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Student bikes, raises money for cancer research |
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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
 Graphic by Jon LaFontaine/Photo by David Mulvaney
by HEATHER SANDERS
News Reporter
One Appalachian State University student will see the United States this summer from the perch of a bicycle seat.
Kara A. Brown, a senior psychology major, will be one of 27 students from across the country to ride 4,000 miles from Baltimore to San Francisco in the Hopkins 4K for Cancer.
"I’m
not a cyclist by any means. Before I started training, I’d probably
never ridden farther than fiv miles,” Brown said. “I think it’ll
really force me to take a look at my own limits and push myself harder
than I ever have.”
According to the Hopkins 4K Web site, riders will bike about 70 to 110 miles each day.
Brown said she found out about the Hopkins 4K from a friend who attends Johns Hopkins University.
She said the opportunity to see the country as well as raise money for cancer research is what really drew her in.
As well as cycling across the country, Brown said she and others will
give presentations to communities about cancer prevention and volunteer
on their days off.
“Our hope is that we will be able to give hope to cancer patients and
their caretakers and to survivors and to people who have lost loved
ones to cancer, that we will beat this thing … that very soon we will
find a cure for cancer,” she said.
Both Hopkins 4K and communities along the route will provide food and
shelter for the riders, though she said once they get close to Yosemite
and other national parks, they will camp out.
All riders have to raise $3,500, and Brown said she is currently at $2,500.
“I have truly been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received from family
and friends, and from the local community,” Brown said. “The reaction I
get most often is something along the lines of, ‘That’s really
exciting, but you’re insane for actually doing it.’ And that’s okay,
because it is a little bit crazy, but that’s the fun of it.”
So far, the Hopkins 4K Web site shows $85,000 raised for this summer’s
trip. The organization will donate $50,000 to the American Cancer
Society’s Hope Lodge in Baltimore once the riders reach San Francisco.
Brown is no stranger to fundraisers. Her senior year of high school,
her grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer and passed away 10
months later.
“I think it was the frustration with not being able to do anything to
help that really encouraged me to get involved with raising money for
cancer,” she said.
Her freshman year, she and a few other students brought Relay for Life to Appalachian.
“For the past two years, Relay for Life has been something I’ve been
really passionate about, and we’ve honestly been overwhelmed at the
support of the ASU community,” Brown said.
She said Appalachian students have raised over $40,000 for the American Cancer Society in the past two years.
The Hopkins 4K will start May 26 and end July 28. For more information on the organization or to donate money, visit www.hopkins4k.org.
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