DePuy Engineers Ride To Benefit Leukemia
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Two Warsawans represented DePuy Orthopedics Inc. recently in a 100-mile bicycle ride around Lake Tahoe, Calif., to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Kim Dwyer, senior product development engineer, and Nadine Roth, product development engineer, rode in the century race in the honor of a 7-year-old Fort Wayne child named Kelsey and the numerous other souls who are stricken by leukemia.
Leukemia, a type of cancer that originates in the blood-forming tissues of the bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen, is the No. 1 disease killer of children under age 15.
But it is not only a childhood disease. Ten times as many adults than children have leukemia. Lymphoma and myeloma cancers related to leukemia, combined, will strike more than 100,000 Americans this year, resulting in 60,000 deaths.
The race Roth and Dwyer rode in had approximately 1,200 people participating. Roth said an "additional 800 people were just going along for the ride."
Roth said she decided to participate in the 100-mile race for a couple of reasons.
"I had a friend who did a run in Honolulu," she said, "and I donated for her and got contact information, (and then I) decided to do it."
But Roth also had a more personal reason to compete in the 100-mile bike ride. Her grandmother just died of leukemia, so completing the ride meant more to her than just helping a good cause. Her grandmother would have been proud.
Dwyer and Roth made the decision to join the "Team in Training" program, a comprehensive endurance-training program for runners, walkers and cyclists to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The goal of "Team in Training" is to increase funding to support the society's mission while promoting fitness and healthy lifestyles and is the No. 1 running, walking and cycling endurance-training program in the country.
Dwyer and Roth said team members receive personalized training to run or walk a marathon or to cycle a century. Coach Kathy Boling and mentor Holly Snow supported Dwyer and Roth throughout their excursion.
Training consisted of four months of cycling 30 to 170 miles a week.
"This program makes athletes out of those people who enjoy fitness by taking you outside of your comfort level," Dwyer said.
The Three Rivers Velo Sport Club, Fort Wayne, also helped Dwyer and Roth learn long-distance biking techniques and provided them with valuable encouragement.
Roth finished the 100-mile ride in 6 hours and 48 minutes, which included a lunch break. But to finish in this time, Roth said, she had to train and "get used to riding and (tone her) legs."
"I just began training for it in February," Roth said. "(I did) a lot of riding every day." Roth said she would ride a stationary bike while watching television.
"We have a lot of fit people here (DePuy) and we've been riding with them and they've been helping during lunch and after work," Roth said.
Besides training, Dwyer and Roth also had to raise nearly $4,000 each for the century ride. All team members are required to raise this money to aid research in the fight against leukemia. Dwyer's and Roth's fund-raising efforts were successful, with a grand total of $13,062 in donations.
DePuy gave $2,000 in corporate donations and Johnson and Johnson gave $2 for every dollar donated by DePuy employees. Fifty-seven people in the company gave freely to the cause.
"DePuy has supported us," Roth said. "They gave each of us over $1,000 in donations." She said the majority of their help came from co-workers at DePuy.
"People have been so generous," she said.
"We were supposed to raise a minimum of $3,800 each," Roth said. "We had to sign a contract once we decided to do it (compete)."
"We definitely exceeded our minimum," she said. "It will raise money for leukemia and (it also) paid our way."
Besides helping the leukemia society financially, Dwyer and Roth said they were honored to have a more meaningful goal to their physical efforts than just their personal health.
"The ride around Lake Tahoe was absolutely breathtaking and we could not have asked for better weather," Roth said. "It was painful at times and I challenged my body more than I ever have before."
She said remembering why she was there "helped me through those long and steep hills."
Roth and Dwyer said they were "absolutely" glad they competed in the race and Roth said she would definitely do it again.
"It's great just to help out," Roth said. She said she would recommend participating in races such as the century ride "to anybody." Local events such as this, and including running and walking races, take place in Warsaw and Fort Wayne.
