Reversing the Trend

BMR_PHL

Black Men Run (BMR) was started in Atlanta in 2013 by Edward Walton and Jason Russell to give African-Americans a brotherhood built on lifestyle, physical fitness and accountability. It now has chapters in more than 50 cities, including London, Paris, and, of course, Philadelphia. There’s no shortage of Philly running groups focusing on the benefits of fitness; but BMR PHL stands alone in trying to reverse the disturbing trend of excessively high rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes among African-American men. Leading the charge for BMR PHL in those efforts are Legacy of Hope sponsored athletes for the 2022 Love Run Half Marathon, captain Lawrence Harrington and vice-captain George Morse.

• Among Blacks age 20 and older, 44.4% of men have
Cardiovascular Diseases

• Black males have a risk of first-ever stroke that is almost
twice that of whites

• Heart disease is the number one cause of death for
African American males

Harrington started running with BMR Philly in 2019 and in 2020 he was tapped to be captain by his predecessor. Soon after, Harrington tapped George Morse to be his vice-captain. Both are seasoned runners with numerous races under their belts—multiple full marathons, half marathons, as well as many 5 and 10k races. They joined forces with Legacy of Hope through Will Peoples, a friend of Harrington who was fighting cancer at the time.

“Will and I went to college together.” Recalls Harrington, “Via social media, I saw that he was battling cancer, and I would check in on him and send my prayers. Then Will reached out and asked if I might be interested in doing a bike ride as part of the PHL24—instead of climbing the stairs for 24 hours—to help raise funds for Legacy of Hope. We rode over 100 miles.” Harrington’s efforts with Will at the PHL24 sealed the deal for Morse to get on board to with Legacy.

Harrington works as a forensic case manager providing comprehensive case management services to individuals with severe mental illness and intellectual disabilities. He also holds an MBA with concentration in project management, and is part of Legacy of Hope’s mentorship program. His mentorship services are further put to excellent use in his role as a youth advocate for the Students Run Philly Style program, MileUp, a diversion pathway that brings running and mentorship to youth facing delinquency charges who were formerly ineligible for restorative interventions.

Morse, who works as sergeant for the Philadelphia Sheriff’s office, says of his 15 years a first responder, “I’m just trying to help make people’s burdens a little easier.” He came across BMR through one of his Bartram [high school] classmates who was ahead of him by a couple years. “My buddy was running with BMR Philly; I had never seen a group of black men running together doing distance runs. So I came out to one of the Wednesday night group runs. I remember telling the captain at that time, ‘You guys, don’t leave me, I haven’t run more than three miles.’ When we got back to the Art Museum Steps everybody was like, ‘where’s that guy who was worried we were gonna leave him?!? Man, you were out in front the whole time!!’ The camaraderie and fellowship that I came across with BMR Philly has kept me in the ranks.” Now he pays it forward with his leadership.

Morse has a deep appreciation of the importance of fitness, thanks to a close call in his early 20s. He recounts how running literally saved his life: “I got caught up in a violent shooting; and I wouldn’t have survived without using the running techniques I learned playing football…like zig-zagging. I got hit in my legs and abdomen, but nowhere that caused severe damage—no nerve damage, thankfully. Timing, God’s grace, and running saved my life!” That incident certainly play a role in the Hood2Hood run series, BMR’s collaboration with Swaggahouse Run Club in the summer of 2021, where the two clubs ran through Philly neighborhoods most affected by gun violence to raise awareness and try to curb the gun violence. They engaged at risk youth and local businesses along the routes, logging a total of over 70 miles over 14 runs.

“You don’t get in shape to
come to BMR, you come to
BMR to get in shape.”
– Edward Walton

Harrington and Morse will be running the 2022 Love Run Half Marathon to help raise funds for Legacy of Hope’s Emergency Patient Support Network. You can donate to help Harrington and/or Morse reach their fundraising goals. If you’d like to join them and team BMR as they run the half marathon, you can still register at PhillyRunsFree.com. Raise $250 or more for Legacy of Hope to have your registration fee refunded and run for free. Already registered for the Love Run? You can still run for free by clicking on step two at PhillyRunsFree.com.

Harrington hopes to clock a personal record in the Love Run, aiming for 1:55:00 and then goes on to say “I’m challenging all our members who are registered to run the Love Run to PR.” Morse “just wants to get out there and enjoy it, and try to clock a sub 2, maybe a 1:45. Regardless, he says “I’ll definitely have my mom on my mind, she was recently diagnosed with lymphoma.”

If you’d like to run with BMR, you can join them Wednesday nights (6pm at Lloyd Hall for 5 miles) and Saturday mornings (7:30am Mander Playground at 33rd and Diamond for 5-6 miles). Show up, and you can expect a warm welcome, being introduced to the group and get knowledge from the runners. All are welcome.

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Elliott Sina

Elliott is a medical student at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, driven by a commitment to advancing care for cancer patients through clinical insight and research. He leads Legacy of Hope’s research initiative, evaluating the impact of the Emergency Patient Support Network on patients’ quality of life. Through his efforts, Elliott aims to amplify Legacy of Hope’s mission, combining patient-centered care with meaningful, data-driven advocacy.

