Cold weather, wind and rain couldn't dampen the spirits of over 100 riders from around Southeast Michigan from riding their bikes and raising more than $25,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) on Saturday, April 12th.

For the second year in a row, Team Mongo hosted the "12 Hours of Mongo Spin Madness" fundraising event at BD's Mongolian Grill in Royal Oak to benefit the LLS. Thirty teams of athletes rode their bikes on the front patio of the restaurant for twelve consecutive hours to raise money for LLS. During the fundraiser, guests of BD’s cheered on the riders, made donations on silent auction items and enjoyed the festive atmosphere of this unique fundraiser.

The Event kicked off at 7:00am under cloudy and raining skies. Over 50 runners braved the cold and wet and joined in the fun run that took them throughout downtown Royal Oak and around the Detroit Zoo in Huntington Woods. After the run, they warmed up at the restaurant over a $5 breakfast, hot off the famous bd’s grill. Not a bad way to start a morning.

The bike riding began at 7am and Team Mongo's own Lila Lazarus and the Fox2 News crew were onsite to cover the mornings activities...Lila not only was able to do a live news report from a top her bike, BUT she then proceeded to ride for 5 consecutive hours. Great job Lila. Additionally, several Team In Training members training for the Wildflower Half-Ironman joined the fun and helped kick the event off and kept the energy high for the next 12 hours. We would also like to thank Local 4 News for coming out early (6am) to help promote the event. It was so nice to have the News that reports on to this community take such an active role in promoting this very healthy and fun event!

Inside, the event was rolling by 8am with our partners Tami Duquette and her dedicated TNT staff onsite helping raise money, recruit for future TNT events and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Between the Team Mongo Orange and TNT Purple the Spin Madness Event was picking up speed and radiating energy. Outside, our incredible partners from American Cycle and Fitness were on hand to ride alongside the teams and provide bike support for all riders. Special thanks to Michael, Matt and their entire AC&F Team for their incredible support, not just on event day but throughout the year. You guys rule.

After 12 hours of riding, we counted down the seconds to 7pm and the final riders finished the riding portion of the event just as the worst of the rain began to fall. We were able to clean up the outside of the Event just in time for Happy Hour as hundreds packed BD's restaurant and warmed themselves w/ some tasty food and Sam Adams pints! Our mission may be to promote and active and healthy lifestyle to the community, but our motto could be: train hard, play hard :)

At the end, Billy Downs and his incredible staff dedicated a very LONG day of support and they donated 25% of their days sales to the event. Thank you to BD's. Mark West, an often silent supporter of Team Mongo and LLS, surprised the crowd with a generous donation of $5,000! Thank you to Nancy and her team for the donation. As we all headed our separate ways for some much deserved rest...we had raised over $25,000 in one day for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, made some new friendships and achieved our goal of bringing the community together for a healthy and active event.

Lastly, I would like to personally thank Kevin and his team at bd's, Tami and Bridget for their dedication, Birkie for his incredible support, Team Wildflower for their trust and participation, Tennywood and Deigs for the last minute tarp engineering, Sass for huffing dust and managing the bike check, Kelly, Jake and
Dylan for their love and support, our partners, training buddies, supporters and one of the most dedicated group of athletes I know, Team Mongo...without ALL of you, this would not have been possible. To those not mentioned above...THANK YOU! We appreciate each and every one of you who dedicated your time, money and support for this great event. Really look forward to another great event in 2009! Go Mongo.

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