Curebound Cancer Challenge Returns to San Diego to Accelerate Cancer Research

Thousands will ride, run, walk, and gather at UC San Diego for a community-powered day supporting collaborative cancer research.

On Saturday, August 1, thousands of San Diegans will gather at UC San Diego for a day of movement, remembrance and hope.

Some will cycle along the Torrey Pines coastline. Others will run, walk, spin, practice yoga or volunteer. Families will form teams, survivors will celebrate milestones and many participants will carry the name of someone whose experience with cancer made the day personal.

Together, they will take part in the Curebound Cancer Challenge, San Diego County’s largest community-driven fundraiser dedicated to cancer research.

Formerly known as Padres Pedal the Cause, the event has united more than 20,000 participants and raised $24.5 million since its launch, according to Curebound. The organization says 100 percent of every dollar raised by participants supports collaborative research at leading institutions across the region.

What to know: The Curebound Cancer Challenge takes place Saturday, August 1, at UC San Diego. Participants can ride, run, walk, spin, join a yoga or group fitness session, volunteer or donate to support cancer research in San Diego.

A Cancer Fundraiser Built for the Entire Community

The Challenge may include demanding cycling routes, but it is not reserved for competitive athletes.

Cyclists can choose from three scenic courses, while runners and walkers can participate in the 5K or 10K. Spin classes, group fitness and a new yoga experience provide additional ways to take part without heading out on a long-distance route.

Families are also encouraged to attend together. Children can join their families in the 5K or spend time in the Kid Zone, which is expected to include games, a putt-putt green and a medal scavenger hunt.

Other event highlights include:

• Scenic cycling and running courses near the Torrey Pines coastline
• Live music throughout the day
• Food provided by UC San Diego
• Local craft beer and beverages
• Spin, yoga and group fitness activities
• Volunteer opportunities
• An Honor Wall recognizing loved ones affected by cancer
• A Survivor Bell celebrating survivors and their families

The range of activities reflects Curebound’s effort to create a day where nearly anyone can contribute. Participation may mean completing a cycling route, walking beside a survivor, helping at a water station or making a donation in someone’s honor.

A Record Number of Research Teams Are Seeking Support

This year’s Challenge arrives at an especially important moment for San Diego’s cancer-research community.

Curebound reports that it received 186 letters of intent from 69 teams seeking cancer-study grants. That represents a 21 percent increase from the previous year and the largest research pipeline the organization has received to date.

Those applications represent a significant number of research ideas competing for support. Funds raised through the Challenge will help determine how many projects Curebound can fund.

The organization’s cancer research program emphasizes collaboration among specialized teams connected to leading San Diego institutions, including:

• UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
• Salk Institute
• Sanford Burnham Prebys
• Rady Children’s Health
• La Jolla Institute for Immunology
• Scripps Research

Rather than limiting a study to one institution, the model is intended to bring scientists and physicians from different organizations together around shared research questions.

That approach is especially relevant in San Diego, where institutions such as Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health combine scientific research, clinical trials and patient care.

How Early Research Funding Attracted Additional Support

Curebound places particular emphasis on early-stage research that may need initial funding before it can compete for larger grants.

According to Curebound, its 2024 Discovery Grant provided $250,000 to support research led by Dr. Hojun Li of UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Health. Curebound describes the project as research into pediatric leukemia prevention and strategies intended to make bone marrow transplantation safer and less toxic for children with leukemia.

The organization reports that the initial grant helped Dr. Li secure nearly $8.6 million in additional funding to continue and expand the work. Curebound characterizes that follow-on support as a 34-fold return on its original research investment.

Dr. Li is listed by Rady Children’s Health as a physician with its Cancer and Blood Disorders team and an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego.

The additional funding represents an expansion of research support. It should not be interpreted as evidence that the work has already produced a proven treatment or established clinical outcome. The research remains investigational, and its purpose is to study approaches that may eventually improve care.

The National Cancer Institute explains that stem-cell and bone marrow transplants are used in the treatment of certain cancers, including leukemia, while also carrying potential risks and side effects. Research exploring safer or less toxic approaches could therefore be particularly meaningful for younger patients, but those approaches must still be studied and evaluated.

Curebound CEO Robin Toft said the funding example demonstrates how early support can help prevent a promising research idea from stalling before investigators have enough evidence to pursue larger grants.

For patients and families, the hope is that sustained research will eventually lead to better prevention, treatment and quality of life. The funding announcement itself, however, describes progress in financing the research—not a completed medical breakthrough.

Carrying Joe Pangelinan’s Legacy Forward

The Challenge will also honor Joe Pangelinan, a longtime spokesperson and leader within the Curebound community who recently died after a five-year experience with lung cancer.

Joe spoke openly about his treatment and his belief that Curebound-funded research helped make options available that gave him more time with his family.

His wife, Cindy, their daughter, Brenna, and their son, Cayden, are continuing to support cancer research and carry his message forward at this year’s Challenge.

“Joe never let cancer take his hope,” Cindy Pangelinan said in the Curebound announcement. “You fight not just for yourself, but for everyone who comes after you.”

Their family’s story brings the purpose of the event into focus. Cancer research can feel distant when described through grants, laboratories and scientific institutions. Families often measure its importance differently—in birthdays attended, conversations shared and ordinary days they once feared they might not have.

The Honor Wall and Survivor Bell will give other participating families a place to recognize those same experiences.

San Diego Turns Community Support Into Scientific Progress

The Cancer Challenge is part of Curebound’s larger effort to connect researchers, patients, advocates and philanthropists around a shared mission.

FINE previously highlighted another side of that work through the P!NK Concert for Cures experience, which brought music, travel and charitable giving together in support of cancer research.

The Challenge channels that community energy into an active day of cycling, running, walking and fitness. The setting may be different, but the purpose remains consistent: giving researchers the resources to investigate promising ideas and pursue additional scientific support.

That spirit is part of a wider local tradition. Events such as the SPARK Gala benefiting UC San Diego Health have also demonstrated how San Diego’s philanthropic community can help strengthen cancer research and patient care.

At the Curebound Cancer Challenge, the connection between community participation and research funding is particularly direct. Curebound says every participant-raised dollar goes toward collaborative cancer studies in the San Diego region.

How to Join the Curebound Cancer Challenge

Registration is open for individuals, families and teams.

Participants can:

• Choose one of the three cycling routes
• Walk or run the 5K
• Take part in the 10K
• Join a spin, yoga or group fitness session
• Volunteer during the event
• Form or support a fundraising team
• Make a direct donation to cancer research

The Curebound Cancer Challenge takes place Saturday, August 1, at UC San Diego.

Registration, fundraising information and volunteer opportunities are available through the official Curebound Cancer Challenge website.

The FINE Take

The most meaningful community events do more than bring people together for one day. They give grief, gratitude and hope somewhere productive to go.

At the Curebound Cancer Challenge, that may look like a family completing its first 5K, a cyclist reaching the end of a coastal route, a survivor ringing the bell or a volunteer welcoming participants across the finish line.

Each action may feel modest on its own. Together, those actions create funding and momentum for research that might otherwise struggle to move forward.

For patients and families waiting for better answers, that collective effort is reason enough to keep moving.

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