The Perfect Symbiotic Relationship — Sophisticated St. Louis

Over the past 15 years, Pedal the Cause has raised nearly $46 million for research at Siteman Cancer Center and for Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

By Christy Marshall

Local businessman Bill Koman was diagnosed with lymphoma. Twice. Once his treatments were complete, he decided it was time to give back to Siteman Cancer Center and Washington University in order to accelerate cancer research. Inspired by the Pan-Mass Challenge, a biking event that raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Koman started Pedal the Cause in 2010. Dubbed the “100 percent model,” every single dollar raised goes directly to research.

“You can understand early detection, you can understand there is world class care if you are diagnosed, that there are ways to overcome cancer or avoid it in the first place,” says David Drier, executive director of Pedal the Cause. “But without the research, there's just not as much hope in this equation. The research gives us great hope that one day we will see ourselves in a world without cancer.”

Something fairly phenomenal happens when money is raised for scientific research. Once an hypothesis has been proven — and granted, that can take years, the researcher can start getting outside funding, mostly federal. Before you know it, one dollar turns into $13. So that $46 million raised by Pedal the Cause has morphed into $598 million.

“We have a program called the Siteman Investment Program,” says Dr. Timothy Eberlein, director of the Siteman Cancer Center. “We invest in these new ideas. In many ways, it's like a venture capital firm … Over the years, we have perfected that to the point that now we expect the people we invest in will then turn around and write grants to the National Cancer Institute and the NIH [National Institute of Health]. And in fact, they're very successful. And that's the reason that we've had this phenomenal increase in NCI funding, over 600 percent increase, and we have a 13 to one return on investment.”

The ultimate hope is a world where, as Drier says: “Cancer will be relegated to a chronic illness that can be controlled so that you can live a reasonably good life —a lot like a diagnosis of diabetes is today. It's not a death sentence. It's not, the beginning of the end.”

Drier knows all too well this world where cancer kills. His own daughter, Victoria, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and ultimately passed away. “She was the first to do multiple things on the cancer front because of the research we sought out and the treatments we were willing to engage with,” he says. “And she had 12 years, most of which were good, many of which were great. Without the research going on, not just at Siteman, but throughout what I call the cancer ecosystem, we wouldn't have had this kind of hope. Pedal's unique place in this ecosystem is seed capital. Think of us as the venture capitalists for feeding dollars into research at Siteman and Siteman Kids.”

When Pedal the Cause started, Drier says it gave grants of $25,000; today they’re $500,000. “That's what it takes,” he says. To date, the organization has funded 223 research projects.

The organization also kicked in $1 million dollar into incentive packages for each of three new researchers recruited by Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Jewish Hospital. The hospital added additional funds.

“This is big money, big time, big outcomes, big impact, big footprint and a big ride day,” Drier says. “At the same time, Siteman Cancer Center has been rising up the ranks in national stature and it is now one of the top 10 comprehensive cancer centers in the country.”

Last year’s event raised $5 million. On September 22, 2024, Drier hopes to top that record. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Pedal the Cause now stands in the top 10 national ranking for peer-to-peer cycling events. As Drier notes, “This ain't just a little local ride.” He expects 4,000 riders this year. They start in groups of 500; the length of the ride breaks down into 10, 20, 30, 60 or 100 miles. For those who prefer a stationary bike, spinning is available.

For the first year, the event will be held at the Family Arena in St. Charles on the banks of the Missouri River and adjacent to the Katy Trail.

“Our 15th year has the potential to be the best Pedal the Cause ever,” says Bill Timmons, chairman of the PTC board. “We’re proud of what the Pedal Community has achieved to date and look forward to making an even larger and more meaningful impact toward a world without cancer.”

At the starting line, Drier walks around and asks riders “Who are you riding for?” he says. “Everybody's there with someone in mind. It's either for themselves — they're in the fight or they're in remission or they're a survivor — or they have somebody in their family or close friend network that's in the fight or lost the fight to cancer, or maybe they're a caregiver or a healthcare provider.”

In 2009, Teri Griege, a triathlete, was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer. Four years later, it metastasized to her lungs. In 2014, she and her husband, Dave, founded Powered by Hope to offer support to cancer patients. Today Griege has been declared cancer free. A Pedal the Cause rider and board member since its inception, Griege has raised a whopping $697,980 and her Powered by Hope team has cumulatively raised $2.9 million to date (Griege fully expects to surpass $3 million this year).

“Cancer changed my life, Pedal changed my passion,” Griege says. “Bill Koman gave me purpose to my pain and the chance create a community to spread hope and to make a difference.”

Aside from climbing onto the back of a bike at the event, Drier explained that anyone can partake by doing anything they want from baking a cake to fishing, playing golf, taking a walk, reading a book, whatever, as long as it is done in partnership with Pedals. “That's called our ‘Inspired’ category, which we came up when the pandemic hit and we couldn't gather as a group,” Drier says. “We said, ‘Well, let's still get people to sign up, raise money, get behind this cause. But their new start and finish line is their own driveway.’”

The costs of running both the operation and the event are covered by corporate sponsorships, family foundations and individual donors. Edward Jones will be the presenting sponsor again this year.

“Penny Pennington [managing partner of Edward Jones], has a great line where she says ‘This is an audacious undertaking and I couldn't be more proud to be part of it.’ It’s brazen but we believe we’re going to have a world without cancer.’ We're not messing around here,” says Drier.

Other annual fundraising events include A World Without Cancer Day, this year on August 2, where more than 150 local restaurants and shops donate a percentage of their proceeds to Pedal the Cause.

“The heart of the Pedal undertaking is all about hope,” Drier adds. “It's the hope it instills in and across the community that a world without cancer, as audacious as it is, is achievable through this collective effort. And that hope's a big part of our success.”