The day didn't end the way Sean Logan thought it would.
The former state senator and Monroeville mayor had a seizure from dehydration before he could congratulate every runner and walker at a fundraiser 5K hosted at Boyce Park on Labor Day.
“It was just hot. I guess I did too much,” Logan said three days after the event. He was hospitalized at UPMC East in Monroeville and then flown by helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland after having another seizure.
Still, the event drew around 800 people and raised $120,000 for the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, an Oakland-based institute that studies neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's to find better treatments. Logan, 48, was diagnosed with early-onset Parksinson's Disease there in 2016.
“Everybody was sweaty,” Logan said. “But everybody handled it pretty well, we had plenty of fluids.”
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Plum reached 88 degrees and a heat index of 94 degrees by noon on Labor Day. The humidity was around 60 percent.
He said 462 people ran the 5K, 354 walked it, 47 volunteered with the event and 105 children from the Viola Karate Dojo kicked for one mile straight.
“And these kids didn't have a shirt and T-shirt on like everybody else. They had their uniforms on. And, I mean, it was hot. They came across (the finish line) beat. But they finished well – just amazing,” Logan said.
The group of kids raised about $10,000 for PIND altogether, he said.
Labor Day's event was the third since Logan started organizing it in 2016. He said he'd like to keep the event at Boyce Park because he likes the convenience the park offers. Plus, he said, that's where he exercises with his family.
“It has a special feel for me. Boyce Park is just beautiful,” he said.
