Dolphins hosting 12th annual charity bike ride event at Hard Rock Stadium
The Dolphins will host their 12th Challenge Cancer event at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Saturday, the organization’s annual charity bike ride to raise money for cancer.
The event, which every year brings out thousands of participants including Dolphins players, coaches and executives, will feature five distances: a 15-, 35-, 50- and 100-mile bike ride, as well as a 5k run/walk. The 100-mile, 55-mile and 5K events began and end in Lot 18 across Hard Rock Stadium, while the 35-mile ride starts at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center and ends in Lot 18.
Last year, more than 3,390 participants took part in the event, either in person or virtually. Dolphins Challenge Cancer XI (DCC XI) raised a record-breaking $6.3 million in 2021. Linebacker Vince Biegel was one of about a half dozen players who cycled through a course. Biegel rode in honor of his late aunt Jessica, who died of pancreatic cancer more than 10 years ago, and his mother, Jamie Biegel, who has dealt with breast cancer, too.
“Everybody here and everybody in the public has had someone they know or loved ones, or know somebody, affected by cancer,” Biegel said. “It just really speaks to the Miami Dolphins organization and the people that we have here that they all came out here.”
The fundraiser, which has become the NFL’s largest charity event, has raised more than $45.5 million since its inception in 2010.
In 2020, the Dolphins gave a $75 million commitment to the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only cancer center in South Florida designated by the National Cancer Institute. The gift was the largest known charitable commitment ever made by a sports team.
“This is a total community effort,” Dolphins president and chief executive officer Tom Garfinkel said last year. “This is a group of people in this community here in South Florida coming together to fight a disease that affects anybody. If it hasn’t affected you personally yourself, it’s affected someone you love or someone you know, so this is about really bringing the community together to fight cancer and that’s what that commitment means.”
