|
Nearly 3,500 cyclists to ride 150 miles for MS this weekend
June 2, 2008
Contact: Emily Wilson
612-335-7931
612-578-4874 (cell)
ewilson@mssociety.org
Nearly 3,500 cyclists will ride 150 miles to help end multiple sclerosis this weekend, June 6 to 8, as part of the Bike MS: Larkin Hoffman MS 150 Ride — a two-day, 150-mile cycling event from Proctor, Minn., to Blaine, Minn., with an overnight at Grand Casino Hinckley. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Minnesota Chapter anticipates the event will raise $2.7 million.
Money raised through Bike MS events help fund programs and services for the estimated 9,000 people living with MS in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and cutting-edge MS research projects around the world.
The 29th annual Bike MS: Larkin Hoffman MS 150 Ride takes cyclists from Proctor to Hinckley Saturday, June 7, along the Willard Munger State Trail. Sunday’s ride, June 8, features the Sunrise Prairie Trail to the National Sports Center in Blaine. A $300 minimum pledge and $50 registration fee are required to participate. For more information, visit http://www.mssociety.org/ or call 1-800-582-5296.
About Bike MS
The National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter organizes three Bike MS events each year. The Larkin Hoffman MS 150 is the second of three Minnesota Bike MS events in 2008. The five-day, 250-mile Star Tribune TRAM (The Ride Across Minnesota), July 20 to 25, features Minnesota’s Iron Range and the North Shore of Lake Superior. The Minnesota Chapter expects the 2008 cycling series will raise nearly $4 million total.
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 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 an estimated 9,000 people with MS in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Join the movement at nationalmssociety.org.
Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for many people with multiple sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at http://www.nationalmssociety.org/ or 1-800-344-4867 to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.
|
|
|