Beach charity
Tour de Pier riders cruise past $1 million mark
Over 1,000 stationary cyclists helped raise over $1 million to fight pancreatic cancer during the Fourth Annual Tour de Pier at the Manhattan Beach pier on Sunday, May 15. Among the teams was the Pancreatic Cancer Victory Tour All Stars. Each of the five members had either fought pancreatic cancer personally, or had a loved one who did.
“The Tour was epic and emotional from start to finish,” said Laurence Cohen, who organized the team and celebrated his 65th birthday at the event. The team’s MVP, Lupe Romero-De La Cruz, ran the Los Angeles Marathon in 2013, just two months after surgical treatment.
“Not one day goes by that I don’t get emotional and thank God for my life,” said Romero-De La Cruz. Teammember Julie Weiss lost her father to the disease six years ago. In 2012, she ran one marathon a week to honor his memory and raise money for research.
“When my father passed away of pancreatic cancer in November 2010, I realized how poorly funded this disease was,” Weiss said. The team’s other members included Shawn Veronese, who ran a marathon a month to honor her mother Virginia, and Eric McIntyre, who rode over 6,000 miles through 18 states after his wife Liz passed away from the disease.
In just four years, Tour de Pier has raised over $2 million for the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Cancer Support Community of Redondo Beach and the Uncle Kory Foundation. Tour de Pier was founded by Manhattan Beach residents Heath Gregory and Jonathan Hirshberg, who lost his father to pancreatic cancer in 1997. For more information, visit TourDePier.com. —
Photos (CivicCouch.com)
