Randox Laboratories, UK, is sponsoring the four-man Team CRY Randox, elite cyclers poised to raise money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in the Race Across America.
The team plans to travel more than 500 miles daily in the cycle-endurance race, which traces 3,000-plus miles from Oceanside, Calif to Annapolis, Md. The total ascent is some 108,600 feet.
The challenge will test the athletes’ endurance and place significant stress on the body, the heart in particular. Team members plan to consume more than 5,000 calories each day.
The team members are:
• Greg Whyte, professor of applied sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University, and a former Olympic pentathlete and world silver medalist
• Richard Ball, an international modern pentathlete who has competed in three world championships
• Clive Middleton, a former professional soccer player who has competed in 10 triathlon world championships, including three Hawaii Ironman events
• Matt Wilson, who has competed in more than 80 Olympic, and three Ironman triathlons
CRY is involved in screening, counseling, research, education, equipment donation, and strategic policymaking.
Studies have shown that blood markers in elite athletes can transiently exceed thresholds indicative of cardiac damage. The phenomenon is known as exercise-induced cardiac fatigue. Studies of repeated bouts of cycling exercise are limited, and the team has agreed to provide blood samples before, after, and throughout the race, which will be analyzed with EVIDENCE, the company’s new biochip array system.
Randox is a worldwide diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and markets clinical diagnostic products.
