IOWA CITY, IOWA (June 18, 2020) — This year’s annual Courage Ride is going virtual. Due to COVID-19, the bike-riding event, aimed at raising funds to help end Sarcoma cancer, will be held virtually from August 1-August 15 in order to protect the safety of participants. The Courage Ride was originally scheduled to be held on August 15.
“Keeping our Courage Ride participants healthly and safe made this an easy decision by our board,” said Leora Houghton, Event Director for Courage Ride. “The Courage Ride board is ‘coming together’ with virtual plans to make it a successful experience and to provide important funds to seed sarcoma research at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.”
Virtual riders can participate in the Courage Ride event from anywhere in the world. They have the option of creating their own routes and asking friends and family to join. Participants can also choose to download routes provided by Courage Ride to use on a training app. If a participant doesn’t have the ability to ride outdoors, they can also choose to ride indoors on a stationary bike.
On Wednesday, August 12, Courage Ride’s Facebook page will be hosting various Facebook Live interviews and events throughout the day including an online silent auction and virtual happy-hour with music from Justin Goodchild, Ace Jones, and The Bamboozlers. This full-day event will be hosted by Iowa native and four-time Emmy Award winning television host Jeff Houghton.
"I can't wait for the Virtual Courage Ride, it's such an incredible organization working toward such an important cause in sarcoma research,” said Jeff Houghton. “I think we've planned a great event, and people will have a great time and learn a lot about the need for sarcoma research at the work being done at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.”
The cost of the virtual ride is $25. Interested parties can also choose to purchase Courage Ride merchandise, such as jerseys and T-shirts, by visiting: courageride.org/store. All proceeds are directed to The University of Iowa Foundation to benefit Sarcoma cancer research at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Courage Ride’s proceeds have seeded research grants at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Sarcoma Research Program for over 15 years.
Sarcoma is one of the rarest forms of cancer affecting thousands of adults and chidren each year world wide. Yet it only sees one to two percent of all cancer research funding. Over the past 15 years, Courage Ride proceeds have seeded numerous sarcoma cancer research grants at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Many of those grants have evolved into promising, larger scale research studies. The results are leading to new advancements, new partnerships and attracting some of the best research talent in the nation. These studies truly change the lives of patients all over the region.
For more information about this year’s virtual Courage Ride and Facebook Live fundraiser, or to register or make a donation, visit: courageride.org.
