Iowa City Courage Ride mission imperative as research funding dips

IOWA CITY — Contributions to the American Association for Cancer Research have seen a sharp decline in recent years — dropping 57 percent from $65.9 million in 2019 to $28.3 million in 2021 — and organizers of the Iowa City-based Courage Ride say such trends make their annual event all the more imperative.

Courage Ride, launched 18 years ago in 2005, raises money specifically for the University of Iowa Health Care’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Sarcoma Research Program — a cause with special meaning to the ride’s founders, Tom and Jackie Bailey.

The couple’s son, Seth Bailey, died at age 25 in 2003 after battling soft-tissue synovial sarcoma cancer for eight years. The ride honoring his life has since raised more than $750,000 for sarcoma cancer research, making up 85 percent of all sarcoma seed grant funding at UI and supporting one of the largest sarcoma tissue banks in the Midwest.

In unveiling details about this year’s 2022 Courage Ride set for Aug. 13, Jackie Bailey reiterated the mission supporting sarcoma research in east central Iowa and beyond.

“It’s rewarding and humbling to know that our efforts are helping to change the lives of cancer patients and their families,” she said.

This year’s ride offers five route options of different lengths — plus a “virtual ride” option and activities, entertainment, and a silent auction for nonriders. All routes will leave out of Big Grove Brewery & Taproom in Iowa City at 7 a.m.

Between 600 and 700 cyclists are expected to ride either the 19-mile, 37-mile, 57-mile, 86-mile, or 100-mile routes — all of which include rest stops with water, food, and live music.

Sarcoma is a rare cancer making up less than 1 percent of all adult cancers and 21 percent of pediatric cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates 13,190 new soft tissue sarcomas will be diagnosed this year, and 5,130 people will die from it.

In Iowa, more than 100 adults and children are diagnosed with sarcoma annually. But sarcoma receives just 1 to 2 percent of all cancer research funding, according to Courage Ride organizers, who urge more research could produce better treatment options and a cure.

Every year, Courage Ride honors a person who has battled sarcoma — like its 2022 patient Laura Liddle, 39, of Marion. Liddle was married with two young boys, working part-time as a speech pathologist, when she was diagnosed with sarcoma in 2019.

Initially, Liddle thought she had a torn or inflamed muscle — as her hamstring ached — but the pain and lump that had formed in her leg weren’t resolving on their own. So she went to the doctor and quickly realized the severity of her situation.

Following an MRI, biopsy, an in-person appointment confirming sarcoma, Liddle mapped out a treatment plan including radiation and surgery. Doctors removed her tumor Jan. 31, 2020, and she’s been cancer-free for the last two years.

“Today I’m incredibly thankful to have my leg. It serves as a daily reminder of what we all went through,” Liddle wrote in a post for Courage Ride. “I will be forever grateful to my team of doctors at the University of Iowa for saving my life.”

Registration

Online registration is open, and early registrants get a discount:

Registration includes breakfast, lunch, and entertaining rest stops.

“A victory party with live music will be held throughout the afternoon.”

For more information, including route maps and to make a donation, visit www.CourageRide.org.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com