Tweets from Kurt
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The ride is over, but the fund raising continues. Continue to solict donations. Get BP Matching Gift forms signed from BP contributors.
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Thanks everyone for riding this year. Remember to collect all your donations
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Thanks everyone for riding this. Remember to collect your donations
Featured Riders Kurt Haaland: Team BP Ride Marshal
Kurt Haaland: Team BP Ride Marshal
Some people refer to me as the “Big Kahuna,” “Kahuna,” or even “Field Marshal Kurt.” I received the Big Kahuna nickname because everybody loves to follow behind me when riding into the wind. They say I block a lot of wind. Just don’t refer to me as “breaking a lot of wind.”
Besides being a wind block, I have a reputation for animal encounters. I’ve been hit by two deer and a feral hog. Ask me sometime about these critters and my broken helmets.
I’ve been riding with Team BP in the BP MS150 since 2003. I also ride with Team BP each October in the Valero MS150. The Valero ride in previous years has been the “Bike to the Beach.” In 2009, the route has changed and the ride is now called the “Alamo Ride to the River.” This year makes 14 MS150 bike rides in the last seven years.
Other than my very first year in 2003, I have been a Top Fundraiser for both MS150 rides. I am a member of the BP M150 Club 300 Committee, which plans and organizes Club 300 Top Fundraiser activities.
If you see me out on the ride, I won’t be wearing the Team BP jersey, because I’ll be wearing the red Ride Marshal jersey. I have been a Ride Marshal on both MS150 rides for the last five years. Ride Marshals ride the entire bike route and volunteer to help keep the ride safe.
I ride in two MS150 bike rides each year so that I can fundraise for this very important cause. MS affects my everyday life because my wife has MS. Not very many people know this, but Brenda was diagnosed with MS back in 1995.
I cannot deny that I love the exercise, the bicycle friendships and the great country roads, but I really ride for Brenda. She is my Pedal Partner. There are times when she can’t even get out of bed or walk without getting dizzy. The tingles or numbness in parts or her body come and go all the time. Like many people who have MS, she says she is sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I must give her an Avonex injection once a week for MS. Even though she tells me that she’s really getting tired of me sticking her each week, we realize that MS research, funded by the BP MS150, really does make a difference. She wants a cure. I ride for her. Team BP rides for her.
Did you know?
Last year, the event set a national fundraising record of $17.1 million. At the team level, Team BP set a fundraising record in the 2009 BP MS150 by surpassing its own goal of raising $1.1 million.Main Menu
Team BP Quotes
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“My secret for fundraising is to ask people to join the movement toward a world free of MS. It’s about education, sharing histories, how MS affects people’s lives and what we can do about it.”
–Critz Cullen, Team BP Captain Emeritus -
“It’s very humbling to see people holding up signs saying, ‘Thank you. You saved my life.’”
–2009 first-timer Kim Pataky, BP E&P relationship manager -
“I would like to see the team exceed our fund raising goals and still have a fun, safe and rewarding experience for each rider.”
–Eric Cioti, 2010 Team BP Co-Captain -
“I ride in two MS150 bike rides each year so that I can fund-raise for this very important cause.”
–Kurt Haaland, Team BP Ride Marshall -
“To raise money, I used e-mails, letters, Safety Moments, and my birthday, which occurs just before the ride. I ask for donations instead of presents!”
–Critz Cullen, Team BP Captain Emeritus -
“Words can not describe the pride we felt riding with Team BP - from our team leading the start, to our volunteers supporting us at lunch and rest stops along the way.”
–Brian Frank, Richard Morrison, BP Executive Sponsors -
“The more effort we all make today to raise money to end multiple sclerosis, the sooner we’ll ride to celebrate a cure.”
–Todd Hauser, 2010 Team BP Co-Captain