Jingling bells will ring throughout Carbondale tomorrow morning when people running and walking take part in the Jingle Bell Walk/Run for Arthritis at University Mall.

The Southern Illinois Arthritis Foundation hosts this event to raise awareness and to find a cause and cure for the over l00 arthritis diseases in existence, Paula Reeves, branch coordinator for the Southern Illinois Arthritis Foundation, said.

Money is desperately needed for arthritis, she said. There are 75,000 people afflicted with arthritis in Southern Illinois alone.

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She said the disease has no age barriers it inflicts infants as well as adults.

She said the event is in its sixth year and usually has 300 people participate in the event. She said the event raises around $7,000 for the Arthritis Foundation each year in Carbondale.

Everyone who enters the event will receive a free long sleeve shirt and jingle bell shoe laces, Reeves said. There will also be a holiday costume contest where the first, second and third place winners receive a plaque.

Bonnie Wheeler, vice president of news for WSIL-TV 3, has participated in the race all six years, along with her family.

This event raises awareness for arthritis and for the 37,000,000 afflicted with arthritis in the country, she said. This is not a rare disease. The significance of this event is that people are running and walking for people who cannot.

She said people afflicted with minor forms of arthritis walk in this race to keep their joints moving for therapy reasons .

I look forward to this event, she said. It is a blast. The race is well planned, safe and has a flat course.

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Reeves said the race route will go around University Mall, up Giant City Road and will circle back around the mall. It is five miles, with a three mile walk for fun.

Reeves said the registration fee for the race is $18 dollars per person or $150 for a group of five to race.

We encourage people to collect pledges for the race by offering incentive prizes, she said. The more money someone raises the more prizes they will receive.

The sponsors for the event are University Mall, WSIL-TV 3, WCIL, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, and The Southern Illinoisan .

The race starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow and sign up times to register are today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the University Mall, 1201 E. Main. Participants can also register starting at 7:30 a.m. the day of the race up until race time.

For more information call the Jingle Bell Hotline at (618) 252-0394.