Three UConn students are getting ready to spend the summer bicycling 4,000 miles across the country to raise money for Lea’s Foundation for Leukemia Research.

Melina Benson and Sean Burn, who just finished their first year at the UConn School of Medicine, and Nate Windon, who’s pursuing a graduate English degree in Storrs, are flying to San Francisco Tuesday, June 19. Once their bikes are assembled, they’ll dip their wheels in the Pacific Ocean to mark the symbolic start of Coast to Coast for a Cure, which has become an annual UConn School of Medicine tradition.

“I am an endurance sports junkie and so this trip is like a dream come true. I am also motivated to raise money to support such a great cause,” Burn says, “Lea’s Foundation is a great organization dedicated to ending the suffering of those with hematologic cancers.”

The Hartford nonprofit raises money to further the research toward treatments and cures for leukemia and other blood disorders such as lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Its $1.25 million pledge to the UConn Health Center led to the establishment in 2007 of the Lea’s Foundation Center for Hematologic Disorders in the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Lea’s Foundation also provides financial support to families of patients burdened with the high costs of care associated with these illnesses.

“I can’t separate my desire to support the outstanding work of Lea’s Foundation from my desire for adventure,” Benson says. “Cycling is an amazing way to see a country, and there is a lot of the U.S. that I haven’t seen yet.”

Their cycling experience varies: Benson says she doesn’t have much at all. Burn runs marathons and says he got into road cycling a few years ago. Windon did a cycling tour in Montana and Wyoming last year.

“I think it’s a great adventure and, like all great adventures, it entails both a challenging journey and a clear ambition, which is raising money for Lea’s Foundation,” Windon says. “I’m thankful for the time we have; it’s more of an opportunity than a sacrifice in my mind.”

Coast to Coast for a Cure goes back to 2006, when first-year students Jeremiah Tracy and Ben Ristau decided they would spend their last free summer pedaling from California to Connecticut. The trek was dedicated to the memory of Tracy’s mother, who had a rare form of leukemia. Each year since, a different group of students, mostly first-year medical students, has undertaken the same journey, raising tens of thousands of dollars for Lea’s Foundation.

Two of this year’s riders have relatives who’ve been diagnosed with blood disorders.

Like teams before them, the 2012 riders are keeping a blog that they’ll update when time and technology permit along the way: http://coasttocoastforacure2012.blogspot.com/. The blog includes a link to the Lea’s Foundation page for anyone interested in supporting this year’s ride.

“I can’t wait to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and be outside all summer,” Benson says. “I hope my body holds up to the ride!”

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