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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1 I am posting this on behalf of OBC member Paul
Throop:
- -------------------------------------------------------------- JOIN US IN LAUNCHING BOOMER�S RIDE! Sunday February 24th, 4 � 7 pm SPORTABLE, 358 Richmond Road (near MEC) Paul (Boomer) Throop is leaving March 4th to begin his 29,000 km, round-the-world cycle trip to raise funds for research in the cure and prevention of cancer. Both his wife and sister are survivors. A map of his route, web site, supporters and
corporate sponsors will
be there. We hope you will be there to give him a deliciously spirited good-bye and pledge your support for his courageous quest. - -------------------------------------------------------------- Paul �Boomer� Throop's Biography: The �Ride to Survive� Around the World Bike Ride
for Cancer Research
Who among us has the exceptional good fortune of
not knowing a single
person touched by cancer? Sadly, we all know someone who has succumbed to
this vile,
indiscriminant scourge. Increasingly, however, we also know survivors. Our growing knowledge of the disease, coupled with
our detection and
treatment regimes are allowing us to fight back and win. We will cure cancer. Just as surely as we split the
atom, walked on
the moon and mapped the genome, we will find a cure for cancer. Fundamentally, it�s a question of time and money.
But like all great
scientific triumphs, we will prevail because of the tireless efforts of an army of dedicated people who refuse to take no for an answer. People like Paul Throop.
He is known to a legion of friends and admirers
across Canada and
around the world simply as �Boomer�. He is one of those tenaciously dedicated people driven by the desire to make a difference in everything he does. He plans to make his difference by raising money
for cancer research.
He is going to do that by devoting the next 20 months of his life to cycling around the world. It�s a 29,000 kilometer trek, and he wants a pledge of a penny / km from as many people as possible. It�s an ambitious undertaking. So is finding a cure
for cancer.
Cycling around the world has been a life long dream
of Boomer�s. It
was originally forged in his youth when he traveled the globe as a competitive skier, National Cross Country Team Executive Director, and later as a ski manufacturer�s representative. In the last several years, his wife and sister have
both become
cancer survivors, and the dream of cycling the world for personal pleasure has now become a mission to raise money. Boomer is an exceptional 56 year old who uniquely
combines the
physical stamina, mental toughness and indefatigable optimism necessary to achieve his goals. As a warm-up for his bike ride, he will be participating in a 450 km, 7 day international cross country ski loppet across Finland. He did it last year as well, although that was just for fun! He also has a unique set of experiences in
logistics, event planning,
staging, and media relations. He was one of the principal organizers of the 1984 Papal Tour of Canada, and has had the same tour and logistics responsibilities in the past for the Prime Minister of Canada. Including the warm-up ski across Finland, his itinerary features a route that travels through 18 counties. It will start in March 2002 in Tokyo. The Tour will head west from there, through central Asia, eastern and western Europe, ending in the UK in mid-August. This first leg of the journey will take 7 months, and will cover over 13,000 km�s. The second leg will cover North America, and will
begin in St John�s,
Newfoundland, on Labour Day. The route will take him through the Maritimes, and into the US. He will head south, spending the winter cycling across the southern states, and down into Mexico. As next winter recedes, he will head up the west coast of the US, northward to Victoria for the final trek eastward. He will end up back in Ottawa on our national holiday, July 1, 2003. Boomer wants to encourage cancer survivors to climb
on their bikes
and ride with him. Whether it�s for a few kilometers, or a few months, he wants as many cancer survivors as possible to hop on their bikes and come along for a portion of the ride. While Boomer has not had cancer, he considers
himself a survivor. He
believes that cancer doesn�t just afflict individuals; it attacks entire families. His wife�s fight against the disease became their family�s fight. It was the same thing with his sister�s fight. Their illnesses and their triumphs have been profoundly intense, shared experiences. Boomer is the kind of guy who never needed a reason
to celebrate each
