For those of you who missed our first SEVEN events, they were a HUGE success! The Action For Distraction was born when Zach Rice was 10 years old, and recovering from his third surgery on his hip since he rang in 2011 in Morristown Medical Center, recovering from emergency surgery on a septic hip (age 9). After spending his fair share of time in the hospital because of it, and resulting avascular necrosis, and dealing with tremendous amounts of pain due to an external fixator, Zach made a decision. Since his stay at the Goryeb Children's Hospital was significantly better after his dad brought a gaming system from home for him to distract himself with, he decided he wanted to raise money to buy some gaming systems for other kids who go through something like what he went through in the hospital! So, he teamed up with Kids 4 Kids at the Foundation For Morristown Medical Center to put together this amazing charity event!! Combined, our first seven 5K's raised more than $150,000, and with some of that money, we were able to purchase 34 Sony PS3's ... now every room at Goryeb Children's Hospital has a gaming system!! Funds each year continue to go to gaming system upkeep and new games, as well as other means of distraction, like art and music programs for the kids! Check out more of Zach's story, in his own words! 

For the Inaugural event in 2013, he had his fixator off for just a few weeks, and it took him well over an hour and the amazing support of his friends to cross the finish line. Fast forward to today, and he still has a slight limp, but he's ditched the cane, and he's once again planning the 5K every step the way for the 8th annual event!

**THE FOUNDATION FOR MORRISTOWN MEDICAL CENTER is sponsoring the event with us! Established in 1995, the Foundation is a nonprofit, public foundation whose mission is to inspire community philanthropy to advance exceptional health care for patients at Morristown Medical Center.