The American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure is back this year, and I’m so thrilled to hear they have added more facets to their event to attract more people.

The event, held for the past six years at King’s Fork High School, is taking place at the Suffolk Executive Airport this year on April 28. Formerly exclusively a cycling event, this year’s rendition features a 5K run/walk in addition to four routes for cyclists on Suffolk’s beautiful country roads.

Folks not cycling or running, or after they return, can take part in activities, educational displays and more. And it’s all still happening in Suffolk, only at a new location that has more room for a festival-like atmosphere.

Diabetes is an important topic for me. My husband has Type 2 diabetes. So do my mother and her mother, which puts me at high risk for it. Family history is a strong predictor for diabetes.

As in past years, the Suffolk News-Herald will have a series of stories leading up to the Tour about folks who are participating, people who live with diabetes and the work of the association.

The American Diabetes Association has done a lot to help spread the word about diabetes, how folks can eliminate their controllable risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, like being overweight and leading a sedentary lifestyle.

They also fund research and advocacy initiatives to help identify the causes of both types of diabetes and search for a cure, to ensure that diabetes gets the proper attention from state and federal lawmakers and to protect people with diabetes from discrimination at school, at work, while they’re incarcerated and in public accommodations. The association, according to its website, has been involved in litigation including for a San Antonio man who was turned down for a position as a police officer solely because he has diabetes, and against the city of Philadelphia for mistreatment of people with diabetes while in police custody.

If you’re free on April 28, it would be great to see you there. If you’re not, there are still plenty of ways you can support the event.

Visit diabetes.org/hamptonroadsvatour for more information.