Genzyme Employees Trek 30-Miles For International Rare Disease Day

Thursday, more than 180 Genzyme employees made their second annual trek across a nearly 30-mile course to raise awareness and show their support for International Rare Disease Day, which is celebrated annually on Feb. 28.

The course spanned four Genzyme facilities in Massachusetts, as runners made their way from Framingham, to Waltham, to Allston and crossed the finish line in Cambridge.

Events were held at each of Genzyme's four sites in the Commonwealth, as fellow colleagues rallied the arriving and departing runners and raised funds for the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

Emma Rooney, a Gaucher patient from the National Gaucher Foundation of
Canada, and Stefanie Putkowski, a representative from National Organization for Rare Disorders, spoke at each of four sites, including Framingham.

CEO David Meeker ran the final leg of the relay and spoke at the finish line in Cambridge at the end of the day.

The relay began with a cycling event at Genzyme's European headquarters in the Netherlands. A virtual torch pass to Waterford, Ireland, began the first official running leg of the relay. The torch was then virtually passed to the Framingham site to kick off the Massachusetts relay.

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 marked the sixth international Rare Disease Day coordinated by EURORDIS and organized with rare disease national alliances in 24 European countries.

Yesterday, organizations from more than 60 countries world-wide held awareness-raising activities converging around the slogan “Rare Disorders Without Borders.”

In 2013, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), and the US sponsor of Rare Disease Day, celbrated its 30th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the 1983 signing of the Orphan Drug Act into legislation.