About 100 runners and walkers hit the trail at Lake Accotink Park on Saturday, May 16, for HACA's Factor Dash 5K and Walk. This year we partnered with Bishop Events to bring a 5K element to the annual event, and the number of participants exceeded our expectations, with more than $40,00 raise through sponsorships, race registrations, team fundraising and basket raffles.

Thank you to both the HACA members who formed a team and came out to run or walk, as well as members of the local running community that supported our first-ever 5K.

The day kicked off with the 5K at 9 a.m. The trail for the 5K was an out and back along a paved trail through a wooded area. The walk started at 9:30 and was one mile out and back along the lake.

After the run and walk, participants were treated to a breakfast buffet from Silver Diner, which proved to be a popular addition! We also had some yard games, including an inflatable basketball game, and a glitter tattoo artist.

Thank you to our event sponsors: CSL Behring, DrugCo Health, Genentech, Medexus, Novo Nordisk, NuFactor and Sanofi. We are also so grateful to the fundraisers and donors that made this event a success. Kate Greene and Team Walk Steady for Eddie were the top individual and team fundraisers for this year's event. 

For a complete list of winners, click here  

The HACA Board of Directors welcomed three new members to its ranks on June 1: Brian DuVal, Veronica Scott and Marina Ventura. All three were elected to serve a two-year term at Chapter Education Day in March. 

We also bid farewell to three board members: Steve Long and Lindsay Runion, who each served six years total on the board, and Will Hubbert, who served two terms. Thanks to you all for your contributions to HACA! 

Our executive board for 2026-2027 is Shawna Gray, president; Kate Greene, vice-president; Kathy Krug, secretary; and Katherine Ladoja, treasurer.  

Our spring was packed with an array of activities for members: 

On Saturday, April 25, we hosted a von Willebrand disease education event in Alexandria, VA. Dr. Gary Kupfer of the Georgetown HTC spoke about emerging therapies for vWD, and Kim W., a patient advocate for CSL Behring, talked about self-advocacy. Thank you to our event sponsors CSL Behring and Takeda. 

On Sunday, May 31, we presented a screening of the documentary "Dismissed" in Bethesday, MD. Our very own Erica McLeod was one of the women featured in the documentary, and she participated in a Q&A with the audience after a viewing of the empowering film. Thank you to Sanofi for sponsoring the event. If you were unable to join us but are still interested in watching the film, click here to view it. 

We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday, June 21, at a baseball game between the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts and Olney Cropdusters at the Blair Baseball Stadium in Silver Spring, MD. HACA was a featured charity at that night's event, and we were able to share information with the public about the chapter. The league also provided the chapter with free tickets to attend. Thanks to everyone who enjoyed an evening of collegiate baseball with us! 

Have you ever seen a high energy 9-year-old child sit with rapt attention listening to an adult panel discussion? In May, I was privileged to participate in CSL Behring’s weekend sports clinic in Nevada with my son Eddie, who has severe hemophilia A.

At this clinic, called the Gettin’ in the Game Junior National Championship, Eddie got to meet and learn from college and professional athletes with bleeding disorders. He also got to work on his baseball skills and meet other young athletes living with bleeding disorders.

The second night of the event, the coaches for each sport participated in a panel discussion about what it was like growing up with a bleeding disorder and participating in competitive sports at the highest level. I waited for Eddie to start squirming and begging to leave – but he was captivated listening to these athlete role models with a bleeding disorder like him. I was really moved to see the impression it made on him. We are incredibly grateful to HACA for this opportunity and highly recommend it for any young athletes in our community.

-Eric Herrmann