More than 4,000 people participated in this year's Padres Pedal the Cause at Gallagher Square on Sunday. The event included bike rides, 5K marathons and spinning classes. Every dollar raised goes toward cancer research institutions in San Diego.
Curebound joined forces with the San Diego Padres a few years ago. Ever since, the organization has helped raised millions of dollars for cancer research institutions based in San Diego.
Padres Pedal the Cause brought together a group of friends from Torrey Pines to support their friend, Camden Hall. Hall was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma at 7 years old.
"It was a difficult experience, but God gave me the strength to power through it, and I survived, and I'm helping give back to my community now," Hall said.
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Hall and his group of friends wore jerseys to honor the memory of Nick Herrmann, a Torrey Pines basketball player who passed away from cancer in 2022.
"Nick Herrmann was a Torrey Pines basketball legend. He was originally diagnosed with osteosarcoma, had to sit out a year of playing basketball. But once he came back, he ended up hitting the game winner in the CIF San Diego Championship, and that's a legendary moment in San Diego sports. Sadly, he did pass away after his cancer came back, but we're memorializing him and the Torrey Pines basketball community," Hall said.
One out of every three people are predicted to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. That is partly why Curebound has been at the forefront of fundraising for cancer research — to some day find a cure for this deadly disease.
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"We really believe that in this lifetime, in the next 5-10 years, we're going to see significant breakthroughs in terms of new FDA approvals, new tools to prevent and diagnose cancers that early, or stages where, of course, you know, you have better outcomes," Anne Marbarger, the CEO for Curebound, said.
For the past 10 years, the organization has funded more than 115 research projects at all different stages of cancer discovery. Donations for Sunday's event are still going on for another month, and a few million dollars have already been raised.
