Locals hoping to hit the Pacific for race, raise awareness for hemophilia
mdjonline.com, July 2015
Chris Lee, left, and Jacob Pope, a pair of Cobb County natives who attend Georgia, are attempting to enter the Great Pacific Race.
Over the past couple of years, Chris Lee discovered he had an obsession with long-distance running.
Just last summer, the Walton High School graduate periodically ran 15 to 18 miles a day because it excited him. Lee’s friend, Jacob Pope, a fellow Georgia student who graduated from Marietta, also took up an interest, choosing to go for long hikes in metro Atlanta just for fun.
Coupled with their affinity for rowing, which is how they met, Lee discovered that he and Pope shared an interesting personality trait.
“I found out that we both had adventurous spirits,” Lee said.
Lee and Pope are hoping to put that theory to the test next summer as participants in the Great Pacific Race, which is described as “the biggest, baddest human endurance challenge on the planet” according to its website.
A 2,400-mile rowing competition across the Pacific Ocean from Monterrey, Calif. to Honolulu, the race begins June 4, 2016 and will feature ocean row boats of two and four people competing “against each other in the world’s only human-powered race on the Pacific.” The race can last anywhere between 30 to 80 days, depending on various factors.
“I heard about ocean rowing and thought it was cool, so I mentioned it to Jacob, and the idea’s grown from there,” Lee said.
What began as a meeting between two Georgia students who joined the university’s club rowing program turned into an ocean voyage to satisfy their “adventurous spirits.”
“The more we talked about it, the more we started believing we should do it,” Lee said.
Pope, however, believed they could do more.
“Jacob mentioned that, if we could do it, we should do it to raise awareness for a cause,” Lee said.
Pope already had one in mind.
Born with a form of hemophilia, he works with Hemophilia of Georgia, a nonprofit organization that provides services and support for those with hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease and other bleeding disorders.
“It’s an organization that has helped him in the past,” Lee said. “By completing this race, we get to accomplish a dream and do something greater than ourselves for a worthy cause.”
In order to assist with their aspirations for the Great Pacific Race, Lee and Pope created a website — www.rowforhemophilia.com — to solicit donations and sponsorships to raise money for race fees, travel and the rental of an ocean row boat.
“We’ve collected about $2,500 through crowdfunding, and our goal is $125,000 to cover food, safety equipment, race fees and other things,” Lee said. “The main expense will be the boat, which can cost between $15,000 to $40,000. Any working equipment we have left over after the race will be sold back to the ocean rowing community, minus 15 percent for depreciation.
“With the money we get back, and the money left over from donations and sponsorships, we’d like to be able to make at least a $50,000 donation to Hemophilia of Georgia. If we aren’t able to raise enough money in time, then whatever we’ve earned will be donated directly to Hemophilia of Georgia.”
If the 21-year-old Lee and 20-year-old Pope are able to join the race, they would be the youngest team in the event’s history, and Pope would be the only person with hemophilia to attempt an ocean row.
“We want to complete the race in under 50 days, but we’ll prepare food for 80 days,” Lee said.
Supporters can help Lee and Pope reach their goal and raise awareness for hemophilia by not only donating through the group’s website, but by also visiting the Nexen Tire USA Facebook page through July 21 and voting for Row for Hemophilia to win a $10,000 Expedition Award.
“The $10,000 will definitely help us with start-up costs,” Lee said. “It’s based on total votes, and there is no cost to vote, but if everyone voted for Row for Hemophilia each day, then would help us out a lot.”