August Chainbreaker Bike Event To Fund Research At Masonic Cancer Center

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, Minn., June 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota announces the 1^st Annual Chainbreaker ride, a weekend cycling event and extraordinary fundraising experience to raise funds for life-saving cancer research.

"This type of fundraising event has proven transformative for other cancer centers in the country, and we're excited to launch our own, Minnesota-style biking experience," said Douglas Yee, M.D., Masonic Cancer Center Director.

More than 700 riders have signed up for the Chainbreaker happening the weekend of August 11 - 13, 2017. Friday night kicks off with entertainment and a party on the campus of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in Eagan. On Saturday morning, riders start their 25, 50 or 100-mile journeys from Eagan and head south and east through Rosemount, Farmington, and Hampton (25-mile finish with breakfast). The route then connects with the Cannon Valley Trail out of Cannon Falls and heads due east. The trail ends near Welch Village (50-mile finish with lunch/100 & 180-mile lunch) where the route will veer south and west passing through the communities of Vasa, Belle Creek, Dennison, and Nerstrand, MN. Riders will continue west until they reach Cannon City, then head north into Northfield and St. Olaf College (100-mile finish & 180-mile overnight). Those riding 180 miles spend Saturday night on the campus of St. Olaf University and pedal those last 80 miles to Excelsior on Sunday morning. Visit https://chainbreakerride.org/ to learn more.

Every rider commits to raising at least $1000 or more based on the length of their ride with 100% of those dollars raised going directly to cancer research at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.  Riders have formed Pelotons (teams) of five or more bikers usually around a shared research interest (the EyeRollers Peloton is made up of opthamologists), a shared workplace (General Mills, Inc.'s Peloton is Wheaties Wheels), or a personal connection to an individual touched by cancer (Stumper Pumpers is soft tissue sarcoma survivor, Ruth Bachman's, Peloton) to share their fundraising, experiences, and train together.

"In a state where 50 percent of us will get a diagnosis of some form of cancer during our lifetimes, funding research is the only way to improve patient outcomes," said Brooks Jackson, M.D., Vice President of Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota is a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. For more than 25 years, researchers, educators, and care providers have worked to discover the causes, prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer and cancer-related disease. Learn more at cancer.umn.edu.

Contact: 
Naomi McDonald, UMN Medical School, 651-785-4171, [email protected]

SOURCE Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

Related Links

http://www.cancer.umn.edu