Dozens Work Out To Benefit Special Olympics

“Beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday at the Redwood Health Club, dozens of riders felt the burn so that those who carried a torch for sports would have a chance to play. The annual Super Spin-a-Thon event allowed those who participated to get a solid workout while raising money for the Special Olympics Mendocino Inland group. Kathy Tobin, the health club's manager, said 106 riders had signed up for the event, but that she expected up to 120 over the course of the day. ‘This is the second year we've had it here,’ she said, standing in front of a table of items up for raffle. ‘All the money raised goes to Special Olympics.’ Tobin said the event was split into 50-minute increments to allow new riders and instructors to filter in and out. ‘One person is doing the whole 12 hours,’ she said. ‘The sheriff's office sponsored a bike for the entire day...District Attorney Meredith Lintott is riding with us during the afternoon.’ James Welch, area director for Special Olympics Mendocino Inland, said the event raised $3,500 during last year's ride. ‘We're hoping to raise even more this year,’ he said. ‘The money goes directly to the athletes. We've had fuller classes this year. It was full at 6 a.m. this morning...It takes about $20,000 per year to run the Special Olympics. No one in it gets a paycheck. We're all volunteers.’ Welch said that the faltering economy had an effect on the amount of corporate donations to the event this time around. ‘With the economic structure the way it is, a lot of corporations are pulling their funding back a little bit,’ he said. ‘We've had a bunch of individual contributions that have really helped fill the gap...This community has always supported Special Olympics 100 percent.’ Welch said that several special olympians were participating in the event and working hard to turn the cranks alongside those who supported them. ‘Special Olympics is really important to these athletes,’ he said. ‘They all want to particiapte in sports programs...We have to pay for transportation when we go to certain events. We're really lucky because we get to travel so much.’ Welch said spinning was an excellent way to work out even when riding an actual bicycle wasn't an option. ‘This is a lot of fun,’ he said. ‘You can make this as easy or as hard as you want...We give a little bit of visualization while we instruct. We tell them we're off on trails around the lake and things like that.’ Welch said the music used during the event varied from instructor to instructor. ‘We do different songs for warm-up,’ he said. ‘Different people like different stuff...I'll be doing a little jazz and blues during mine.’ Welch said the event was one of a handful of other fundraising events the group planned during the year including the Tip-A- Cop event in May and the Soup-Off in November. Welch said the newest event added to the roster was next month's Polar Plunge in which dozens of volunteers will plunge into the frigid waters of Noyo Bay in Fort Bragg on Feb. 28. ‘We've started planning for it, but we're just trying to get through this event first,’ he said, laughing.”

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