More than 7,000 miles away in a sweltering desert, where temperatures reach 125 degrees, 600 soldiers will be participating in their own LIVESTRONG Challenge. The heavily secured streets at Victory Base camp in Baghdad will be host to a 50 mile bike ride and a separate 10k run on October 25th. Organized by Maj. Scott LaRonde, a U.S. Army intelligence planner, this challenge is in memory of his father-in-law, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this June.
So far LaRonde, 38, and his crew has successfully raised over $16,000 for the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation, the non-profit organization founded by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. This race has not only given LaRonde’s family and his crew honor his father-in-law, but it has also kept him in close touch with his hometown.
"Our kids get bigger, our communities change, our family relations change, and we miss that if we don't work really hard to stay connected. I think that having an event like this here allows all of us to stay connected to and involved with what is going on back home," he says.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation has shipped over supplies, including 300 T-shirts and race bibs for the participants. The word has spread and donations have been flowing in to fund the development of support programs, prevention and screening research as well as improving the quality of life for those affected by cancer.
"Many of us over here, as I have learned in the course of organizing this event, have loved ones who have had to fight cancer," LaRonde says.
This is only the second time a military group has hosted a LIVESTRONG event. This number is sure to increase with the heightened attention being paid to cancer awareness and research. Members of the military have in someway been affected by some form of cancer whether it is themselves, family, or friends.
An aggressive cancer that has specifically been known to strike U.S. military veterans is mesothelioma. This cancer is caused by the inhalation and exposure to asbestos. As a widely used material in the U.S. forces, asbestos was used as an insulator because of its heat-resistance properties. Seen in boiler rooms, shipyards, buildings, and more, military personnel often inhaled hazardous airborne asbestos fibers, which would then cause an attack on their health.
Mesothelioma occurs when the asbestos fibers attack the mesothelium, or layer of tissue covering the body’s organs. As the asbestos fibers infiltrate the mesothelium, symptoms which are parallel to bronchitis and influenza occur. The latency of mesothelioma diagnosis is due to its similarity of a bad cough or cold, causing the disease anywhere from 20-50 years to develop. Its diagnosis often comes too late, usually found in its later stages.
Veterans occupy the largest group of those diagnosed with mesothelioma. It’s those that risk their life for our country, who are among the individuals with the greatest risk of mesothelioma. An event such as the LIVESTRONG challenge remembers and honors those who lost their life or who are fighting cancers such as mesothelioma.
Doug Ulman, president and chief executive officer of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and cancer survivor himself comments, “It just shows that our shared common cause and common mission is important.”
