Island cyclist hits the road to fight cancer in 2015 Obliteride

Exercise has long been known to be a powerful aid in the mission to prevent certain types of cancer, but, once a year at least, riding a bike has a much more direct effect in the fight to obliterate the disease.

Obliteride, the annual bicycle ride focused on funding cancer research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will hit the road again Friday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 9 — and so will Bainbridge Island cyclist John Hural.

Hural, an avid cyclist and Fred Hutch senior staff scientist, has taken part in the ride since its inception for both professional and personal reasons — including the loss of his mother and father-in-law to brain tumors.

“It’s a great way to be doing something that is making a difference in the world,” said Hural, an associate director of lab operations for vaccine clinical trials at the Seattle-based research institute. “We’re hopefully making the world a better place in the future.”

In today’s world, Hural said, those who do not know somebody affected by cancer are the minority.

“Cancer touches all of us,” he said. “Half of all men and one-third of all women in the U.S. will get cancer in their lifetime. These figures are shocking, but, I believe we can change the stats by funding lifesaving research at Fred Hutch.”

To date, event officials said, the annual ride has raised more than $4 million to support the search for a cure, with 100 percent of every dollar going directly to potentially lifesaving research.

“I think it’s growing,” Hural said of the ride, which has reportedly seen ever-increasing participation since its start.

When choosing to participate, riders can select which distance route they wish to complete: the 10-, 25-, 50-, 100- or the two-day 150-mile ride. There also exists the option to ride for just one full day, either the 85-mile trek from Bainbridge Island to Tacoma Saturday, or the 65-mile ride from Tacoma to Seattle Sunday.

The event begins with a kickoff party Friday, Aug. 7 at Gas Works Park in Seattle.

Both teams and individual riders collect donations via www.obliteride.org; interested riders can still sign up to participate.

Despite the heavy personal connections and losses which bring many to the ride, the atmosphere of the event is light and fun, Hural said.

It’s like a party on wheels.

“It’s really fun,” Hural said. “Everybody had a great time [last year]. It’s actually very light and positive.”

Hural is riding this year as part of the “HIVVAX” team, which may at first sound like a name out of place at a cancer research event.

“We get asked all the time, ‘Why is there a program on preventive HIV vaccines at a cancer center?’” the team’s fundraising page reads. “Our immune systems are not able to successfully fight back and clear HIV, just like so many types of cancer. The research done at Fred Hutch to better understand the immune response and learn how to strengthen it informs people working in both HIV and cancer treatment and prevention. People living with HIV infection are also susceptible to several specific cancers, including Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and cervical cancer.”

The Obliteride is an event that combines Hural’s personal and professional interests (cycling, science and medicine) and one which he looks forward to participating in and helping to grow in the future, he said. His team has already raised nearly $4,000 of their $20,000 goal, and Hural has also been fundraising through a page of his own and has raised more than $100 there, as well.

To read more about the ride, or to make a donation to either an individual rider or team, visit the “donate” page of www.obliteride.org.

For all of the latest Obliteride news, check out the official blog at www.obliteride.org/blog.

Obliteride 2015

Friday, Aug. 7 – Kickoff Party

Venue: Gas Works Park

2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle

Saturday, Aug. 8 – Start Line (two-day riders)

Venue: Fred Hutch

1100 Fairview Ave N, Seattle

Saturday, Aug. 8 – Finish Line (two-day riders)

Venue: University of Puget Sound

1500 N Warner St., Tacoma