The first Race
Jean Sullivan had never organized a 5K. She couldn’t remember even participating in one. But as she considered how to honor her late husband, Heisman Trophy winner and beloved coach Pat Sullivan, Jean knew she, her family, and her community could make an impact.
“My advice is really just to make the determination to do it and then just start talking to everybody,” Jean said. “It comes together easier than what you think. It is time-consuming but well worth it.”
In 2024, Jean launched her first Race to End CTE campaign, an online fundraiser leading to a 5K walk in memory of Pat, her husband of 50 years who gave everything to his teams and his players. More than 200 people walked together at Samford University to honor not only the legendary Auburn quarterback, but all former athletes, veterans, and families affected by CTE.
Jean was inspired by her experiences building community at CLF’s biannual Legacy Family Huddle in 2022 and 2024. Meeting family members who had faced similar challenges not only validated her own experience, but their strength and resilience galvanized her to share her story and involve her Alabama community in the Race to End CTE.
“It was eye-opening to hear from these families and researchers,” Jean said. “Families talked about sharing our stories and encouraged us to have our own Race. Even though it was just a month or so away [in 2024], I decided maybe we could have one in Birmingham.”
The support shown to the Sullivan family in Birmingham was immediate and impactful. That first year, Jean’s campaign raised more than $82,000. In 2025, she set an even bigger goal — and hit it. Her campaign became the first to raise $100,000 in a single Race to End CTE.
As its name suggests, the Pat Sullivan Family Race to End CTE centers a family’s spirit — a family with strength in numbers. From Jean’s 2-month-old great-granddaughter to her 98-year-old father, these events have brought together five generations to support CLF in honor of their treasured patriarch.
Helping other families
Jean says this passionate work on behalf of CLF is about sparing future football families from the struggles hers faced in Pat’s final years. She encourages everyone at her events to share the CLF HelpLine with those struggling with concussion or CTE symptoms.
“We know there are others that are suffering in silence, and their families and their children are suffering with them and they don’t know where to turn for help,” she said. “We were one of those families.”
On top of promoting awareness, prevention, and the HelpLine, Jean uses her campaign to explain the role of research in the Race to End CTE. She lets her supporters know their donations are helping researchers at the BU CTE Center make breakthroughs.
“It gives me hope when I hear that they’re working on finding a cure for diagnosis in the living through biomarkers,” she said, referencing studies like BANK CTE. “Once they can detect it, then they hopefully can find a cure for it. And then with education, people can learn to take better care of their brains.”
With two wildly successful fundraisers under her belt, Jean says she feels deeply grateful and motivated to build on this momentum in Alabama and beyond. Her Race to End CTE is far from over.
“I’m appreciative of everyone that has participated in the Race, whether it be online or here in person,” she said. “If they can all go out and share what they have learned about CTE, that would be very important to me.”
Through education and prevention programs, and research with our Global Brain Bank partners, we’re working tirelessly to End CTE.
You can help advance the understanding of CTE by participating in research.