2025 Mackler 5K Website - Event Details

AN ANNUAL TRADITION IN NEWARK, DE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS


Scott Mackler, MD, PhD, lived with ALS for 15 years until his death in 2013. ALS may have deterred him, but it never defined him. Once a soccer player and runner, Dr. Mackler ran for as long as he could after diagnosis. When he could no longer run, others took up his fight by organizing the Scott Mackler 5K Memorial Run/Walk for ALS.
 
 
Mackler 5K - About Event    Scott and Harvey Mackler
 
 
 

An annual tradition at Temple Beth El in Newark, DE, the Mackler 5K Memorial Run/Walk is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The event has raised more than $2.5 million to support ALS United Mid-Atlantic's Scott A. Mackler, MD, PhD, Assistive Technology Program. This program loans technology and administers training to people with ALS, thus improving their quality of life considerably.

Throughout his journey with ALS, Dr. Mackler was determined to explore how the use of technology could enable communication and motor skills lost by ALS. He was a pioneer in the use of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), a system that allows a person to control a computer using only his or her brainwaves, with no movement required. His ability to use BCI enabled him to continue his scientific work at the University of Pennsylvania until the actual day of his passing in 2013. In 2008, Dr. Mackler’s success with BCI was the subject of a piece on the popular news documentary 60 Minutes.

 

Scott A. Mackler 60 Minutes    Mackler Grand Canyon         

Today, because of Dr. Mackler’s determination, BCI is changing lives in ways that he could only imagine. Virtually anything that can be controlled by a computer could, potentially, be controlled by BCI.

You can help continue Dr. Mackler’s vision by supporting the Scott A. Mackler, MD, PhD Assistive Technology Program or participating in the 5K this fall.