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June 12, 2009

Bike race Team Type 1 and 2 have set a national precedent for raising diabetes awareness while just outside Philadelphia, a team is riding to raise awareness of a disease that took the young wife of one of its own.

“We have a mission this year to raise awareness of brain tumors and the Kelly Heinz-Grundner Brain Tumor Foundation (KHG),” explains Randy Inglis, President of Team DRT/Deep Blue. “Kelly worked for Deep Blue before she died and her husband Chris is on our team. We’re glad to help a guy who is really working hard to help others,” Inglis adds.

In 2004, Kelly Heinz-Grundner died at age 31 after a two-year battle with a brain tumor. The following year, her husband Chris established KHG with the goal of raising awareness, so that patients affected by brain tumors might be diagnosed sooner. “This is something that was largely unaddressed by the brain tumor community and KHG was specifically designed to fill this gap,” Grundner explains.

In races and events throughout the tri-state area, select members of Team DRT/Deep Blue, which was named Team of the Year for Division III by USA Cycling in 2006, will wear special commemorative KHG blue and green jerseys and shorts with the dragonfly logo that has become familiar to brain tumor patients and their supporters throughout Delaware and beyond.

The team participates in races in the Mid-Atlantic region and training rides mostly in the Wilmington area.

“I am so pleased and touched by the support of my team,” says Chris Grundner. “They’ve been supporting the foundation ever since it started, so this is definitely a crowning moment. There is no question that the team’s support will go a long way in helping us get the word out about this terribly dark disease.”

As President of KHG, Grundner has raised almost $1 million through fundraisers like its annual walk in Wilmington and a national tulip bulb sale, known as Tulips Against Tumors.

Inglis points out that Team DRT/Deep Blue’s support of KHG was inspired in part by Team Type 1, a national bike team dedicated to raising awareness of diabetes (and competing in the Philadelphia race). “Those guys are personally affected by diabetes and we feel a similar commitment to the brain tumor cause through Chris and Kelly’s story,” Inglis says.

Last Fall, KHG unveiled its first brain tumor awareness marketing campaign (www.GetYourHeadInTheGame.org) with print and broadcast advertisements and feature stories throughout New Castle County, DE. Grundner says he plans to introduce similar campaigns in more markets in the coming year.

“Brain tumor awareness is where breast cancer was 25 years ago before the work of the Susan Komen Foundation,” Grundner says. “We have a long way to go to bring the national spotlight to this disease, but with the support of engaged groups like Team DRT/Deep Blue, I believe it’s only a matter of time.”