From left to right: Elizabeth Psar, J. Christian Stadler, III, Michael Inman, Tony Hill, and Lauren Phillips-Stadler.
Julia Barbara’s Zombie Run, September 2017
I used to tell people, “The only time you see me running is when the jerk driving the ice cream truck is refusing to hit the brake…” In reality, I have had an on-again, off-again relationship with running since college. Thanks to encouragement from my wife, I participated in five half marathons in 2017—which was five more than I had completed before that year. The Julia Barbara Zombie Run gave me another reason to get out on the greenway.
On September 9, 2017, the Julia Barbara Foundation held its first 8K Zombie Race. The Julia Barbara Foundation is a charitable organization created in honor of Julia Barbara and dedicated to raising awareness and supporting research involving diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive brain tumor that develops in the pons, part of the brain stem: http://www.juliabarbaradipg.org/.
Julia Barbara was the daughter of our friends, Elizabeth and Rado Psar. Julia passed away in the spring of 2016 from DIPG. Since then, her parents and brother have worked to increase awareness of the disease and support efforts to improve treatment for children diagnosed with it. DIPG has an extremely poor prognosis, and most children diagnosed with it do not survive more than two years.
The zombie theme was chosen because “zombies like brains,” tying the race to the foundation’s mission of fighting a devastating pediatric brain tumor. Those who completed the run received a zombie medal, and our zombies now greet visitors who come into our office.
Inman, Stadler & Hill was proud to participate in the race and provide drinks and food to the runners. Michael, despite not having donned running shoes in a number of years, finished an impressive second in his age group in the 8K, and I was pleased to finish ninth.
Most importantly, the event gave our firm an opportunity to support the Julia Barbara Foundation, remember Julia, and help draw attention to a disease that continues to affect children and their families.
Written by: J. Christian Stadler, III
