By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
People will spend two days riding bicycles in and around Eatonville this weekend in support of seriously ill children and their families.
The Mary Bridge Children's Courage bike ride, an annual two-dday fund-raiser for Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, will occupy the pedal power of 350 participants Aug. 26-27. All proceeds support the not-for-profit hospital’s young patients, helping ensure they get the medical attention they need regardless of their families’ ability to pay.
Mary Bridge, located in Tacoma, treats children regionwide. Last year alone, the hospital had 250,000 visits by patients, 39,000 of them in the emergency room. Ninety children received chemotherapy.
To help families defray those costs, this year's Courage riders have been raising tens of thousands of dollars in pledges from contributors.
As of last week, some were well into five figures, with the leading team at $32,000-plus and the top individual at more than $11,000. Organizers call the riders and donors “guardian angels for countless children.” Fund-raising is open until Sept. 30.
Last year's ride raised about $700,000.
The hours spent gaining contributions has built toward this weekend, when the riders, who come in virtually all ages and two-wheel experience, will be spending a lot of time on their bikes. Rides will range from 100-plus miles to just a few.
“We’ve changed up things a bit from previous years. Several of the routes will be going through Eatonville, (the town’s) Mill Pond Park, and into Pack Forest,” said Mark Swart, a spokesman for MultiCare Health System, of which Mary Bridge is part.
The longer routes include a 50-miler on roads and highways leading in and out of Elbe and Mineral, and the big one – a trek of 77 or 103 miles, depending on whether riders start in Centralia or Pack Forest. They will pass Riffe Lake and go through Eatonville, among other places along the way.
A five-mile jaunt for families will wind through the town en route to Pack Forest.
Those routes, plus the “novice” ride lasting 30 miles, are how “we’ve tried to make the event more accessible to different levels” of riders, Swart said.
The ride also has a new name this year. It was called the Courage Classic for its previous 25 years.
Participants who didn’t register in advance for the family ride can sign up on the days of the Courage ride between 11 a.m. and 12 in front of Eatonville High School.
After a day on the road, participants can eat at Pack Forest’s conference center and take part in activities that will be offered for all ages. In addition, a program will celebrate the riders’ efforts on behalf of Mary Bridge patients and “the courage they show every day,” organizers said. Evening entertainment will include music from a live band.
Overnight accommodations for the riders include cabins, houses and dorms as well as camping at Pack Forest, and motel rooms in Eatonville, where a shuttle service will transport riders to and from the staging area at Pack Forest.
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