Vermont PANDAS & PANS Awareness 5K Run/Walk

🌟 Welcome to the PANS/PANDAS Awareness 5K

Join us for a 5K fun run and walk along in Burlington on October 11, 2025, to raise awareness for PANS/PANDAS here in Vermont—an often-overlooked autoimmune disorder said to affect 1 in 200 children. We’re calling on our amazing citizens of Vermont to join us in raising awareness and making the first steps towards change and healing.

⚡ Event Update

• T-shirts: We’re out of t-shirts (rookie mistake, thanks for your understanding, we’re learning).
• Registration Fee: We’ve lowered the registration fee.
• Date: See you on Saturday!

🏃 Race Description

This is a family-friendly run/walk starting at the Burlington Surf Club, going along Burlington's Bike Path. Everyone is welcome:

• Participants: From regular runners ready to race to walkers looking for some good community fun.
• Course: The flat course is a great opportunity to get a new PR/personal best!
• Activities: We’ll have a DJ, snacks, cool t-shirts, medals for the kids, and some special guests.
• Focus: Aiding in raising awareness about this important condition facing our kids.

🤝 Our Partner

We are partnering with The Alex Manfull Fund, a New Hampshire-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, for our inaugural 5K event. The Alex Manfull Fund (TAMF) supports awareness, education, and research to further understand the incidence, etiology, and best treatment of post-infectious neuroimmune disorders (aka PANDAS, PANS, and Autoimmune Encephalitis) with an emphasis on their manifestation in Adolescents and Young Adults:

• Fellowship Fund: TAMF has established a fellowship fund at Dartmouth Hospital’s Neuroimmune Psychiatric Disorder (NIPD) clinic.
• Net Proceeds: Will be given to NIPD in support of their clinic.

❓ What are PANS and PANDAS?

PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections) occur when a child’s immune response to an infection causes inflammation in the brain. The inflammation can cause the sudden onset of behavioral, neurological, and personality changes. The effects of PANS/PANDAS on children and their families are devastating—yet these conditions are still relatively unknown in Vermont, making diagnosis and treatment extremely difficult. Learn more about this condition and its symptoms.

💌 A Note from the Gaskell Family

As a family of 5 living in Burlington, Vermont, we’ve endured the hardships of PANDAS and are rising up from its ashes to bring awareness. In September 2022, at age 8, our son experienced a sudden, acute onset of extreme neuropsychiatric symptoms:

• Seeking Help: We sought help from doctors, psychiatrists, and local resources but to no avail: his condition continued to spiral.
• Support: Thanks to one of our son’s former teachers, we got a first glimpse of what could be happening.
• Diagnosis: In June 2023, a clinic at Dartmouth Hospital diagnosed our son with PANDAS.
• Mission: Now, with improved conditions, we’ve emerged with a clear mission: to help others living with this devastating condition.