Ben's Run - Silver Spring, Maryland - Running

The Ben's Run is a Running race in Silver Spring, Maryland consisting of a 5 Miles and 5K.

This race is a labor of love from start to finish. Ben was an amazing child who battled leukemia for half of his life. A friendly and compassionate boy, Ben bravely fought leukemia under the care of Children's National in Washington, DC. for six and a half years until he passed away from an infection in September 2009 when he was almost 12. Benas family, friends and neighbors wanted to show love and admiration for him, and for all children who are battling life threatening illnesses by doing something to support Children's National. This race honors Benas amazing spirit, and helps the many other children who battle life-threatening illnesses every day.

Ben's Run is helping fund ground-breaking research into the treatment of children like Ben, whose leukemia returns even after a stem cell transplant. The first Ben's Run was held on April 2, 2011. Since that time, Ben's Run has donated a total of $233,000 to Children's National to improve the treatment of children with cancer. Stonegate Elementary: Race Start and Finish
This race begins and ends at Stonegate Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where Ben started in first grade after his kindergarten diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or ALL. When Ben was in 4th grade, he relapsed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML and left the school halfway through the year and did not returnaexcept for a few visits and tutoring sessions with his excellent 5th grade teachers. Ben was a big fan of Stonegate and had wonderful memories of the school and all his friends and teachers there.

Three Neighborhood Courses
The 5K race will start in the school parking lot and go up Notley Road from the school and travel through the western side of the neighborhood. As the course reaches the halfway mark, runners can take advantage of a water stop at Jaystone Court where Benas family lives.

The course gets a little hilly as it goes up Fieldstone and turns right to go down Cobblestone, eventually making its way up Stonewall toward the school. The 5K will finish where it started - in the school parking lot.

The 5 Mile race (new this year!) will follow the same course as the 5K, but runners will continue past the school parking lot to the 1 k marker where they will turn around and retrace the route back to the finish line in the school parking lot.

The 1 mile course will start in the horseshoe in the front of the school. It will go down Notley from the school and turn right and go up Cobblestone to Fieldstone. It finishes at the intersection of Fieldstone and Notley just north of the school. It is a perfect length for smaller children and adults who would prefer a nice walk over a run.