Mike 2

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Dr. Claudia Capparelli, PhD

Affiliations: Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center

Education: PhD, University of Calabria, Cosenza, Italy – 2011

Focus & Impact:  Focus on the role of the SOX10 transcription factor with regard to tumor cell heterogeneity and plasticity across multiple genotypes in melanoma. Investigating how SOX10 plasticity/heterogeneity affects the response to MEKi and anti-ErbB3 combinations in WT BRAF melanoma patients. 

Publications: Publications Link

Honors & Awards:

  • Legacy of Hope Merit Award

  • Outrun the Sun Melanoma Research Scholar Award

  • Unical Fellowship Visiting Scholar

  • International Pigment Cell Conference Travel Award

  • Best Poster Presentation, Ninth Annual Jefferson Post-doctoral Research

  • INPDAP Fellowship for Student Merit 

  • University of Calabria Fellowships for Student Merit 

Dr. Qing Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

Affiliations: The Wistar Institute, The Chen Laboratory, University of Maryland

Education: PhD,Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo (Dean’s Award for outstanding dissertation) – 2006

Focus & Impact:  Focus is on the molecular mechanisms of brain metastasis originating from primary tumors like breast cancer, and the interplay between cancer cells and the stromal cells that populate the brain microenvironment. 

Publications: Publications Link

Honors & Awards​:

  • Legacy of Hope Merit Award

  • Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy Award

  • Susan G. Komen, CCR Basic/Translational and Clinical application

  • The V Foundation for Cancer Research Award

  • Dissertation Research Award, Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation 

Nia Andrews

Bio Coming Soon

Rebecca Blinn

Bio Coming Soon

Carol Sollenberger

Bio Coming Soon

Maree Lavo

Bio Coming Soon

Bryan Lathrop

Bio Coming Soon

Kimberly S. Reed

An award winning international speaker, author, corporate trainer and diversity, equality and inclusion executive, nationally recognized thought leader, expert, strategist and advisor to some of the world’s most influential organizations in global professional services, health care, financial services, consumer products and pharmaceutical industries.

Kimberly is a seasoned leader in transforming organizations into high-performing enterprises and challenging leaders to live without limits, with more than 20 years of HR, talent acquisition, and diversity & inclusion experience; successfully turning around troubled diversity practices by designing, building, leading, and shaping high-performing cultures at global organizations with robust strategies, global employee development programs and enterprise-wide initiatives that have increased revenue growth and organizational brand eminence.

Michele Redrow

Michele is a Director on the Legacy of Hope board and also serves on the Executive Committee.

mary chicorelli

Professional:  Mary is a certified city planner for Philadelphia, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association as well as the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Pro Bono Honor Roll First Judicial District of Philadelphia.

Bio: Mary’s insight into the legal world is invaluable to Legacy of Hope, both in keeping our daily operations moving fluidly as well as making connections for our patients and their families when needed.

“Michael reached out to me about 2 years ago through mutual friends. We worked together to help a woman with stage 4 cancer get her electricity turned back on after it was shut off during the winter. I’ve been 100% supportive of Mike’s vision since then.”

joseph ruggieri, jr

Education: Bachelor’s of Science from West Chester University in Management and Finance

Bio: As a member of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s upper management team, Joseph brings a wealth of knowledge regarding finances, management, team-building and planning to the Legacy of Hope board. Joseph linked up with Michael, our President, and Wells Fargo began supporting Legacy of Hope annually.

“My father passed away from what started as Colon Cancer in 2015. Cancer is horrible and if there is something I can do to help others impacted I would want to be a part of it.”

David April

David is the founder of the Fishtown Beer Runners, an organization with chapters all over the world based here in Philadelphia.

dr. kevin kelly

Dr. Kevin Kelly leads Legacy of Hope’s Scientific Review Board to seek out and support the most promising cancer research in Philadelphia using a merit-based system.  He is Jefferson’s Director of Solid Tumor Oncology.

greg garber

Greg Garber is the director of Oncology Support Services at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Gina Mancuso

Gina’s experience as the very successful co-owner of CoreFitness, LLC coupled with her expertise in planning special events makes her the perfect Vice President for Legacy of Hope. With energy, passion, and drive that makes her seem superhuman, Gina’s connection to our mission is a personal one.

“Both my father and my dear childhood friend were diagnosed with cancer within 3 months of one another. They were surrounded and supported by friends and family throughout their battle and until their passing. No one should suffer through a diagnosis alone and, without Legacy of Hope, some people would do just that.”

Michael Rowe

Awards:

Volatile Media Management’s Mover, Shaker, Changemaker Award – February 2017

Miles Mack Community Services & Leadership Honorable Mention – 2016 TJUH Emergency Department Technician of the Year, Physicians Choice Award – 2015

TJUH Emergency Department Technician of the Year, Physicians Choice Award – 2014

Bio:

With his free time so limited, Michael manages to fuse his work with his other passion: running. Whether it is with the Fishtown Beer Runners, our own Team Relentless Hope, or his closest friends, Michael can often be spotted on the streets of Philadelphia keeping himself fit and active.