U.S. Equities Comer Kids' Classic hits four-year mark

October 3, 2006

The U.S. Equities Comer Kids' Classic, a 5K run/walk to benefit the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, begins Saturday, Oct. 7 at 10 a.m.

What started as parents' gratitude has bloomed into an annual event to fight life-threatening childhood illnesses. In 2001, doctors diagnosed then-four-year-old Jimmy Mohan with rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. A tumor had developed in Jimmy's mastoid bone, pressing upon his brain, and the cancer spread to one lung.

Fortunately, Jimmy's story has a happy ending. After a year of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, doctors found Jimmy to be cancer-free. Jimmy's parents, Daniel and Jean Mohan, started the Comer Kids' Classic in 2003.

"The U.S. Equities Comer Kids' Classic is more than a race," said Daniel Mohan said. "There are activities, exhibits and entertainment to appeal to all ages. It's an event for the entire family."

Last year, the run/walk raised enough funds to provide a grant to the Pediatric Brain and Spinal Cord Tumor Research Initiative, headed by Dr. Charles Rubin, a pediatric oncologist at Comer Children's Hospital.

"Dr. Rubin exemplifies the caring physician-scientist," said Dr. Steve Goldstein, physician-in-chief of Comer Children's Hospital and director of the Institute for Molecular Pediatric Sciences.

"For more than 25 years, he has studied the chromosomal abnormalities that occur in childhood cancers. With that knowledge, he provides informed and compassionate care for patients and their families," he said. "His investigation of pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors is one of the innovative clinical-research efforts that advances the University of Chicago Hospitals to the forefront of medicine."

In the United States, tumors of the central nervous system are the second most common pediatric cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program, approximately 1,700 children between ages of 0-14 are diagnosed each year.

In advance, registration fees are $25 for adults and $10 for children, 12 and under. The registration fee the day of the race is $30 for adults.

Warm up for the 5K race begins at 9:45 a.m. on the University of Chicago Quad at 58th Street and University Ave.