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You can join the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy!

A "Ride All Night for Ryan" fundraiser is being held in the Tri-States to raise money for Ballou Skies, a non-profit organization that raises funds for research of MD.  Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a rapidly-worsening form of muscular dystrophy ... one of the symptoms of MD is extreme muscle weakness.

The mission of Ballou Skies, founded by Ty Ballou on behalf of his son Ryan Ballou, is to fund MRI technology, which is used to scan patients' hearts to observe the progression of scarring, hopefully extending lives until there is a cure.

Bicyclists are invited to pedal in a 150-mile, overnight ride June 3.  The 10-hour "Ride All Night for Ryan," which will be held from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m., will begin at Flower City Park in Palmyra, Mo., and travel along a 15-mile rural route in Marion County.  Cyclists will repeat the loop 10 times during the night.

The event is being held in conjunction with the Marion County "Relay for Life" Cancer Society fundraising event in Flower City Park.  At the conclusion of each loop, riders will leave their bikes and walk one lap around the "Relay for Life" track to show their solidarity with the cancer survivors.

There is no entry fee for this trek, however, participants will be responsible for raising funds on their own for Ballou Skies, which was established in 2008 in Pittsburgh.

Interested bicyclists should contact Tom Redington at 573-221-0146 to register.