Families and Friends Unite: 2010 Moms’ Run Offers Family Fun & Support for a Good Cause

(Daniel Island)   On Saturday, May 8, it’s all about Mom and the people who love her. The Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation for Postpartum Depression Awareness will host the 2010 Moms’ Run, which will start at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. The 5K walk/run will begin at 8:30am and proceed down Daniel Island Drive, through the beautiful Etiwan Park neighborhood and back to Blackbaud Stadium.

Participants are invited to stick around for post-race festivities: food from Daniel Island Grille, live entertainment and family-friendly vendors. The event is sponsored in part by the Center for Women, Lowcountry Parent and The Mom Spa.

This is a family-friendly event. Strollers are welcome. Registration is $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under.

Click here to register for the run, make a donation or learn more about the cause.

The Purpose:

Long before Brooke Shields wrote a book about it and Tom Cruise sparred with Matt Lauer about it, Ruth Craven suffered from postpartum depression. On December 5, 1999, Ruth took her own life, just two-and-a-half months after the birth of her first child. She was 33 years old. Before PPD, friends and family say Ruth was a happy, positive and stable person.  After giving birth, the sudden shift in Ruth’s mood took everyone by surprise.

Her mother, Helena Bradford, believes if Ruth had received proper treatment, she would be alive today. “Before Ruth was stricken with postpartum depression, I had never even heard of it.  I want women and their families to be more prepared and informed than we were, so they won’t have to go through what we did,” Bradford says.

In 2000, Bradford started the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation for PPD awareness. For the past 10 years, the non-profit organization has provided support groups for women and their families and has served as a resource to the medical community. Bradford wants the community to know that PPD is temporary and treatable, if properly diagnosed.

Risa Mason-Cohen, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist and Executive Director of the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation says, “The 2010 Moms’ Run is dedicated to the proper screening, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum depression. There is a universal pulse that beats inside every woman’s soul; women across the globe can relate to the sense of imbalance, fatigue and other physical/emotional transformations that go hand in hand with early motherhood.  This event is for all of the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, girlfriends and husbands out there who have felt the sting of this illness. For the rest of the population, the Moms’ Run is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some family friendly fun while supporting a very worthy cause.”

Race Coordinator, Angie Mizzell, is the mom of two young sons, “No one tells you how hard that first year is. It takes a village to raise a child; we need to remember new moms need the village, too.” 

To register for the 2010 Moms Run, or to make a donation, or learn more about the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation click here.

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