Athletes Bike for a Cure to Breast Cancer in Mission Bay

A pair of athletic events on Sunday brought cyclists, rowers, paddlers and kayakers together to raise funds for breast cancer research and treatment. Hundreds of bicyclists participating in the Tour de Pink 200-mile ride from Santa Barbara to Encinitas descended on San Diego this afternoon.

Riders coasted into South Ponto Beach — the final destination for the Southern California event. The riders took part to raise awareness and support for women under 40 who are diagnosed with breast cancer. The sixth installment of the cycling event raised funds for the Young Survival Coalition, a nonprofit created to educate and support more than 250,000 women living in the U.S. who were diagnosed with breast cancer before their 41st birthday.

Scripps Health breast cancer surgeon Dr. Cheryl Olson joined her patient Leslie Althof in a five-person team to collectively raise over $20,000 for YSC. Further down the coast, University of California San Diego’s Women’s Crew team was joined by local water sport enthusiasts for the 15th annual Row for the Cure on Mission Bay this morning.

Participants rowed their way through a 4.5 kilometer course through Mission Bay, finishing just north of Ski Beach. Funds raised by the event benefited Susan G. Komen San Diego — the county’s largest funder of free breast cancer treatments and the only local organization to provide free services for every step of a woman’s breast cancer journey, according to event organizers.

The Row for the Cure was started in 2001 by UCSD’s Women’s Rowing team after they lost aluma Lori Ann Uptegrove, and a family member, Joyce Snyder, to breast cancer. Over the past 14 years, the event has raised $100,000, the equivalent of 800 free mammograms.

— City News Service