Lace up your walking and running shoes for the KAT-Walk & Karo-5K for Brain Aneurysm Awareness on Sunday, September 21, 2025 on the Back Cove Boulevard at Payson Park in Portland Maine.
This annual event is organized by a group of committed volunteers that seek to remember and honor our loved ones lost to or having survived a brain aneurysm. The goal is to provide support to the brain aneurysm community in Maine and raise public awareness regarding early detection and treatment of brain aneurysms. Awareness saves lives!
A brain aneurysm is a weak bulge on the wall of an artery in the brain and can catastrophically rupture. It is estimated that up to 1 in 50 people in the U.S. will develop a brain aneurysm during their lifetime. Due to the lack of awareness and research funding, the situation today is grim. Each year about 40,000 people will suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm. Almost half of the victims will die and of those surviving, only a third will recover without disabilities. Learn more about brain aneurysms…
The KAT-Walk is in memory of Kimberly A. Tudor, a Deering HS and UNE graduate and athlete, who lost her life to an undetected ruptured brain aneurysm in December 2008. The Karo-5K is in memory of Karolina A. Kurka, a Scarborough HS and UNH graduate who passed away from an undetected ruptured brain aneurysm in July 2011.
Now in its 17th year, this annual event has grown to include hundreds of families affected by brain aneurysms or stroke and this day is used to honor survivors and remember loved ones lost to this silent killer.
- 9:30 am: On-site registration, family gatherings, 50/50 raffle, activities for kids, and brain aneurysm-related information tents available.
- 10:30 am: Opening ceremonies with Scholarships presentation.
- 11:00 am: Karo-5k begins
- 11:05 am: Kat-Walk begins
Funds raised by the event will benefit our local efforts to support early detection, education, fund research, and create awareness about brain aneurysms in Maine and northern New England.
September is Brain Aneurysm Awareness month in Maine and nationally. Please join us, as we “share our tears, remember with love, walk & run to honor” Kim, Karo, and many other families affected and help save lives!