ALS Warriors over the years
Henry Louis Gehrig
Born June 19, 1903 – Died June 2, 1941
Lou Gehrig was an American professional baseball player wgo played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1923-1939.
Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him his nickname "the Iron Horse". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He was an All-Star seven consecutive times,Triple Crown Winner once an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice and a member of six World Series Championship teams.
A native of New York City, Gehrig signed with the Yankees on April 29, 1923. He set several major-league records during his career with the consecutive played games streak of 2,130 which stood for 56 years until it was surpassed by Carl Ripken in 1995.
Gehrig's consecutive game streak ended on May 2, 1939, when he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup, stunning both players and fans, after his performance on the field became hampered by an undiagnosed ailment subsequently confirmed to be ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) ALS is an incurable neuromuscular illness, now commonly referred to in much of the world as "Lou Gehrig's disease”.
The disease forced him to retire at age 36 when he was diagnosed on his birthday June 19,1939 and claimed his life two years later June 2, 1941.
The pathos of his farewell from baseball was capped off by his iconic 1939 "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at Yankee Stadium.
In 1969, the Baseball Writers Association of Ameri voted Gehrig the greatest first baseman of all time.
On June 2, 2021, after 80 years from Lou Gehrig’s death, MLB commentated June 2 as Lou Gehrig Day across the nation at all MLB stadiums.
ALS Warrior - Irvin Sopinsky
Irvin Sopinsky - October 31, 1922 - September 26, 1966
Died September 26, 1966
ALS Warrior - Michael Cimbura
Michael Cimbura - June 25, 1966 - March 18, 2019
The Michael Cimbura Story. At the beginning of 2015, just 6 years ago, Mike Cimbura was a vibrant, adventurous loving husband and father who was about to have his entired world turned upside down.
On January 11, 2015 Mike was diagonsed with ALS. His wife, Nicole, and their 3 beautiful children, Seide, Aiden & Elle along with Mike vowed to fight this horrible disease and do whatever they could to bring greater awareness to the public and to fight at the govermental level to bring change to a disease that not much has changed since 1941 when baseball star, Lou Gehrig died from ALS.
Fight, that is just what they did. Mike lived on a street call Hackberry Lane in Highlands Ranch, Colorado along with a group of neighbors who were also his cycling buddies. After Mike’s diagnosis, two of his neighbors, Chris Baker and Mike Besser with a couple of Mike’s Racing Teammates, decided to do a charity ride they had heard about, The DEATH RIDE Tour .. Ride 2 Conquer ALS. They trained hard for the June event knowing it would be quite a challenge but not anywhere near the challenge Mike and his family were facing.While at a fundraising event, Mike Besser asked founder Barry Sopinsky if Mike could come to the event as a guest speaker. Barry immediately jumped on the idea and that June 2015, Mike and his son Aiden came for the last day finish from Durango back to Silverton. Mike was truly an inspiration to the riders speaking to them about his ALS and his Never Quit Philosophy.
At that time Mike was still able to walk and talk but he was losing weight and getting weaker day by day.Barry did not hear from Mike until the spring of the following year. That’s when he received an email from Mike saying that he wanted to participate in the upcoming 2016 DEATH RIDE Tour VII. Unfortunately, by now, Mike was confined to a wheelchair, breathing with a ventilator and speaking with an eyes gaze computer.
Barry had no idea how or what kind of bike could take an individual in Mike’s condition (breathing on a ventilator that required electicity) on a 235-mile bicycle ride over 5 mountain passes and 17,000 feet of elevation gain. Well that was until Barry found out about Zach Yendra and the “Bootlegger Bike".
The rest is history and another story that Barry would love to tell you at the event if you are new to the DEATH RIDE Tour. Here are some quick foot notes: Mike and Zach did the DEATH RIDE Tour 3 years in a row, 2016, 2017 & 2018. Mike was anxiously awaiting summer and his 4th DRT, which was the DEATH RIDE Tour’s 10th Anniversary. Unfortunately, Mike passed away on March 18, 2019, 3 months prior to the event. Mike’s legacy as the an Event Angel of Life, will live on for as long as people like you continue to ride in Mike's memory. my Dad's and all the other fallen ALS Warriors.
Died March 18, 2019
Michael Cimbura - June 25, 1966 - March 18, 2019
Please consider making a donation in memory of Mike. All donations will go directly to ALS-TDI, the #1 ALS research center dedicated 100% for finding a cure for ALS.
ALS Warrior - Jon The "Blazeman" blais
Jon The "Blazeman" Blais - August 30, 1971 - May 27, 2007
ALS Warrior - IRONMAN KYLE BROWN
ALS Warrior - Andrea Lytle Peet
By 2013, I had run a marathon and done 9 triathlons, including a 70.3-mile half Ironman.
In 8 months I went from the strongest I’d ever been to walking with a cane – and I was diagnosed with ALS in May 2014, at the age of 33.
So what do you do when you’re told that you’re going to die in the next 2-5 years? That there is no treatment and no cure.
And that before you die, you will lose the ability to walk, talk, move, eat, and breathe?
