Caped crusaders walk for a cure

Tim Revell’s 4-year-old son, Timothy, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was 2. The terminal genetic disease has no cure and leads to a loss of muscle mass in young boys. Doctors diagnosed Timothy after his parents noticed other toddlers had begun to walk before him.

“My son is like 4-and-a-half, and he doesn’t have an audience,” Revell said. “That’s where us parents come into play to stand in the gap and raise our bodies and our efforts to say, ‘Our boys are dying, and there is no cure. We need help.’”

Revell and his wife, Laura, will fly to Newport from Austin this weekend to raise money and awareness by running in the O.C. Marathon with the Corona del Mar-based charity CureDuchenne.

Tim and Laura Revell will run the half-marathon together Sunday. They will be joined by at least 70 other runners representing CureDuchenne in various events. The runners call themselves “CureDuchenne Crusaders” and wear neon green capes.

Newport Beach residents Debra and Paul Miller founded CureDuchenne after their son was diagnosed with the disease in 2002.

Miller has spent the last four years working without pay to raise money for research.

“I get e-mails all the time from parents whose child just got diagnosed, and it almost brings it back every time for me when I read them,” she said.

Miller will run in the 5K event at the marathon. Participating and raising money gives her a sense of accomplishment, she said.

CureDuchenne raised about $45,000 last year, making it the top charity fundraiser to participate in the marathon.

“We were so pumped last year and so hyped up. It was really a fantastic feeling,” Miller said.

Donations for CureDuchenne may be made at www.active.com/donate/cureduchenne08.

— Brianna Bailey