The 10th annual Standing Up to POTS walk/run organized by Cathy Pederson, class of 1991 and the Elizabeth “Betty” E. Powelson Endowed Chair in Biology at Wittenberg, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Registration begins at 10 a.m. followed by the race at 11 a.m., both along Alumni Way in front of the Benham-Pence Student Center. Register now to walk or run, either in person here or virtually. Donations are also accepted and are tax-deductible.
POTS, which stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, includes symptoms such as constant fatigue, rapid heartbeat, sensitivity to light and temperature, dizziness, and more. Standing Up to POTS, a 501(c)(3) organization created by Pederson in 2014, has a mission to improve the quality of life for people with POTS through research, advocacy, and support.
Pederson and her family know firsthand what it’s like to live with the disorder as her daughter, Lily, a senior here at Wittenberg, suffers from POTS. She became ill at age 10. For Pederson’s daughter, POTS is so harsh that it affects her ability to attend school.
This 5K event at Wittenberg is the biggest and most important fundraiser for the Standing Up to POTS organization. The money raised will fund research in the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. The major fundraiser for the organization, this campus event has raised $117,678.18 for POTS research since 2015. Standing Up to POTS has awarded $368,684 in research grants for POTS in the last several years.
Pederson has published 14 papers on POTS/chronic illness and quality of life issues in the past couple of years. Pederson’s younger daughter, Kate, has served as director of social media and designed T-shirts for the annual 5K, as well as graphics for both the website and the Facebook page.
Launched in 2021, the POTScast podcast provides information on the basic science of POTS, interviews with physicians, and POTS stories. The podcast, which can be found at this link, has had almost 400,000 listens/downloads since its beginning.
