Team PHenomenal Hope Sets Out PH Awareness Month Challenges

A bike competition to educational meetings and daily walks, runs, or meditations are among the events Team PHenomenal Hope is hosting throughout November to honor pulmonary hypertension (PH) awareness month.

People are invited to join the nonprofit group’s Tour of PHenomenal Hope and its monthlong series, ranging from educational sessions, physical activities, Twitter conversations, and virtual “town hall” meetings conducted by PH specialists. A full schedule of the events can be found here.

“Awareness month is a time for everyone to do their part in working toward earlier diagnosis, better treatment, and cure. We wanted to create the opportunity for everyone, inside and outside of the community, to participate,” Linda Appleby, Team Phenomenal Hope’s executive director, said in a press release

As an initiative that wants to make all feel welcome, the #LetMeBeYourLungs Challenge is a fundraising and activity tracking event for everyone. To start, people have to sign up and join the event club to register, and to track workouts done this month.  Biking, running, swimming, yoga, and meditation are some examples of challenge activities, and prizes can be awarded.

On Nov. 4, 11, and 18, “town hall” meetings with worldwide PH specialists will be conducted virtually. John Ryan, MD, with the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Utah, Jean Luc Vachiery, MD, with Erasme Academic Hospital in Brussels, and Jean Elwing, MD, from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine are the invited experts. Registration is available here.

As a Team involved in sports and fundraising initiatives, an endurance activity is also included: the Tour of PHenomenal Hope Championship Stage Race, a live Zoom stationary bike race on Saturday, Nov. 14, that will resemble a true cycling tour.

“Similarly to the Grand Tours of cycling, which bring us different types of races each day (flat, sprinting stages, mountain stages, time trials), we have organized our tour into different types of stages, from educational stages, town halls covering topics in pulmonary hypertension, to our #LetMeBeYourLungs Challenge for everyone, and finally, the capstone Tour of PHenomenal Hope Championship Stage Race, where we will feature a live race of cyclists, and their patient partners, as they sweat it out for all the glory,” said Patricia George, MD, Team PH’s co-founder and president.

A fundraising campaign to support research into better treatments and patient care is ongoing, with a set $50,000 goal.

Participants are encouraged to share their activities on social media, and express their support for PH Awareness Month and this disease by using the hashtags @TeamPHHope and #TourofPHenomenalHope with their posts.

The Tour of PHenomenal Hope is supported by pharma and other industry sponsors that include Janssen, Acceleron, Altavant, United Therapeutics, and CVS Specialty.