duradash® 2025

This year’s virtual fundraiser will run from May 25–June 7, 2025. As with each year’s annual virtual activity challenge, duradash® 2025 aims to raise awareness and funds in support of spinal CSF leak research and education, so that more patients living with this under-diagnosed and disabling neurologic disorder are able to receive correct and timely diagnosis and treatment.

All about duradash® 2025

What is duradash®?

duradash® is a community awareness and fundraising event taking place from May 25 – June 7, 2025. During these 14 days, the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation is encouraging participants to aim for a total of 150 minutes of any activity, to be done at any time, anywhere, in support of spinal CSF leak awareness.

What you do and when you do it is up to you—and ANY activity counts, not just physical activity! In previous years, participants logged activity minutes doing crochet, playing video games, creating photography projects, reading to their kids, taking short walks, spending time with their pets, making art while flat, and more.

Our theme is “start where you are,” and our goal is to have 100 people participate, for a grand total of 15,000 collective minutes by the end of duradash®, all to raise awareness and support research for intracranial hypotension and spinal CSF leak. You can also learn more about the campaign via this short video:

Why 150 minutes, and why “any” activity?

The physical activity recommendation for Americans living with chronic illness or disability is 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise. But that’s not always possible for everyone — especially people living with spinal CSF leak. While research shows that any amount of activity is better than none, for many people living with spinal CSF leak, being upright at all is a challenge, due to pain and neurological symptoms. This is why Spinal CSF Leak Foundation is encouraging participants in duradash® to “start where you are” and perform any activity you enjoy that’s appropriate for the state of your health.

What kind of activity counts?

Literally anything you can think of! Some people might aim to go for a short walk every day. Others might choose to log minutes spent reading a book, doing a craft, snuggling with a pet, or standing up to take a shower—you get the idea. Whatever activity you choose to do, duradash® is a great opportunity to raise awareness about spinal CSF leak by sharing a little glimpse of your life.

What will my duradash® campaign support?

The money raised by your campaign will support the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation’s mission and research/educational goals. We believe it is crucial to continue to raise awareness among medical professionals by educating physicians and others about intracranial hypotension and spinal CSF leak. Physician awareness of spinal CSF leak is essential for reducing the time between symptom onset, diagnosis, and treatment. It also plays a critical role in recognizing the complexity of the condition — especially for those who continue to suffer even after intervention. In addition to its commitment to education and awareness, the Foundation remains dedicated to advancing research that improves the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of spinal CSF leak, directly impacting the lives of those affected. This includes funding the international patient registry, the ileak registry℠, as well as providing educational grants and co-sponsorship for conferences such as the Intracranial Hypotension conference and the patient-centered Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap conference.

Where and when do I sign up?

We’ll be updating this page with information on how to sign up and register soon — check back on May 18th!

How can I help spread the word about duradash®?

We are finishing up an online toolkit for you, complete with messaging and graphics and all kinds of information you can share with your family and friends through social media, email, text, or anywhere you connect online, and will share it soon!

Yes—our merchandise will be updated with our 2025 logos, and you will be able buy t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other duradash® and leakweek merch on our online store. We’ll have this ready to go for May 18th too!

What else can I do to get involved?

• See the leakweek 2025 page to learn about other ways to get involved! This includes”Go purple day” on June 4th, writing landmarks locally to get them to light up in support of Spinal CSF Leak Awareness Week / leakweek, and petitioning your local governments to issue a proclamation in support of raising awareness for the condition.
• If you visit a landmark that is lighting up, send us a photo to staff@spinalcsfleak.org or tag us at @spinalcsfleakUSA on Instagram.
• Share your story: Tell others what you are doing and why.
• Share your progress: Post updates and let people know what you’re up to!
• We’re using the hashtags #leakweek2025 #duradash2025 #spinalCSFleak for leakweek and duradash® this year — tag us @spinalcsfleakusa on Instagram or via our Facebook page when you post on social media.