Doctor to cross United States in race for lung disease awareness

Patricia George said that when cycling gets hard, she thinks of who she’s riding for — her patients whose shortness of breath often makes day-to-day tasks difficult. In her last race, she encountered a problem that temporarily prevented her from shifting gears — an issue that cyclists call a “mechanical.”

“I literally thought to myself that there are people with pulmonary hypertension, they have a bad day, they might have a mechanical, but they can’t stop. They have to finish. So if I had to ride without shifting that race, it would have been extremely difficult. I might not have made the time cut-off, but I was going to do it no matter what, in my mind,” George said.

George, a pulmonologist at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, will embark upon a cross-country cycling road race called Race Across America, or RAAM, next June along with teammates Anne-Marie Alderson, Stacie Truszkowski and Ryanne Palermo, along with a crew of about 12 people. This time more than ever, George will be riding for her patients because her team, Team Phenomenal Hope, will race to raise money and awareness for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. 

George works in the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic at UPMC Presbyterian and researches HIV-associated lung diseases, such as pulmonary hypertesension. The American Heart Association reports between 500 and 1000 new cases of this rare disease of high blood pressure in the lung in the United States annually. 

Many patients with pulmonary hypertension receive a delayed diagnosis because the disease’s symptoms match many other lung problems, such as asthma. A cure has not yet been discovered, though there are nine available therapies and two more that will soon be available.

RAAM is a coast-to-coast race that begins in Oceanside, Calif., and ends in Annapolis, Md. Rick Boethling, RAAM’s executive director, said that the event started in 1982. The race requires four full-time staff and a few part-time staff who work on the race all year round, with over 200 volunteers who either travel or stay in stationary points along the course.

The original race had four solo racers racing from Santa Monica Pier to the Empire State Building. It was not until the early ’90s that teams began to compete in the race. This year, Boethling expects between 300 and 350 riders to take part in the event. 

“Sometimes you think about where you’re riding. Sometimes it takes your breath away,” George said. Over 3,000 miles, her team will cross 12 states and 170,000 vertical feet. 

As a team of four, team Phenomenal Hope will have to complete the race in nine days or less, whereas solo racers have 13 days to finish.

“I would say ultimately the most competitive is the four-person division, whether it be male or female,” Boethling said. 

Boethling said that one of the most interesting things about RAAM is that it has become a huge fundraiser. Each year, about $2 million is raised for various charities. Individual teams have raised up to $400,000. 

George decided to race for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association after attending an association conference at which the keynote address was given by doctors who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and likened climbing at altitude to the shortness of breath experienced by pulmonary hypertension patients. 

George said that though it is a challenge to train for such a big race event while being a doctor, she needs her time on the bike. 

“Sometimes no matter what you do, you can’t control the outcomes. We do our best and sometimes people get better and sometimes they don’t. … That’s part of the job. … What you can control is your training. You can control getting out of bed and riding your bike,” she said. 

To prepare for the upcoming race, she has been doing a lot of cycling, but she isn’t limiting herself to the bike. She has also been working on her core. Closer to the event, she will begin to train in increments to simulate the intervals at which she will be on and off the bike.

Racing RAAM as a team, one team member is always on the road while the others rest and eat. Each team member has a car that follows her to pick her up when her interval is over. 

The cars will be driven by team Phenomenal Hope’s crew, led by crew chiefs Kate Bennett and Greta Daniels. The crew will be made up of drivers, navigators, medics and nutritionists.

Bennett, who came to Pitt to pursue a doctoral degree, has known George for about six years. 

“Basically, it’s like planning anything. The racers themselves, all they have to do is get on their bikes. They have to ride. They have to eat. They have to sleep. They have to do it over and over again … The crew chief does the logistics for everything else,” Bennett said. 

Though George and her team and crew will have invested heavily in the race in terms of training and preparation, their only incentives are fundraising for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and the pride that comes with finishing such an endurance-based race. 

“The beauty of RAAM is … you do all this, you prepare for it, train for it … and then at the end of the day you cross the finish line, you get a medal. … You finished, and that’s it. That’s the beauty of it. You go and you do this race. … It’s for the love of the race and you have a feeling in yourself that you’ve done something incredible,” George said.

Correction: On Monday, The Pitt News reported that Kate Bennett had received a doctoral degree. Bennett moved to Pittsburgh for a doctoral program, but did not finish. The Pitt News regrets the error.