Seven-year-old Evan Newport felt the exaltation of racing through Michigan Stadium’s tunnel and crossing the field’s midfield stripe this morning.

Evan completed the Big House Big Heart 10K run with his father, Scott, and Nancy Cutler, the boy’s doctor since birth. The two runners took turns pushing Evan’s jogging stroller over the course, which started outside the Stadium’s northeast corner, at Keech Avenue and Greene Street, and wound through Central Campus before ending at the field’s 50-yard line.

Ian Forsyth of Ann Arbor takes the win in the 10k run during the third annual Big House Big Hearts event on Sunday. More than 10,000 runners and walkers participated.

Mark Bialek | For AnnArbor.com

“It’s going after a losing battle—but not what we would call losing,” said Cutler, a pediatric cardiologist at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak.

Evan was born with Noonan’s syndrome, which typically includes a thickening of the heart muscles. Called “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” the terminal condition keeps Evan on a ventilator almost full-time. 

After finishing the race, he was briefly disconnected from his ventilator lines and enjoyed a walk between the field's hash marks. The tracheotomy that supports his breathing tubes leaves him unable to speak.

“Basically, every day is a blessing,” Cutler said.

To make it race-ready, Evan’s stroller was extensively modified to accommodate the onboard ventilator unit, its battery power supply and tubing that carries air to the boy’s lungs.

The stroller was also accessorized with a sign that proclaimed, “My cardiologist’s heart is big enough for both of us.”

“Nothing is made for that,” Newport said. “But I’m a carpenter by trade, so I build a lot of that stuff.”

Penni Newport accompanied her son and husband from their Royal Oak home and watched the race as a spectator. The Newports also have a 10-year-old son, Noah, who was to play with his football team later in the day.

Newport estimated the gross weight of Evan’s stroller at 90 pounds. He and Cutler agreed pushing it wasn’t easy, especially on the Division Street hill leading up from Madison Street. 

Participating on her 46th birthday, Cutler, a West Bloomfield resident, wore a special “Happy Birthday” jersey made by her two sons. She and Newport pushed Evan two years ago in the event, but the 10K portion was only added this year. 

Runners started at 8 a.m. and enjoyed cool and cloudy conditions that many said were perfect. The 5K and one-mile races started later in the morning. All told, organizers said more than 10,000 people participated.

Running Fit presented the race, which benefitted ALS research at U-M’s Program for Neurology Research and Discovery, as well as the U-M Cardiovascular Center, Mott Hospital and other charities.

Ian Forsyth of Ann Arbor won the 10K in 31:19. Forsyth said he ran for U-M in the mid-1990s and was tuning up for the Columbus Marathon.

Nadia Baadj, a U-M graduate student in art history, took honors among women in 38:05. A Massachusetts native who competed at the University of Virginia, Baadj found the course easy. “There were really no hills,” she said.

Rich Firth, a Dearborn resident, finished soon after Baadj and disagreed about the hills, saying the course was tougher than expected. “This is the first time I’ve raced hills,” he said.

Ronald Ahrens is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.