day, but he has his reasons now. And for the next 20 months, he wants to be the catalyst for a survivor�s celebration of fitness and optimism as he pedals the globe, raising money and hope in the quest for a cure. The operational budget for the Tour will not
consume any of the funds
raised by the ride. All money pledged will be donated to the cause of cancer research. The marketing and operational costs of the Tour will be funded through corporate and foundation sponsorship. A pledge form will be on the web site (www.ridetosurvive.org) and donors are encouraged to make a donation to the cancer research cause of their choice. Already, ZIM Technologies is aboard as a corporate sponsor and is providing a mobile updater for Boomer to broadcast SMS text message and email ride updates to registered subscribers. Once the Ride website is up and running, interested ride followers can register for the mobile updates online. And Sportables, one of Ottawa�s largest bike shops, in collaboration with bike manufacturer Trek, has donated the wheels and related support to keep him on the road. Other sponsorship arrangements are currently being pursed to provide other forms of support for the ride. About Paul �Boomer� Throop Paul was born in Collingwood, Ontario, Aug 14, 1945. His interest
in
downhill skiing was nurtured in the family�s back yard, on property that was eventually sold, and would later become more popularly known as the Craigleith Ski Club. He became a competitive junior alpine skier, and his fearless runs
down Collingwood�s steepest pitches earned him a nickname that stuck. But he was also an avid Nordic skier, and won a spot on the Ontario cross-country ski team from 1969-72. In 1972, he was named National Director of the Canadian Cross Country Ski Team, a post he held till 1976. For the following two years, he was North American Product Manager for Fischer Skis of Austria. When he and wife Heather were married in 1978, they put down
permanent roots in the scenic Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa. Boomer entered the Ottawa area�s budding high tech sector, and has been employed in sales and marketing in the sector ever since. He is currently the Executive Sales Manager for VMI Medical Inc., a biomedical company that engineers echo cardiograph software, for specialized use in pediatrics and heart center cardiology. Boomer is an adventurer who possesses a boundless reserve of energy,
and a gregarious, �can-do� personality. This infectious combination of traits regularly conspire to take him on fantastic journeys, like a 5 week, 5,000 km bike trip through Europe after a summer job with Splitkein Skis of Norway in 1970. He has followed the seasons to ski in the southern hemisphere, hitching rides across the Pacific on tankers and container ships so he could ski in New Zealand. In one memorable trip at the height of the Cold War in the late 60�s,
he managed to board a train on the Soviet Union�s Pacific coast, and road the Russian equivalent of 3 week milk run, whistle-stopping his way across the frozen interior of Siberia through to Moscow, and ultimately on to a ski meet in Munich. More recently, he has become an enthusiastic participant in the
annual RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa. Started 30 years ago by two reporters from the De Moines Register News, the ride has grown to become something of a carnival, featuring an estimated 20,000 cyclists participating in a 7 day, 1000 km bike ride that begins with the riders� back tires dipped in the Missouri River, and ends with their front ones dipped in the Mississippi. Boomer, Heather and daughters Amy and Megan have made the ride an annual summer pilgrimage, leading a small band of friends and relatives off on this week long festival of fitness, fun and fresh air for almost 10 years now. Through countless family bike and ski trips, Boomer has passed this
zest for life to daughter Amy, now in her second year at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, and Megan, a student at Heritage College in Hull, Quebec. And his passion for living has given inspiration and strength to
his
wife Heather, and sister Anna. Heather is a two-time survivor of breast cancer, while Anna has successfully met the challenge of colorectal cancer. Taken together, Boomer has all the requisite skills, experience
and
motivation to undertake and complete this challenge. Indeed, he is uniquely qualified. For more information about his trip and plans, contact:
Dr. Berne Reesor: (613) 741-5656
David Crapper: (819) 827-1782 Arthur W Lyon: (819) 827-1859 Paul Throop: (613) 797-0588 www.ridetosurvive.org (site under construction) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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