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MURFREESBORO — Relay Rutherford is not your typical race.
The event, which benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, is a team-oriented “urban adventure” that covers approximately 55 miles of sidewalks, roads and trails across Rutherford County on Saturday, May 12.
“The main thing that drew us to the event is we wanted to create something different on the market. … We wanted to do something unique that really appealed to something the running community and fitness community didn’t already have,” said Jessie Clark, local development coordinator with JDRF.
Relay Rutherford is patterned after the Ragnar Relay, where team members trade off running various legs of an open 200-mile course.
Relay Rutherford is one-third the distance and half the price of Ragnar. The relay features staggered start times beginning at 7 a.m. and is projected to take teams between six and 10 hours to complete. There are 15 checkpoints — every 3 to 6 miles — where runners can swap out and get snacks and water.
“We wanted to create something unique in our community that is smaller, more doable and a more affordable option in our market,” Clark said.
Although proceeds from the race will benefit the mission of JDRF, Clark said another purpose of the event is to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes. And that’s a big deal for local dad, Artie Pepelea, whose son, Quintin, was diagnosed with type 1, or what is known as juvenile diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved.
“With type 1 diabetes, there’s nothing they can do to cure it. He can’t take pills. It doesn’t ever go away,” Pepelea explained.
For Quintin Pepelea, who is one of the youth ambassadors for Relay Rutherford, there is a constant struggle to keep his blood sugar at a safe level. He also has to take shots of insulin and his fingers are always sore from having them pricked in order to test his blood sugar levels.
