Shannon's Soldiers - Thursday, June 14th

We met up with the Shannon's Soldiers team in Flagstaff, AZ on Tuesday evening (6/14), attached are a couple pictures of their pit stop. Everyone was pumped and running off of pure adrenaline and excitement. We know it wasn't sleep as none of them had yet learned the fine art of sleeping in a moving, active RV in thirty minute bursts. Not one of our four riders had slept a wink! By day three of four, we'll sure they'll have that one down. We got everyone showered and fed, washed a mountain of dirty clothes, and sent them up on their way to the four corners area by the time it was dark.

Our four riders have divided into two - two man teams with John Asher and Pat Mahoney taking one leg, and alternating shifts approximately every four hours with Peter Alexandre and Dan Schmidt. Despite a few minor delays, the team is making great time. Thankfully, no accidents or penalties! You can check their progress and time station updtes on the RAAM website: www.raceacrossamerica.org (Team #408 - Shannon's Soldiers for CTF Research).

The Shannon's Soldiers crew is holding up well and dividing up their responsibilities between driving, navigating, cleaning, and the countless other jobs that need to be done. These guys are amazing!! There will be a crew change in Kansas City, MO sometime this weekend. Approximately half of the crew will be replaced with some well rested and fresh volunteers to help push through to the finish line.

On another note, we just heard that Shannon's Soldiers has made the news. Look for an article in the Arizona Republic on Friday (6/15/07).

Onward to Atlantic City, NJ!

PS: Tell the Ari's Angels team that Shannon's Soldiers STILL has enough food stuffed in their motor home to make it to New Jersey without stopping!! Who knew you could squeeze so much stuff into (or on top, under, and behind) a motor home??

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D-Day .........Tuesday Morning

Hey Folks,
It’s Tuesday morning. . . .Everyone is here, happy and healthy. I think Shannon’s Soldiers have enough food stuffed in their motor home to make it to New Jersey without stopping. . .it looked tasty too. I think we’ll just follow along behind and pick up the crumbs they leave in their wake. We all leave at 5 pm EST and travel on up a little mountain range and down into the California and Arizona desert for few hundred miles. Our riders and crew are pumped and ready to move. We’re leavening Oceanside with our chief, Ken Edmonds, Dawn Wilson, Rick Rickards, and John McCarthy crewing. We’ll lose Rick and pick up Dan Kendra and Doug Slemmer 24 hours into the race in Prescott Arizona. I think I’ll be riding during that leg. I’m reminded of a tee shirt my wife showed me one time about two skeletons sitting leaning against a cactus with the caption, “Yes, but it’s a dry heat”.
More to come!
Steve
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Ready to Race Across America

Children’s Tumor Foundation’s riders are ready to Race Across America.

Pat Mahoney receives an award at the RAAM starting banquet from Steve Kendra for his team’s outstanding fundraising efforts on behalf of the Children's Tumor Foundation.

Ari’s Angels Team poses with the eight-person team from MD Anderson Hospital also riding for NF research. In all 16 riders out of the 195 RAAM team riders will be riding to end Neurofibromatosis.

We have arrived in Oceanside

Click on picture to view larger image.

Hello Friends,

It’s hard for me to believe that we are almost ready to start riding in the Race Across America. Ari’s Angels and Shannon’s Soldiers have arrived in Oceanside, and as you can see, preparations are well underway to ready the vehicles and crew for the 3052 mile journey across the country. I watched the start of the 32 solo riders this morning and it was quite emotional, to say the least. The announcer read a short speech just prior to the start – I don’t know who originally said it, so I can’t give credit, nor can I quote it properly, but the gist was that for some, fear might lie in events or trials untried – and for others our greatest fear is that we may never have the opportunity to find out just how far we can go. We are truly blessed, these soldiers, and these angels, to have such friends and families to support this endeavor. And blessed to be given the opportunity to see just how far we can go.

Our hats go off to the wonderful friends who have supported this endeavor emotionally, financially and quite literally with blood sweat and tears. Thanks to you, in support of RAAM 2007, we’ve now raised in well in excess of $406,000 to fund desperately needed NF research. And, although we ride for two specific heroes very close to the hearts of each team – we ride for the 2 million others who suffer with this devastating disorder too.

Life is Good! We begin on Tuesday at 5 pm Eastern Standard Time!

Steve Kendra
Ari’s Angels

We are ready to ride !

NF Endurance Team Ride in the Race Across America!

Shannon's Soldiers and Ari's Angels are Racing for NF Research - on a bike!

What is the Children's Tumor Foundation and NF?

The Children's Tumor Foundation is a 503(c) non-profit charitable organization. The mission of the CTF is to fund NF research in an effort to enable treatments and a cure.

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a progressive and debilitating genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow along the nerves and nerve endings, randomly throughout the body. Additionally, NF can cause brain tumors, blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, learning disabilities, and more. NF occurs in more than one in 3,000 births and is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, hereditary Muscular Dystrophy, and Huntington’s Disease combined. Currently, there are no effective treatments and there is NO CURE for NF.

What are we doing to help?

Over the past several years the NF Marathon Team has run thousands of miles by participating in marathons across the country. This year, we are putting a new "spin" on our efforts to raise awareness and raise funds for NF research; we are going to clip-in and peddle our bikes over 3,000 miles from Oceanside, CA to Atlantic City, NJ as we participate in the 24th Annual Race Across America

Why RAAM?

RAAM allows teams or individuals to participate in this cross-country endurance race, in which cyclists ride continuously, 24 hours/day, 7 days/week for 10-12 days.

RAAM is the most grueling cycling event in the U.S., but it is nothing compared to what our NF heroes have to endure 24/7 everyday of their lives.

Who are the RAAM teams?

Ari's Angels and Shannon's Soldiers are our two four-men cycling teams riding in honor of Arianna Kendra and Shannon Mahoney - two young ladies suffering the devastating effects of NF. Shannon and Ari's fathers are the team captians for each team. One bike from each team will be on the road 24/7, with each team traveling up to 400 miles per day until they cross the finish line in Atlantic City over 3000 miles from the starting line.

How can you help?

Please support the efforts of our endurance teams. Individual or team pages can be viewed by clicking here.