It’s not too late to register for the 2019 Hampton Roads Tour de Cure, a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association.

There are a lot of reasons you should sign up to ride, walk, run or volunteer with this great event coming up on April 27. Here are just a few:

• Diabetes affects many of your neighbors. Suffolk is a hotspot for diabetes diagnoses, as well as complications and deaths resulting from diabetes.
• Type 1 diabetes is unpreventable. Greater awareness of its early symptoms, as well as the ADA’s advocacy for affordable insulin upon which Type 1 diabetics depend to survive, will save lives.
• Type 2 diabetes is preventable and manageable. Greater awareness of the risk factors that can be controlled and lifestyle changes that can delay or prevent onset of the disease, plus more screenings and education on how to manage the disease once it’s diagnosed, will save lives.
• The American Diabetes Association does a lot of education in Suffolk, working with Suffolk partners like churches and businesses to help keep Suffolkians healthy.
• The ADA is a great advocate for more diabetes research funding at the federal level as well as for non-discrimination against diabetics who encounter problems due to their disease at their schools and places of employment.
• The Tour de Cure promises to be a fun event before, during and after you ride, walk or run. Free food, live music, massages and a health fair — need we say more?
• Whether you ride 10, 30, 62 or 100 miles, or walk or run the 5K, you’ll have a lot of support and people cheering you on.

If these reasons have convinced you, here’s the info on the event. It will be held on April 27 at Suffolk Executive Airport, 1200 Gene Bolton Drive. There will be 12-, 30-, 62- and 100-mile routes for cyclists, and also a 5K run and walk.

Registration for cyclists is $25, and is $35 on the day of the event. The fundraising minimum for cyclists is $200. Runners and walkers have a fundraising minimum of $100 and do not pay a registration fee. All participants ages 12 and under have a $50 fundraising minimum. In addition to the 30-mile ride, there will be 12-, 30-, 62- and 100-mile routes for cyclists, and also a 5K run and walk.

For more information, or to donate if you’re not able to help in some other way, visit diabetes.org/hrtdc or call 424-6662 ext. 3269. Those interested in volunteering can contact Robin Kantor via email at RKantor@diabetes.org.