Royal Purple

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Joy Kowald Bill Koch and teammate, the only tandem bicycle team at Pedal for Proceeds, warm up on Schwager Drive near Perkins Stadium before the race.

Facing extremely windy conditions, 84 people participated in the Pedal for Proceeds bicycle race Saturday morning at UW-Whitewater. Josh Barrett of Whitewater was the first athlete to cross the finish line, completing the 24-mile race in approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes.

The event is put on by Pi Sigma Epsilon, a marketing organization at UW-Whitewater. The group has been hosting the race for approximately 10 years.

"We work all year to get the event together," PSE member and race director Kelly Finn said. "This is the biggest event that we do. It's for a great cause. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society."

Finn as been a member of PSE for the last four years and enjoys the time she spends with other group members to prepare for the race as well as other fundraisers the organization hosts.

"We all work together to make this a success," Finn said.

Racers traveled north of town on Fremont Street and looped though country roads before making their way back to campus. The race finished on Schwager Drive.

Awards were handed out to the first place finisher of men's and women's race and to the top three in each age division.

Barrett won men's competition while Regina Livingston of Janesville won the women's race. Barrett's official time was 1:07:13.6. Livingston's time of 1:16:11.5 won by a margin of 27 seconds over second place finisher Kimberly Myszkewicz of Whitewater.

Jamie Ramel, a survivor of testicular cancer from South Milwaukee. competed in the race. Ramel said his first race ever was challenging due to the strong winds.

"[It was an] extremely hard effort coming back," Ramel said. "Going out it was nice with the tail wind, going 26 or 27 [miles per hour]. The last couple miles were extremely hard with that wind."

Ramel said he has been cancer free for five years. He began bicycling four years ago and logs around 150 miles per week. Ramel finished in 39th place, a finish he said was good for his inaugural attempt.

Of the 84 participants, 71 were male and 13 were female entrants. Age groups ranged from 14 to 19 years and as high as 70 to 99 years. One tandem team, a two-person bicycle, also competed in the race.

Complete results from the race can be found at onlineraceresults.com. The site offers overall results as well age group winners and has a search function to find specific athletes.

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