COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kyle Field was filled with an Aggie-sized crowd for the Texas MS 150 finishing day Sunday.
College Station Mayor Karl Mooney explained how the event finally got to happen in the city this year.
“To have the Texas MS 150 here is huge,” Mayor Mooney said.
“It doesn’t say so much about College Station but more about how the folks here in Texas embrace a cause that we really need to find a cure for but, today is a red-letter day in College Station.”
From individual riders to large teams, Lennie Ambrose, a chief marketing officer with Saint Arnold Brewing in Houston, said that for almost 20 years, it has been a mission of theirs to serve the MS community with the Saint Arnold Bike Team.
“This has kind of been a mission for Saint Arnold for almost 20 years now, it is completely made up of fans of the brewery and fans who want to contribute to the fight against MS.”
Eddie Day of the Saint Arnold Bike Team says today is more than riding on Kyle Field but doing it with the closest of people.
“It’s the family that I have developed here, it feels really gratifying each year,” Day said.
“I try to raise as much money as I can.”
From one brewery biking team to another, Adam LeSage, team captain of the Karbach Brewing Company said that we are all in the fight against MS together.
“We love College Station, our founders were indeed Aggies - they wanted to bring it home, so here we are to do it,” Ambrose said.
“We love it. We love doing what we can to help the MS Society with research and treatments.” Ambrose said.
“The Karbach Brewing team has raised over a million dollars for the MS Society.”
Lisa Sailor, an MS Society board member, hopes to one day be able to ride with her husband Mike, who rides for her.
“My husband just finished riding his 5th ride for myself with MS, so that one day people like me that haven’t been able to participate in a bike ride like this will be able to be out there riding.” Sailor said.
“[I’ll be] right next to my husband on 2 wheels after we find a cure for MS.”
Husband Mike Sailor said he does it all for his wife.
“The first time I [participated in the race] I did it for the bike riding but, now it’s for my wife,” said Sailor.
“We have met so many from the MS Society - it has really become a [huge] community.”
With much love for Kyle Field, Rita Jouban said prior to the race, she and her husband couldn’t have felt more empowered to cross the finish line together.
“I’ve been surrounded by an immeasurable support system and I believe that is what makes [my husband] do so well [in the race].”