Cupid Chase 5K today at Jaycee Park
The community is rallying to help a word-class athlete who was struck by a car two days before she was to leave for Spain to compete in a duathlon world championship.
Friends have set up bank accounts and organized a fund-raiser to aid Lisa Buohler, a Lehigh resident who was doing a final bike workout in September when she was critically injured along SR 80.
Buohler suffered numerous life threatening injuries, including a broken back, five fractured vertebrae, three lumbar spine fractures, two thoracic spine breaks, herniated and bulging discs in the cervical spine, a lacerated liver, a lung contusion, a lacerated liver, a fractured plateau of the knee, a sprained ACL, a small meniscus tear, a fractured foot, abdominal wall bleeding and other internal bleeding and bruising, according to a prepared statement released this week by organizers of the Cupid Chase 5K, a fund-raising race that will be held today at Jaycee Park in Cape Coral.
Buohler also suffered a rotator cuff tear, severed gluteal muscles and damaged nerves, a deep laceration to the calf muscle that included nerve damage, a small tear below the knee, exposed elbow cartilage, a fracture of the hand, a concussion, severe road rash and small pieces of carbon fiber had to be picked out of her thighs.
The Cupid Chase 5K will help pay extensive medical expenses that insurance did not cover. Friends say while her spirits are good and she is already beginning to run again, those bills are in the thousands of dollars.
“She’s been working very hard with the rehab several days a week,” said Thom Pear, a spokesperson for the Cupid Chase and a fellow runner. “She’s one of the best athletes in the country.”
A duathlon is a race that involves running, cycling and then running again. Different races have different lengths. Duathlon is the sister-race of a triathlon, which consists of a swim, bike and run.
Pear is a triathelete.
“She’s doing great,” Pear said of Buohler. “She’s running a little bit and she’s biking again. I think she participated in January in the Disney half-marathon.”
The Cupid Chase 5K will start at 8 a.m. today at Jaycee Park, which is off Beach Parkway in southeast Cape Coral. Registration opens at 6:30 a.m. Participants should be there no later than 7:30 a.m. The day-of-race registration fee is $30.
Awards will be given by age division to the top three runners in each.
In addition, special awards will be given to the top male and female overall winners, top male and female masters winners, grandmasters winners and senior masters winners.
Door prizes also will be raffled off at the race.
Donations are also welcome. They may be made to accounts set up for Lisa Buohler at:
Preferred Community Bank on Colonial
4379 Colonial Boulevard Fort Myers, FL 33966
(239) 728-2265
or
Preferred Community Bank
3020 Lee Blvd
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971
(239) 303-9544
For more information or to make a donation online visit: www.endurancesporstiming.com/Cupid_s_Chase.html