BP celebrated its tenth year as title sponsor and organizer of the BP MS150 by helping the Lone Star Chapter of the MS Society raise an estimated $18 million during the April 18 bike ride from Houston to Austin.

Some 13,000 riders crossed the finish line in Austin with the support of 3,000 volunteers organized by BP.

Team BP rider Matt McAughan takes the ride very seriously.  Ten months ago he was diagnosed with MS and couldn’t jog two miles because of cramping in his right leg.  He tried cycling for a change.  Although exhausting, this year he finished his first in what he hopes will be many years of MS150 rides.

“BP goes all out to make this event a success,” says McAughan, whose wife and brother in-law work for BP, and where his father-in-law retired.  “I’m privileged to have ridden with Team BP.  I want a cure just as soon as the next guy.  But I wouldn't mind another ride or two with the folks at BP while we wait.”

Check out the 2010 BP MS150 photo gallery HERE.

No stopping now

Now the race is on – again – as BP regroups and prepares for the 2011 BP MS150.

“We are very happy to be partners with the Lone Star Chapter of MS supporting this great cause for so long,” says Iris Cross, External Affairs Manager for BP. “This is our tenth-year anniversary as title sponsor, which is an exciting and important milestone.

“But we’re not stopping now,” Cross says. “We’ve extended our title sponsorship of the BP MS150 through 2012.”

BP began its partnership with the BP MS150 in 2001, contributing more than $10 million in sponsorship, fundraising and marketing for the National MS Society. Company teams now participate in Bike MS events across the nation.

Top fundraiser

Houston’s Team BP is the race’s current top fundraising team. Some 240 teams participated in this year’s event. An estimated 100 riders suffering from MS also raced.

That number would have been unthinkable decades ago, says Debbie Pope, the MS Society’s vice president of Operations. “I think we’ve seen more engagement and involvement this year,” she says.

Although final numbers haven’t been tallied yet, BP employees alone have raised almost $1 million this year, with 226 riders raising more than $1,000 each for the fundraiser and three employees topping off at over $12,000 each.

Tweets and more

Key to the team’s 2010 and 2011 strategies is the their interactive website www.bp-ms150.com, launched in late 2009.

The site allows riders to pre-register, access comprehensive information about the BP MS150, buy merchandise, and follow real-time “tweets” by participants.

Ride Marshal Kurt Haaland, a fiber optic operations manager for BP’s Gulf of Mexico group in Houston, “tweeted” the race from his cell phone as he supervised safety efforts for riders during the April 18 race.

Wearing a bright red jersey, Haaland served as a safety ambassador during the race, keeping riders off their cell phones, checking to make sure helmets were on properly, and coordinating first-aid efforts. Working under Haaland were another 32 ride marshal volunteers.

“BP really puts a lot of time and effort into the race, and a lot of resources,” he says. “We feel like we get a lot of good will and community involvement while supporting a great cause. When you get right down to it, the BP MS150 isn’t about the riding – it’s about the fundraising.”

Preparing for next year

Helping him prepare for next year’s race is BP’s Eric Coiti, Topsides Manager for Horn Mountain Redevelopment Phase II and co-ride captain for the event. He’s pushing Team BP’s new website as a communication and information forum that gets potential riders organized and back into the fundraising mode this September.

“We’ll apply what we learned from this year’s race in order to push people toward the site – it’s a whole lot easier than answering thousands of emails from riders who mainly ask the same questions,” he says.

Gena Hyde, Manager, Communications, for the MS Lone Star chapter, says the BP MS150 raises money to support research into the cause of and a cure for MS and, funds educational resources.

“Eighty-one cents of every dollar raised by the BP MS150 helps fund the mission, making a greater impact in the lives of people living with this disease,” Hyde says. “Monies raised through Lone Star are helping fund cutting-edge research and clinical drugs trials locally and nationally.”

Changing lives

Joyce Carolyn and Eric Fontenot

“She’s so incredible to be involved in this effort to help others, and she actually benefits from the results of the money we raise,” Fontenot says.  “This ride helps bring people like Joyce and me together, which has changed both our lives.”

“The funds donated truly do make a difference,” Carolyn says.  “The Copaxone injections I take are a breeze and slow down the debilitating progressive forms of the disease.”

Carolyn says the latest therapies arrived after a short time of research.  For example, the once-a-month drip, Tysabri, came on the market quickly because of proven testing methods.  “It’s all very promising,” she says.

MS is a chronic, unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system.