HARTFORD -- The Eversource Hartford Marathon is the state’s largest event for Connecticut Runners.
But this year, they have a new partner "Pedal to the Medal".
It’s a bike event that will run on the route in the early morning hours before the marathon.
Chion Wolf, Founder Chairman of Pedal to the Medal told Fox 61 News about her event.
“I was hit by a car about two years ago in the west end of Hartford and I have a plate and eight screws in my collarbone. After I recovered from that I needed to get back on the road as soon as possible because I didn’t want to develop some weirdness about being afraid to ride my bike, because I love riding a bike. So what occurred to me, that before the Eversource Hartford Marathon, they shut the streets down for the volunteers to set up the bananas and the water. And I thought well that’s a good opportunity for us to ride the full marathon route and not get hit by a car.”
Pedal to the Medal is a creative new bike event at the marathon, all to raise money for a Hartford non-profit that brings Hartford kids into all aspects of cycling.
“So I contacted the Hartford Marathon foundation, and I told him what I had done I said it would be a cool opportunity to raise money for BiCi Co., Hartford’s only educational bike store. And we get a bunch of people maybe learning to love riding a bike and we call it Pedal to the Medal because at a marathon you get a medal.”
Chion and her friends raised the money and the event has sold out. A lot of success for an event that rides so early in the morning.
“We raised $20,000 to get it going, and had some amazing sponsors that help to get us there, and now we sold out our 240 riders, half of the registration fees are going to go to BiCi Co. We are going to launch at 3:30 in the morning this year so we don’t stand a chance of getting in the way of the many thousands of people that are coming to the city for the marathon.”
The event sold out quickly this year, so definitely look out for this event next year, it’s gonna be pretty cool.