in further supporting the MAHA program, whether that be through your time or monetary contributions, please stop by the Together Booth at the Event and/or reach out via email to msstrong@unmc.edu for more information.
Inspiration for the Event
On May 1st, 2022, Renee Stewart, nurse practitioner & co-director of MAHA, Kristen Bayly, nurse with the MAHA program and Nancy Lenz, physical therapist we work closely with in the community, ran the Lincoln half marathon with one of the individuals we serve in the MAHA program. Our slogan for race day, ‘Together we fight, Together we run, Together we are MS STRONG’. We utilized an adaptive running wheelchair and pushed her throughout the duration of the race before she got out and with our assistance, crossed the finish line on her own two feet. It was a moment we will never forget!
Since race day, we have received inquiries from people who want to support the work of the MAHA program, who want to be a part of it. Appreciating that not everyone has the ability or desire to run a half marathon, we wanted to create an event that everyone can be a part of.
Thank You To Our Sponsors
Thank you to our race partners. Your generous support makes community events such as this possible. Interested in becoming a sponsor for 2023? Email mseducation@unmc.edu m for more information.
