FORT CARSON, Colo.-One of the most important teams representing Fort Carson this year will have nothing to do with winning a championship, or playing for bragging rights.
This team will be playing for something a little more important than any sports championship will ever be. The team will be riding bicycles in Boulder, Colo., Aug. 21, to help find a cure for diabetes.
Fort Carson's Jonathan Ward has put together a team to participate in the Tour De Cure bicycle event that will raise money for the American Diabetes Association's fight against diabetes. This is also a personal fight for Ward who had two Family members that battled the disease.
"I am a team captain for Team Carson for this event that will take part in the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure event in August. This will be my seventh consecutive year doing the Tour de Cure. I have done this in every state that I have been stationed," Ward said.
"I was raised by my grandparents who were both diabetic so this has always been an event that hits close to home for me. They took the medication and did the finger pricks, but I never really understood the full magnitude of it. I left my grandparents when I joined the Army in 1997 and I started doing the ride in 2000 when my father-in-law got me into riding.
"One of the first events I found was this event that was being run in 40 states. I was new to riding and had a passion for riding and I felt like it was fate that brought this to me," Ward said.
Ward said the more he got involved with the event the more he began to understand what his grandparents went through as they battled diabetes. He said doing the ride and organizing the ride also makes it an educational event.
"If you didn't know a lot of the statistics and how many people we are riding for, trying to help and how many people are directly and indirectly affected by this disease it is an eye-opener. I currently have a four-man team established with people on post that I knew was riders. I'm hoping to reach out to 10-20 riders to represent the post at the event. It can be riders of any level. I will be riding the 100-mile race because it is so much more I can do for the cause.
"The event also has a 12-mile ride and a kid-friendly ride. We have people that don't get on the bike until an event like this just to support the cause even if they can't complete the 12 mile event," Ward said.
People interested in riding on a team can contact Ward at 315-406-8529 or e-mail him at jonathanward9 @yahoo.com. He added everything a person needs to know about the event is available online at http://www.diabetes.org/coloradotourdecure.
The ADA is a Combined Federal Campaign agency.
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