Help Support Our Advocacy Work

Mar 10, 2026

Help Support Our Advocacy Work

Quinn Brett

At this year’s Symposium in Washington, D.C., we kicked off our national campaign to increase federal funding for spinal cord injury research. We coordinated a Roll on the Capital with nearly 50 legislative meetings and included over 100 advocates from all facets of the SCI research community (injured folk, researchers, parents, industry heads, regulators, foundation reps, etc).

Dr. Murray Blackmore speaks at our Congressional Briefing in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2026, in between our legislative meetings with members of Congress.

This effort was in addition to our ongoing campaign in Wisconsin to pass a $5M SCI Research bill there. The money put towards these legislative efforts isn’t grant funded since no foundation we know of will directly support political lobbying. That’s where Team U2FP comes in!

Team U2FP allows you to run or wheel in our charity partner races in exchange for your fundraising efforts. Thanks to the hard work of last year’s Team U2FP participants - including the 26 racers who participated in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! - we were able to meet the financial demands of maintaining our state efforts while also expanding to launch our national legislative campaign (which included helping to successfully restore $33M to the Department of War’s previously defunded SCI Research Program).

Registration for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon closes on March 31, 2026 and we still have spots available for wheelers and runners. Your participation directly benefits our advocacy efforts on both the state and national legislative fronts.

So if you - or someone you know (!) - wants to race in a world class marathon (guaranteed entry for wheelers or runners, no matter what your skill level) - join Team U2FP for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. We’ll connect you with your other Team U2FP participants via semi-regular virtual happy hours, provide you with a fundraising guide, t-shirt and lots of support - plus we’ll refund your registration fee after the race! You’ll be supporting our Cure Advocacy Network’s efforts to increase legislative funding for SCI research.

Help us fuel the SCI-led movement for functional recovery by spreading the word about Team U2FP and helping us hit our fundraising goals, all while you check off another item on your bucket list. Register now for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Questions? Just respond to this email or send a message to marathon@u2fp.org.

Join us!