May 21, 2009
Bike MS: Larkin Hoffman MS 150 to celebrate 30th annual ride June 12 to 14
More than 3,000 cyclists are expected to participate in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Minnesota Chapter’s 30th annual Bike MS: Larkin Hoffman MS 150 Ride June 12 to 14. Since the Minnesota Chapter held the first MS 150 in 1980, the ride has grown nationally, with more than 100 MS 150 and other Bike MS rides held each year across the county. Since the inception of Bike MS, cyclists have raised more than $600 million to help create a world free of multiple sclerosis.
This year, the two-day, 150-mile Larkin Hoffman MS 150 ride takes cyclists from Proctor, Minn., near Duluth, to Nowthen, Minn., with an overnight in Hinckley, Minn. The Minnesota Chapter anticipates cyclists in the 30th annual ride will raise more than $2.5 million to help support programs and services for the nearly 10,000 people living with MS in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and drive research for a cure.
Event details
Cyclists spend the night in Proctor, Minn., Friday, June 12, before heading to Hinckley, Minn., the following day, riding along the Willard Munger Trail. In Hinckley, cyclists camp outdoors on Grand Casino Hinckley grounds or indoors at Hinckley High School or lodge in area hotels. Cyclists complete the remaining 75 miles Sunday, June 14, as they head to the finish line at the Nowthen Threshing Show Grounds in Nowthen, Minn. To download the route map, click here.
A registration fee and $300 minimum pledge are required to participate. To register or learn more, visit www.bikeMSminnesota.org or call 800-582-5296.
History of Bike MS
In 1980, the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter held the nation’s first MS 150 Ride, which drew 200 cyclists and raised $33,000.After hearing about the success of the Minnesota Chapter’s MS 150, other National MS Society chapters began hosting similar rides around the country.
Today more than 100 MS 150 rides and other Bike MS events are held each year from coast to coast. Since the very first ride — right here in Minnesota — Bike MS events have raised more than $600 million total.
The Larkin Hoffman MS 150 is the second of three rides in the Minnesota Chapter’s 2009 Bike MS series. The five-day, 250-mile Star Tribune TRAM Ride (The Ride Across Minnesota) takes place July 26 to 31.
About multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects nearly 10,000 people in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
About the National MS Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS through our 50 state network of chapters. We fund more MS research, provide more services to people with MS, offer more professional education and further more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS now. The Minnesota Chapter represents nearly 10,000 people with MS in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Join the movement at www.MSsociety.org.
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