Riders and donors in Pelotonia 12, the annual grassroots bicycle tour that raises money for cancer research at the OSUCCC – James, generated more than $16.8 million, bringing the four-year total for the event to more than $42 million.
Pelotonia officials presented a check for this year’s final amount—the highest tally since the event began in 2009— to OSUCCC Director and James CEO Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, at a Nov. 15 celebration at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in downtown Columbus.
The tour, which took place Aug. 10-12 on assorted routes between Columbus and Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, drew a record 6,212 riders, as well as 3,141 “virtual” riders and 2,105 volunteers.
The Pelotonia 12 fundraising total continued a rising trend by surpassing the previous year’s total of $13.1 million. Pelotonia 10 raised $7.8 million, and Pelotonia 09 raised $4.5 million.
Among this year’s participants were 1,635 members of Team Buckeye (a record number), the official Superpeloton for The Ohio State University—a team that included 1,198 riders, 336 “virtual” riders and 101 volunteers. Team Buckeye comprised 84 separate pelotons and raised a collective total of more than $2 million.
“Simply stated, the Buckeye nation has once again demonstrated the strong ties that unite our students, faculty, staff, alumni and fans in our shared vision of living in a cancer-free world,” Caligiuri says. “Our teamwork has fortified an event which, in its first four years, has raised more than $40 million to support research leading to discoveries that will improve patient care. We should all be proud of this amazing accomplishment.”
Pelotonia 12 opened with an Aug. 10 afternoon/ evening ceremony at Columbus Commons in the heart of downtown. The ceremony included food, live entertainment and remarks by Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee, Kenyon College President Georgia Newton, Pelotonia Executive Director Tom Lennox, Caligiuri and Steven G. Gabbe, MD, senior vice president for Health Sciences and CEO of Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.
The guest speaker was Woody Roseland, who was born in Colorado in 1990 and diagnosed at age 16 with a rare bone cancer that would recur four times, each with a new set of challenges. In June 2011, doctors found a four-inch tumor in his left calf and decided to amputate his leg. Despite all this, Roseland was a rider in Pelotonia 12.
Caligiuri invited everyone associated with Pelotonia to give themselves a round of applause, saying, “I’m so touched, so humbled by what you’re doing for this cause. And we’ll continue to ride until this disease is behind us.”