Media Advisory

Lance Armstrong wasn't the only cyclist who spent the summer living strong and spreading the word about cancer prevention and survival. So did 26 college students who pedaled their racing bikes on a coast-to-coast fund-raising journey known as Hopkins 4K for Cancer. A week after Armstrong finished a three-week, 2,232.7 mile race to win his seventh consecutive Tour de France, the students, including 23 who are enrolled at or recently graduated from The Johns Hopkins University, will cross a finish line of their own at the Golden Gate Bridge, where they will conclude their nine-week, 4,000-mile trek to unite communities across the country in the fight against cancer.

The students spent the summer cycling across the United States to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge, a residence for out-of-town cancer patients and their families seeking outpatient treatment at Baltimore hospitals. Hosted by local residents along the way, the students participated in many community service projects. The group has raised more than $160,000 for the American Cancer Society in the past four years and has raised $23,000 so far this year. (Visit www.hopkins4k.org for additional information.)

Students plan to start arriving in groups at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge between 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday, July 31. A good time for the news media to interview students will be an informal gathering of students and parents between noon and 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, at China Camp State Park, where the students will be camping.

California connections:

Jessica DeLeon, 21, of Saratoga, is a rising senior majoring in neuroscience and Spanish at The Johns Hopkins University.

Mark Lin, 20, of Yorba Linda, is a rising senior majoring in international studies at The Johns Hopkins University.

Student co-directors Franca Kraenzlin at (914) 523-4421, or Travis Snow at (410) 258-0068.

Nina Agrawal, sister of Hopkins 4K cyclist Nisha Agrawal, can be reached the morning of July 31 at her cell phone, (302) 345-9609.