Meghan Bathke of Marco Island, FL and formerly of New Hartford, will join 30 other college-aged students in the 4K for Cancer, a 70-day bicycle trek to raise funds and awareness for the Ulman Cancer Center at John Hopkins Hospital.
Griffin, Mallory and Sharon Kleps with Meghan Bathke (second from left).
The riders, who must raise $4,500 each for the trip, will depart from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on May 29, 2015 to their destination of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, a 4,000-plus mile journey.
Along the way participants will visit cancer patients at hospitals, host cancer education programs, and donate money to local charities.
Bathke, a third grade teacher at a Marco Island school, first heard about the charity ride while looking into interesting ways to see the United States.
“As soon as I heard about it, I knew this was something I had to do,” said Bathke. “I have always wanted to see the country and to do so while helping a cause as great as cancer sounded ideal.”
Bathke, who has already reached her first fund-raising milestone, is anticipating
getting her bike—which is donated from TREK, a sponsor of the 4K program—sometime in December.
In the meantime she has been training through spinning classes. The riders will average 80 miles a day. For nine days, they’ll bike 100 miles or more. The longest day is 122 miles in the Lake Tahoe area.
The 4K for Cancer was started by Johns Hopkins University students in 2001 and has been held annually ever since.
Bathke will be riding in honor of her late grandfather, James Finkle, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013 and recently succumbed to the disease, as well as all others who are battling cancer.
She is a 2007 graduate of New Hartford High School and a 2012 graduate of SUNY Cortland where she earned a degree in elementary education and literacy education.
She is the niece of David and Sharon Kleps of Thendara, and also the granddaughter of Dona Finkle of Thendara and Clinton.
To help her and the Ulman Cancer Center raise funds to find a cure for young adult cancers, please visit: http://4kforcancer.org/profiles/meghan-bathke/.
