PEORIA – (August 27, 2014) Registration is open! After a record number of participants last year, the Mark Linder Walk for the Mind needs your help to keep the momentum going.  

Starting with just 150 walkers in 2003 and raising $12,000, the Mark Linder Walk for the Mind last year had more than 750 participants and raised $50,000 for brain cancer research at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. But the need to fund continued research is ongoing. 

The Walk is named after Mark Linder who started the event in an effort to reach out to brain tumor survivors and help raise funds for brain tumor research. While Mark died in 2005 at age 31, the Walk lives on and to date has raised more than $330,000 for research. 

This year Dr. Patrick Elwood, the “central Illinois father of neurosurgery” is the honorary chair for the walk. 

WHAT:           Mark Linder Walk for the Mind one mile walk and raffle

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Peoria RiverPlex. Registration and raffle opens at 7:30 a.m. The Walk begins at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE:         Peoria RiverPlex along the Peoria Riverfront

ALSO:  Entry fee is $20 for adults and $10 for children (10 years and younger). Survivors are free. Children’s activities are provided. The extensive raffle includes tickets and hotel Package to a Chicago Bears Game; Box Seats and Hotel Package for the Chicago Cubs 2015 Season; Chicago hotel packages; Maui Jim sun glasses; numerous restaurant gift certificates; autographed racing memorabilia and more. 

Other Walk activities to raise money for brain cancer research are planned in August and September. To register for the Walk or for more information, including other activities, go online to www.marklinderwalkforthemind.org or check out the Mark Linder Walk for the Mind on Facebook. 

This is the third year that all net proceeds will be donated to the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. Funds raised help support Dr. Andrew Tsung’s vital research to understand the mechanisms that make cancers grow and invade.