FEBRUARY 2018 46 | {stories of perseverance} A 2ND ACT Judy Pearson | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Kathy Griffiths makes one thing perfectly clear: She is NOT a runner. But she was happy to support her daughter Carolyn in a 1999 Vancouver marathon. Kathy and her husband, Bob, went to the pre-race pasta dinner the night before and listened to inspirational speakers. One of them was running to raise money for multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that Kathy’s father had suffered from. That evening, a seed of raising money through athletics was planted in Kathy’s heart and head. Two years later, Kathy received an invitation to participate with Team In Training, the fundraising arm of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) that trains for endurance challenges. After 14 weeks of training, Kathy completed her first “century ride” of 100 miles and was hooked on cycling. Although Bob, who had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), couldn’t ride, he served as the team’s support and gear man. Always the life of the party, he was an early expert at whooping them on at every stop. Despite his illness, Bob took on century rides with Kathy in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Although COPD made him feel as though he were riding uphill and into the wind even on flat ground and windless days, he proudly peddled in El Tour de Tucson. His big heart often got more in the way than his disease as he kept stopping to help fellow riders who got flats or encountered gear problems. It was that same heart that betrayed him in 2005, when his COPD caused a fatal heart attack. His family, his team and the cycling community were devastated. But the seed planted in Kathy’s mind back in 1999 began to grow. In 2009, she founded Uphill Into the Wind, a cycling organization with loads of paybacks. “Often, people want to participate in fundraising rides, but they’re hesitant to spend a thousand dollars or more on a good racing bike,” Griffiths explained. “What if they don’t enjoy cycling? They’re stuck with a big investment. We take that pressure off them by loaning high-quality racing bikes. We UPHILL INTO THE WIND

FEBRUARY 2018 | 47 started with two that first year, and now we have 30 available in the Phoenix area and another 12 at our Tucson location.” Uphill Into the Wind has an online application that potential cyclists fill out. Applicants must agree to keep the bike a minimum of four weeks (the length of time their director of equipment has determined is the minimum amount of time for a body to adjust to a bike and learn how to safely use it) and a maximum of 14 weeks (the customary time for century ride training). They can only borrow a bike once. “We figure if they get hooked, they’ll want their own bike. And this way, it keeps our loaner bikes available for others in the same boat,” Griffiths said. Best of all, while Team In Training riders who borrow bikes raise money for LLS, Uphill Into the Wind will loan to anyone raising funds for a 501c3-accredited organization. They’ve loaned bikes to raise money for the American Diabetes Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, Susan G. Komen and more. “Those racers have raised $416,000 on our bikes,” Griffiths said proudly. Although Uphill Into the Wind is only able to keep track of what’s raised on the organization’s bikes,