The goal for Livestrong Day was to recruit 500 new Challenge participants and I think everyone was a little bit surprised when the final number was released: 1,518 new participants signed up for the Challenge on Livestrong Day.
Amazing!
In Washington, D.C. 200 advocates met with national leaders to call for a change in the way we are raising awareness and funding for the cancer fight... but there were events all over the US and other countries, too.
For example, I spent my day at a hospital and talked to people who are fighting cancer right now. Later I just handed out Livestrong wristbands and it's so funny to see the reaction of people when they get suspicious of a free gift. Some didn't want to accept it because they thought I wanted money in exchange, some gave me the almost expected talk about their opinion of Lance Armstrong- (nothing good, let me tell you, but I'm used to defending the Foundation against all those talks about doping going on in Germany right now) and some didn't understand the meaning behind the wristband at all.
The funniest reply I got was from people at our local customs agency- of course the package of new wristbands was stopped in Frankfurt and I had to go to the custom agency. I told them a little bit about the LAF and about the fight against cancer and they actually asked me if I thought the wristband was a cure for cancer! Can you believe it? I think they were trying to make sure I wasn't some kind of charlatan.
Livestrong Day made me reach my first fundraising goal, too. Yep, I've officially surpassed the $500 mark- a little later than I hoped, but considering all the difficulties in my fundraising at the moment (the German cycling world is shocked with the news of years of doping in the Telecom Team- and more news about other European Teams and famous cyclists with similar results are expected) I am proud of getting there at all.
Anyway, there are some more Livestrong Day pictures and short video clips
Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results
-unknown
Yep, it‘s true. If you want to participate in the Livestrong Challenge and plan to ride in Austin, you might want to consider signing up for the Challenge as part of the 2007 European Cyclists Team on Livestrong Day (May 16th, until midnight PST). Remember: you don‘t have to be European to be a part of the team- it‘s an international collaboration and we‘d be proud to have you on our team!
Team= together everyone achieves more!
This is what the Livestrong website has to say:
Take the Challenge.
Register for the LIVESTRONG Challenge on May 16th and receive 1/2 off the $50 registration fee!
Important: You need to enter LSDAY500 in the discount code box to receive the discount.
Click here to register for the Livestrong Challenge Austin (October 12-14 ,2007) and join our team!
Click here to register for the Philly Challenge (AUGUST 25-26, 2007)
Click here to register for the Portland Challenge (SEPTEMBER 29-30, 2007)
If you already signed up for the Challenge Austin and don't have a team yet- don't worry. You can still join us. Just send me an e-mail to Region11-International@mylivestrong.com and I'll help you to join our team.
Have a great Livestrong Day and be sure to wear your yellow shirt and/or the Livestrong bracelet on May 16th!
Hello everyone!
There seems to be a virus out there, something like the “ignore your bike virus“, that affected most Livestrong Challenge bloggers this week. Well, I planned to get out and ride at least twice… didn‘t happen, though. The weather was gorgeous, so I really have no good excuse- other than meeting with friends, studying or sending out lots and lots of e-mails and letters to keep my fundraising going. At least I was doing some indoor training, and I promise to be better next week!!
The German Government presented their annual report about drugs and drug addiction this week. As usual, there are some good aspects and a lot of bad ones. Let’s start with the bright side:
- The percentage of young adults (ages 12-17 ) that smoke decreased from 28% (2001) to 20 % (2005)
- Laws that protect non-smokers have been passed on both federal and local levels. Smoking will be banned from all train-stations within Germany, all busses, trains and airplanes by September 1st, 2007. In addition, there are plans to ban smoking from all official buildings, including schools and hospitals as well as most restaurants.
Of course, there are some negative aspects of this report, too:
- 1 out of 3 German adults smokes
- Every year 140.000 Germans die from direct causes of smoking
- Every year 3.300 Germans die from second-hand smoking
- Germany sadly is among the leaders of European Countries when it comes to people suffering from skin cancer. 1 out of 5 Germans are being diagnosed with skin cancer- which ranks us 3rd in Europe, right behind Sweden and Denmark.
So, no reason to stop the fight against cancer, but all the little steps are quite motivating to keep on going strong!
Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a good May Day- or for most European countries: Labor Day!
Which pretty much means: a whole day to do whatever you want to do! Yeah, right!
First, I had to get up at 6. It was my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary and I was in charge of creating the present- two pages with an illustrated story about how they met all those years ago. It came out beautifully, but all the tiny drawings really made my neck hurt a lot. Oh well, it was all worth it... my parents told me it was a huge hit!
Next, I had to write an essay for college and start on a syllabus for a presentation.
The weather was just perfect and I really planned to get some training miles done- however, it was the first of the month... which means it's time for the monthly mentor newsletter for the Livestrong Challenge!
That reminds me:
Just in case you haven't heard about it, yet:
LIVESTRONG Day 2007 will occur on Wednesday, May 16, 2007. It's the LAF's initiative to unify people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer survivorship issues on a national level and in local communities across the USA- but there's also an event in Ghana, Africa- amazing, isn't it?
To see what Livestrong Day events are being planned across the US, please visit the Livestrong Day Event Page.
However, it's also a great day to tell people in your neighborhood about your fundraising and the LAF in general, to volunteer at a local hospital/ visit cancer patients- or to wear your Livestrong wristband and/or a yellow shirt.
Before long, it was getting dark outside and the only training I managed to get done, was a short 45 minute ride on my stationary bike- oh well, at least I tried.
