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24 | September 21, 2017 | The frankfort station life & arts
frankfortstation.com
Family, friends team up to run across Illinois for Alzheimer’s research
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
What started as a conversation
between brothers on
the way back from a marathon
has turned into a charitable
effort that has spurred
tens of thousands of dollars
in donations toward finding
a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
And for area residents Jeff
and Brian Dryfhout, the effort
is personal. Their family
has been inextricably affected
by Alzheimer’s.
But together, along with
friends, family and supporters,
the brothers started the
Run Across Illinois event
to raise money for the Alzheimer’s
Association in
2015. The third annual Run
Across Illinois, a relay race
which is to span 158 miles,
is scheduled to take place
Sept. 23-24.
Affected by Alzheimer’s
The Dryfhouts have a long
history with Alzheimer’s
disease.
“My mother, Jan, was diagnosed
with it at 62,” said
Brian, a Frankfort resident.
“She had to retire early.
She was an elementary
school teacher. Her mother
was diagnosed with it at the
same age.”
Brian remembers his
grandmother moving in with
the family when he was in
kindergarten.
“I saw her live with it
all the way through eighth
grade, when she passed,” he
said. “But my grandmother
had nine siblings. Seven
of those siblings either had
some form of dementia or
Alzheimer’s. It’s something
that was always in our family.”
That family history led
Jeff, an Orland Park resident,
to run and raise money
for the Alzheimer’s Association
during the Chicago
Marathon. On the way home
from the 2014 marathon, Jeff
remembers thinking about
how many people donated to
the cause.
“And people wanted to do
more than just give money,”
Jeff said. “I kind of had the
idea, literally, on the drive
home. I wondered if there
was a different way we could
do something bigger. I came
up with the idea of running
across the whole state and
did it as a relay. Not everyone
can run or marathon
— or even want to — but
a lot of people can run 3, 4
or even 10 miles. That was
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Friends, family and participants gather at the finish line of
last year’s event.
The Frankfort Station
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Jill Dryfhout (left) and Joyce Przybylski, of Frankfort, take part in Run Across Illinois in
2015. The pair will participate again in this year’s event from Sept. 23-24 starting from
Fulton, Illinois toward the Indiana border in Lansing. Photos Submitted
a great way to get a lot more
people involved.”
Thus, planning for the first
event began. Goals were
small at the beginning, but
the reach kept getting bigger
and bigger.
“That first year, we just set
a goal of $5,000, but it took
off,” Brian said. “I think
when we crossed the finish
line ... that first year, we
were at like $17,800. And
right as we hit the finish line,
we were at $18,000. We got
some donations afterward,
too.”
Last year, they raised
close to $21,000.
“This year, we’re at
$6,000 or $7,000 right now
[in early September], but it
normally kicks up that weekend
of the run,” Brian said.
“We get most of our donations
[then].”
Jeff said the response they
have received for the race
has been touching.
“The story we have with
how our family has been
touched by Alzheimer’s is
a story other people have,
as well,” he said. “Almost
everyone that is part of Run
Across Illinois who runs or
donates or helps in any way
has a connection, a loved
one, who has been touched
by Alzheimer’s. It’s just really
cool to see how everyone
continues to rally around
this [event].”
Meeting new people
Jeff and Brian both said
they are always surprised by
how many people support
the race — even people they
have never met.
“Last year, we had a girl
who ran 30 miles, and that
was somebody we had never
met before in our lives,”
Brian said. “It was someone
who heard about [the event]
through the Alzheimer’s
group, and she signed up and
ran the 30 miles.”
But the race also includes
a lot of family and friends of
the Dryfhouts, like Frankfort
resident Joyce Przybylski,
who worked with and became
friends with Jill Dryfhout,
of New Lenox.
When the first Run Across
Illinois took place, the two
made a deal. Jill would run
the Frankfort Half-Marathon
Jeff Dryfhout (left), of
Orland Park, and Brian
Dryfhout, of Frankfort,
represented the Alzheimer’s
Association during the 2016
Chicago Marathon.
with Joyce if she did the Run
Across Illinois event with
Jill and her family.
“I was going to do 10
miles, and she was going
to do 3,” Joyce said of that
Please see run, 33