Cyclist pedals for MDA, awareness

CELINA - Avid cyclist Michael McCracken stopped in Celina on Thursday along the route for his "A Reason to Ride," a roughly 500-mile venture to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

His journey started in McCracken's hometown of Hamilton. He rode 84 miles along U.S. 127 through Butler, Warren and Preble counties.

While in Celina, McCracken, 67, arranged to stay with Carolyn Glock, 75, who has muscular dystrophy and picked him up in North Star.

Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that results in increasing weakening and degeneration of skeletal muscles, according to the MDA. Before MD impacted her life, Glock said she enjoyed officiating football and basketball games. Over time, she started finding it more difficult to keep up with the athletes and eventually didn't have the strength to toss the ball to them.

Lifting anything has become much more difficult for her, she said.

"A can of soup weighs 1 pound. It weighs 5 pounds to me. A 5-pound bag of sugar, that's like 25 pounds to me," she said.

Glock's mom, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins have also been touched by the disease, which she can trace back to her grandfather.

She hopes the $500 McCracken aims to raise will help fund research the nonprofit Muscular Dystrophy Association is conducting to find a cure.

"It will help out the kids immensely," McCracken added.

McCracken became interested in helping find a cure for MD when he was a kid watching Jerry Lewis' Labor Day telethons.

"I would ask my parents to donate sometime during the broadcast," he said. "It made me feel good about helping."

While studying at Adrian College, McCracken recalled combining his love of bicycling and giving back to organize a bike race with his fraternity brothers. The race started on the Adrian campus and ended at the fraternity's chapter at the University of Toledo.

Even in the Marine Corps as a payroll officer from 1975-1998, he made sure to have time to participate in ride-a-thons when it fit his schedule. He still enjoys cycling and has gone on many ride-a-thons over the years to raise money for muscular dystrophy research.

"I know I'm raising money for kids, kids who can't get out and do what other people can, the kids that seldom get to experience the outdoors because of breathing problems or their weak muscles not being able to support their spine. I ride to support them," he said.

After leaving Celina, he planned to stop in Van Wert on Friday on his way to Adrian, Michigan, and return home to Hamilton on Tuesday.

McCracken has raised more than $290 so far for MDA, which examines causes, symptoms and care options for neuromuscular diseases and at finding better treatments and cures. Anyone interested in donating to his ride or joining his team can go to mda.donordrive.com/team/6988.