Ashley Smith and Emily Duncan
Eastern Kentucky University

Ashley Smith and Emily Duncan Student Athletic Trainers Eastern Kentucky University

While any serious athlete knows what it’s like to tax their bodies to the point of exhaustion, he or she is likely unable to comprehend a constant feeling of pain and fatigue experienced by sufferers of CFS.

For Eastern Kentucky University student athletic trainers Ashley Smith of Frankfort, Kentucky and Emily Duncan of Cincinnati, Ohio, helping those living in spite of CFS comes as naturally as assisting some of the nation’s top athletes.

“By spreading awareness about CFS we were not only able to target the athletic population, but also those who are sedentary due to an illness or injury,” said Smith.

By making the CFIDS Association’s Catalyst Fund the beneficiary of their inaugural 5K “Race 4 Rest” in March of 2012, Ashley, 22, and Emily, 21, also sought to change the perception of athletic trainers. “Most people think of trainers as individuals who work only with the athletic population. We wanted to make those aware that we also work with the average person. Not only do athletic trainers work in the school setting and professional sports, but also with the military, industrial settings, NASA, performing arts and public safety just to name a few.”

Although Ashley and Emily do not have a personal connection to the illness, they say that raising CFS awareness in the EKU community allows them to assist a population of which many may be unaware.

“I hope our participants were able to learn about CFS, but for next year I think we need to draw more attention to the information. I know my committee and I, along with our Student Athletic Training Association, learned a great deal about CFS and I believe others would be interested in learning about the CFIDS Association also. Our goal is as this 5K grows, CFS awareness will grow as well.

“Our association does plan on keeping CFS as a beneficiary in hopes to spread more awareness each year as we reach out to other surrounding communities to get greater participation.”

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