For more information contact the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, Fort Wayne office, at 422-8389. They will have a list of similar events taking place in the Warsaw area. [[In-content Ad]]
Two Warsawans represented DePuy Orthopedics Inc. recently in a 100-mile bicycle ride around Lake Tahoe, Calif., to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Kim Dwyer, senior product development engineer, and Nadine Roth, product development engineer, rode in the century race in the honor of a 7-year-old Fort Wayne child named Kelsey and the numerous other souls who are stricken by leukemia.
Leukemia, a type of cancer that originates in the blood-forming tissues of the bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen, is the No. 1 disease killer of children under age 15.
But it is not only a childhood disease. Ten times as many adults than children have leukemia. Lymphoma and myeloma cancers related to leukemia, combined, will strike more than 100,000 Americans this year, resulting in 60,000 deaths.
The race Roth and Dwyer rode in had approximately 1,200 people participating. Roth said an "additional 800 people were just going along for the ride."
Roth said she decided to participate in the 100-mile race for a couple of reasons.
"I had a friend who did a run in Honolulu," she said, "and I donated for her and got contact information, (and then I) decided to do it."
But Roth also had a more personal reason to compete in the 100-mile bike ride. Her grandmother just died of leukemia, so completing the ride meant more to her than just helping a good cause. Her grandmother would have been proud.
Dwyer and Roth made the decision to join the "Team in Training" program, a comprehensive endurance-training program for runners, walkers and cyclists to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The goal of "Team in Training" is to increase funding to support the society's mission while promoting fitness and healthy lifestyles and is the No. 1 running, walking and cycling endurance-training program in the country.
Dwyer and Roth said team members receive personalized training to run or walk a marathon or to cycle a century. Coach Kathy Boling and mentor Holly Snow supported Dwyer and Roth throughout their excursion.
Training consisted of four months of cycling 30 to 170 miles a week.
"This program makes athletes out of those people who enjoy fitness by taking you outside of your comfort level," Dwyer said.
The Three Rivers Velo Sport Club, Fort Wayne, also helped Dwyer and Roth learn long-distance biking techniques and provided them with valuable encouragement.
Roth finished the 100-mile ride in 6 hours and 48 minutes, which included a lunch break. But to finish in this time, Roth said, she had to train and "get used to riding and (tone her) legs."
"I just began training for it in February," Roth said. "(I did) a lot of riding every day." Roth said she would ride a stationary bike while watching television.
"We have a lot of fit people here (DePuy) and we've been riding with them and they've been helping during lunch and after work," Roth said.
Besides training, Dwyer and Roth also had to raise nearly $4,000 each for the century ride. All team members are required to raise this money to aid research in the fight against leukemia. Dwyer's and Roth's fund-raising efforts were successful, with a grand total of $13,062 in donations.
DePuy gave $2,000 in corporate donations and Johnson and Johnson gave $2 for every dollar donated by DePuy employees. Fifty-seven people in the company gave freely to the cause.
"DePuy has supported us," Roth said. "They gave each of us over $1,000 in donations." She said the majority of their help came from co-workers at DePuy.
"People have been so generous," she said.
"We were supposed to raise a minimum of $3,800 each," Roth said. "We had to sign a contract once we decided to do it (compete)."
"We definitely exceeded our minimum," she said. "It will raise money for leukemia and (it also) paid our way."
Besides helping the leukemia society financially, Dwyer and Roth said they were honored to have a more meaningful goal to their physical efforts than just their personal health.
"The ride around Lake Tahoe was absolutely breathtaking and we could not have asked for better weather," Roth said. "It was painful at times and I challenged my body more than I ever have before."
She said remembering why she was there "helped me through those long and steep hills."
Roth and Dwyer said they were "absolutely" glad they competed in the race and Roth said she would definitely do it again.
"It's great just to help out," Roth said. She said she would recommend participating in races such as the century ride "to anybody." Local events such as this, and including running and walking races, take place in Warsaw and Fort Wayne.
For more information contact the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, Fort Wayne office, at 422-8389. They will have a list of similar events taking place in the Warsaw area. [[In-content Ad]]