Burien native Ralph Palumbo (pictured above) will be heading a team to help support Marines and run 100 miles in 24 hours to raise awareness of brain diseases and brain injuries this weekend.
They’ll depart Seattle Saturday morning, head south to Orting, and loop back up (going along West Marginal Way South at about 5 or 6 a.m. Sunday morning) to finish at CenturyLink at 9 a.m. Sunday
Palumbo, now a lawyer in Seattle, grew up in Burien and went to Highline High School before going to the University of Washington and Stanford Law School. Ralph’s put together a relay team with his wife, children, children’s spouses, and grandkids. Their team will share the 100 miles between them.
To help this noble cause, visit active.com/donate/AlwaysBros100OneMind.
Here’s more from Ralph:
I grew up on Sylvester Road in a home that my father and my grandfather built. My grandparents, Howard and Mae Miller lived next door. My father, Ralph F. Palumbo was a research scientist with the University of Washington and the Atomic Energy Commission. During the atomic testing in the Pacific, he ran the research and environmental control programs. I went to Sylvester Jr. High School and Highline High School, graduating from Highline in 1965. I was the Senior Class President and gave the commencement speech for my class. I then went to the University of Washington, graduating in 1969 in history and political science. I was admitted and attended Stanford Law School, graduating in 1972. I joined Lane Powell Moss & Miller, a large Seattle law firm. I left Lane Powell in 1985 to start the Northwest offices of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, a large San Francisco and Los Angeles law firm. I left Heller Ehrman in 1997, to start Summit Law Group – a small innovative law firm that I designed with a few close friends. I am a trial lawyer, with specialities in environmental law, antitrust and high technology law. I have a wife, Marlys, who is a lawyer, a son who is a lawyer, a daughter-in-law who is a lawyer, a daughter who is a mother and event planner and a son-in-law who is a successful commercial real estate broker. We have five grandchildren, ages 3-15. Two or three of our grandchildren will be running with us. We became involved in One Mind through our friends, Garen and Shari Staglin, who are the founders of both One Mind and the International Mental Health Research Organization (www.imhro.com). Marlys serves on the IMHRO Board.
Here’s more from a press release:
Support Marines As They Run 100 Miles Through Northwest Neighborhoods Aug. 10 and 11
Marines Will Run to Honor Fallen Soldiers, Raise Awareness of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress
Residents are invited to cheer Marines from Always Brothers as they run 100 miles Aug. 10 and 11 from Seattle to Orting and back to honor military heroes from Washington State and to raise money for research of brain diseases and injuries experienced by veterans.
A group of Marines and civilians, some local and some from other parts of the U.S., will depart Leschi at 6 a.m., Aug. 10, and run through Mercer Island, Renton, Maple Valley, and Enumclaw before stopping at the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Soldiers Home in Orting. After a short break there they’ll continue along the outskirts of Puyallup and on through Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, South Park and West Seattle, where they will be joined by a police escort as they cross the West Seattle bridge and finish, as a group, at CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m., Aug. 11.
This is the third year Always Brothers, a non-profit fraternal organization made up of Marines, other veterans, and their supporters, has hosted a 100-mile, 24-hour ultramarathon to benefit Marines and their families. This ultramarathon, unique in that it is not a race, will raise money for One Mind for Research™, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to curing brain diseases, including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS).
“My original inspiration for working to improve diagnostics and treatments for brain injuries was the incredible number of soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI and PTS,” says ONE MIND’s CEO Gen. Pete Chiarelli (Ret.), Seattle native and former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. “We are proud to be supported by veterans’ organizations like Always Brothers to aid our mission of dealing with these ‘invisible wounds’ in both the military and civilian populations.”
Some runners will run the entire 100 miles while others will run as part of a team, with each team member running 5 to 25-mile legs. No matter the distance each participant runs, the ultramarathon is not a race. Participants will stick together the entire way, raising awareness of brain diseases and the stigma associated with them.
“Running 100 miles in 24 hours won’t be easy, but it’s nothing compared to what soldiers with PTS and TBI face,” says Marine Dan Neilsen, Maple Valley resident and vice president of Always Brothers. “We invite anyone and everyone to cheer us along the route, come to the north plaza of CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m. on Aug. 11 to watch us finish, or support the run financially at active.com/donate/AlwaysBros100OneMind.
People interested in supporting virtually, or following the runners online can receive social media updates using the hashtag #100forONEMIND on Aug. 10 and 11.
Great Clips, the world’s largest salon brand, is the 5-Star Sponsor of this event. Great Clips’ Seattle area franchisees are joining with sponsors like Thrive Community Fitness, Ulmer’s Auto Care, Arctic Ease, Precor, Europa Sports, SPRI, CamelBak, Saucony, Green & Sons and the St. Louis (Missouri) SWAT in support of this event. The Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC are also lending their support.
About Always Brothers
Always Brothers started as a fraternal organization of Marines that served at Marine Barracks 8th & I, and the Marine Security Forces teams at Camp David, the White House and the White House Communications Agency. It has grown to encompass veterans, civilians, friends, and family members, all working to raise awareness and funds for families of fallen veterans or veterans that need assistance. Find out more at AlwaysBrothers.org.
About ONE MIND™
ONE MIND is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to curing the diseases of the brain and eliminating the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and brain injuries. ONE MIND sponsors groundbreaking new research and creates portals to shared scientific data, leading to improved diagnostics, more effective treatment, and, ultimately, cures for all types of mental illness and brain injury. ONE MIND works to find real solutions to the epidemic of brain disease, and improve the lives of current and future generations. More information can be found at 1mind4research.org.