My husband and I had just bought a house. We were planning to start a family.
I realized is that if there was something I really wanted to do – I needed to do it now.
We bought a recumbent trike and I signed up for my “last” triathlon, which became the most extraordinary day of my life as more than a hundred people stayed to cheer us in.
Since most people with ALS die between 2-5 years, reaching my 5th anniversary in May 2019 felt like a huge milestone. But I realized there’s a big difference between ‘not dying’ and LIVING. So I decided to take on the craziest goal I could think of — a marathon in all 50 states. At the time, I was at state #7.
The journey that followed was harder and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. States that were just checkboxes on my way to 50 became places, people, memories that I will always treasure.
Being outside, feeling my muscles move, breathing hard… these are all things I should have lost by now. These simple joys are denied to people with ALS as they are forced to watch themselves die, muscle by muscle. I never forget that.
In May 2022, surrounded by my friends and family, on a remote island in Alaska, I became the first person with ALS to do 50 marathons in all 50 states.
I hope my journey inspires you to go on and be brave.
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ALS Warrior - Christine Gilmore
After moving to Colorado in 2006, Christine Gilmore quickly took to hiking and snowshoeing. Her passion for the outdoors continued for more than a decade with her starting to climb bigger peaks in Colorado in 2015. A short four years later, Gilmore received news that changed her life forever.
After meeting with a neurologist to find out why she was tripping and falling on a regular basis, Gilmore was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – more commonly called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. She was told to get her affairs in order, met with emotions of grief and denial.
As motor neurons start to die as a result of the disease, muscles used for basic tasks like breathing, walking, and swallowing start to wither. Unfortunately, there is no cure and it can leave patients in a state of paralysis.Died August 16, 2021
In spite of challenges brought on by the disease, Gilmore has continued to seek joy in the outdoors. This passion led Gilmore to the highest point in Colorado on September 12, with the help of the Lockwood Foundation.
Called an 'ALS warrior' in a press release from the organization, Gilmore made it to the 14,433-foot summit of Mount Elbert in an adaptive wheelchair, walking the last few steps to the summit with the aid of her husband and other volunteers.
She was inspired to summit the peak by past words that a hospice patient had shared with Gilmore during her time as a registered nurse – don't wait for "someday" and live life to the fullest.
ALS Warrior - Jeff Fleming
I had the pleasure to meet Jeff Fleming and his family, wife Stacie, son Jack and daughter Caroline along with NFL Hall of Fame running back, Barry Sanders at the 2021 OHIO Challenge2ConquerALS. Unfortunately, Jeff passed away on January 26, 2022.
He was born in Youngstown, Ohio on August 12, 1978 to Jeffrey and Rosemary (Dailey) Fleming. He was a proud graduate of Youngstown State University and Boardman High School in his hometown.
Jeff made an impact on every life he touched. Although he lived in the central Ohio area the last 20 years of his life, his heart never left Youngstown. He was a fiercely loyal husband, father, son, brother, nephew, cousin and friend.
His passion, sense of humor, intelligence and compassion allowed him to lead a life that we could all be proud of.
ALS Warrior - William White
In January of 2019 Barry found out about a ex NFL football player, William White, from Ohio State University with ALS. His sister-in-law, an OSU AIumni, informed him about William and his ALS diagnosis. Barry being the kind of guy he is immediately reached out to William to see what he could do for him. Barry invited William to come to the June DEATH RIDE Tour as his guest. William and Barry's wife Deborah spent three days as rider support and singing Car Pool Karaoke with Rihanna's "Love On The Brain" being their favorite.
After that event, Barry and William stayed in touch and in August of 2020, Barry took William to go Skydiving as one of the 3 Challenges of Challenge2ConquerALS. William had an awesome experience.
In 2021, William asked Barry to bring the Challenge to Ohio and that's excatly waht Barry did. On July 10, 2021, the OHIO Challenge2ConquerALS was held with an Expo at the Horseshoe Stadium rasisng $25,000 in William's honor for the OSU Wexner Medical Center, ALS Reserach Clinic lead by Dr Stephen Kolb. Pictured are some football greats, Barry Sanders, Archie Griffin, Vince Workman, John Wooldridge, Sonny Gordon - a teamamte of William's at OSU who also was suffering from ALS.
Unfortunatately William lost his battle with ALS on on July 28, 2022 at age 56 and his teamamte Sonny Gordon on April 26, 2023.
ALS Warrior - Dan Pursh
I never had the pleasure to met Dan, however, I did meet his brother Chuck at the OHIO Challenge2ConquerALS event that took place on July 11, 2021, just about one month before Dan passed away.
Dan graduated from the University of California with a major in communications. He was a student of life and took passion in everything he studied. He was never lost on words or an opinion of a topic. If you were looking for insights on a subject or wanted to debate a topic - Dan was your guy.
Dan's life was unexpectedly cut short by ALS. He was a humble man who was very gentle and kind.
As with all our ALS Warriors, Dan will be truely missed but never forgotten.
Died August 16, 2021