Pelotonia gives to the community as well as receives

Now in its 10th year, Pelotonia has raised about $160 million for its singular focus of curing cancer. While that’s impressive, the dollars are only part of the story.

With a new app to encourage people to get moving, Pelotonia is just as focused on engaging a community of likeminded enthusiasts, and that community is stretching far beyond central Ohio.

Pelotonia’s signature event is its annual weekend bike ride to raise funds for research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Center. A big part of Pelotonia’s strength is that the James is the beneficiary of every dollar raised by the ride, scheduled this year for Aug. 3-5.

But Pelotonia’s leaders like to say it is more than a bike ride. As Chief Operating Officer Miguel Perez puts it, “We bring people together to make great things happen, to make people healthier and happier.”

The PULLL app launched in May will give Pelotonia the opportunity to test a hypothesis that has the understandable attention of its corporate sponsors. While past experience has shown financial incentives are not enough to change behavior, Pelotonia is betting the combination of two factors — a sense of community and a shared worthy cause — can make a difference.

Huntington National Bank wants to learn if its 16,000 employees are more inclined to participate in healthy behaviors like biking, walking and running with an app that allows them to track their progress with co-workers and support the cause of curing cancer. The bank, one of Pelotonia’s major supporters, will use PULLL this month to encourage its workforce to join the cause, with the app providing feedback on success of the challenge.

PULLL is named for the cycling practice of riders all taking turns to lead the pack and pull others along more efficiently. The extra “L” is a reminder that Pelotonia is always looking for one more to join the cause. PULLL helps riders raise money as they track their movement, but the goal is not to detract from other charitable causes. Rather, Pelotonia seeks to grow the charitable-giving pie, says President and CEO Doug Ulman.

This is high season for those who will be riding in August to work on fundraising goals of $1,250 to $3,000 each, depending on their chosen distance. Riders can pick from 10 routes this year — a nod to the 10th anniversary — ranging from 25 to 200 miles long.

Always seeking alignment with the James and as part of a five-year plan being developed this year, Pelotonia’s leaders plan to soon announce a significant new focus on immunotherapy. That is the direction much cancer research is moving — a more-tolerable treatment in which patients’ own cells and immune systems are enlisted to fight disease. It is an emphasis embraced by Dr. Raphael Pollock, director of the OSUCCC and the James’ clinical affairs vice chair.

Pelotonia started as part of the OSU foundation but will become a separate nonprofit later this year. In its short tenure, this pioneering approach has benefitted from Columbus’ culture of caring and taught thousands of riders they can do more than they imagined. In turn, Pelotonia’s continued success will benefit central Ohio as well.