Texas 4000 team rolls into St. Ignatius for ride benefiting cancer research
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News from The University of Texas
AUSTIN, TEXAS — This summer, more than 80 students from The University of Texas at Austin will ride from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, as part of Texas 4000 for Cancer on the longest annual charity bike ride in the world.
The team will ride more than 4,000 miles over the course of 70 days beginning May 31 with the mission of fighting cancer by sharing hope, knowledge and charity at every stop along the route.
The team will donate $300,000 over the course of the summer to organizations in the U.S. and Canada. Since the first ride in 2004, more than 800 students have made the trek from Austin to Anchorage, collectively raising more than $9.7 million in the fight against cancer.
The Texas 4000 team rolled through St. Ignatius on Thursday, July 4, just 34 days after departing from Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, May 31, on their way to Anchorage, Alaska.
Texas 4000 is more than an endurance ride for cancer. It combines leadership development, physical training, cancer awareness outreach, volunteer opportunities and philanthropic commitment. All students undergo an application process to be part of the 18-month program and once selected, each student is required to raise $4,500 for the fight against cancer, ride 2,000 training miles with his/her team, volunteer more than 50 hours in the community, and play an active role in planning every aspect of the ride to Alaska.
The riders will take one of three different routes to Alaska taking either the Sierra Route (through Southwest to California, then north); the Rockies Route (through the western U.S. and into Alberta) or the Ozarks Route (through the Midwest and across four Canadian provinces). Major cities along the route include: Houston, TX; St. Louis, MO; Chicago, IL; and Minneapolis, MN.
In Canada, the three groups will reunite and ride the final 10 days together to Anchorage. On each of the three routes, the riders will make stops along the way to present grants to cancer research and support service organizations.
“Each of these young women and men are leaders. They understand that leadership is about going where you are needed and doing what needs to be done,” said Scott Crews, Executive Director of Texas 4000. “They all have a story of how cancer has touched their life, and for that reason they have committed to making a difference in the lives of others diagnosed with cancer by raising funds for cancer research and support services.”
For more information go to texas4000.org.
