BOWDOINHAM

On Sunday, the Logan Sweet Foundation will host a 5K run to raise money for the nonprofit organization founded in memory of the Bowdoinham boy and foundation namesake who loved to be in motion.

Celebrate Logan: The Logan Sweet Memorial 5K, will start and end at the Bowdoinham Community School on Cemetery Road.

Logan Sweet, at age 6, died suddenly May 9, 2008, from viral myocarditis. He’d just recovered from a cold.

After his death, doctors determined a virus had attacked his heart, making it 75 percent larger than normal. Yet he showed no symptoms even at his annual physical only two days before his death.

In his memory and to help stop this from happening to other parents, Logan’s parents created the Logan Sweet Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to raise awareness about myocarditis. The foundation also aims to promote good health and eating habits as well as the importance of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle.

Past Celebrate Logan events have featured a performance by the Woodside One Wheelers (WOW) circus arts students and a juggling group, a music-filled “Down By The Bay” event, and the first annual event in 2009 called the “Moves and Grooves” fundraiser that also included music, dancing, face-painting and more.

This year, the Logan Sweet Foundation decided to do something different and has organized a 5K. The foundation invites people to “Get exercising! Get healthy! Live life the Logan way.”

Carolyn Sweet, Logan’s mom, said in an email about this year’s event, “I decided to do a 5K this year because I wanted to do something that was active and gets you healthy. Logan was a very active boy and knew the importance of exercising.”

Having never run a 5K before, Carolyn thought it would be a good way to get herself, family and friends in better shape, adding, “Many of my friends and family have never run a 5K, so there are many first-timers going to be running on May 6, and I think that is wonderful.”

Her son’s picture and faces of many others who have died from or are suffering from myocarditis, were featured in a full page ad in the February issues of Running Times and Runner’s World magazines, Carolyn wrote.

“It was at that time that I decided to do a 5K,” she wrote. “Spreading awareness is what we are trying to accomplish.”

Carolyn has been training since January — the month Logan would have turned 10.

“I feel his presence when I run, and know that he is looking down on me with a huge smile,” Carolyn states. “I am so very proud of my family and the hard work that they are doing to get ready for this run. The community has been wonderful and the registration forms keep coming in. Teams are being created and many local businesses are donating for our auction tables. Anyone can register right up until the day of the event.”

The Logan Sweet Memorial 5K is a rain-or-shine event. Registration starts at 8 a.m., and the event will start at 9:30 a.m. with a 1-mile Kids Fun Run around the playing field.

The 5K race will start at about 10 a.m. The route of the race is mapped out on the registration form on the foundation’s website listed below. Registration costs $30 for adults; $20 for children; and registration on the day of the event is welcomed. Children in strollers and wagons can take part at no cost.

Other activities will include the myocarditis traveling exhibit: “Not a Blank Canvas,” displaying stories from people who have suffered or are still suffering from myocarditis.

Auctions and raffles to benefit the foundation are planned. The auction will end at 11:30 a.m.

Complimentary snacks and beverages will be available before and after the race. Runners may wish to bring their own water bottles

To read more about the event, print a registration form or to volunteer, visit www.logansweetfoundation.c om or call Carolyn Sweet at 666-5544.

Learn more about myocarditis at www.myocarditisfoundation.org.