University of California, Irvine 2019 Anti-Cancer Challenge


Degenkolb Engineers’ 2019 team (from left to right): Amelia Motzny, Alex Motzny,
Robert Barnard, Katherine Barnard, Octavio Cortes, Sandy Hohener, Stephen Hurley,
Stephanie Christensen, Carmen O’Rourke, Matt Barnard, Hannah Johnson,
Julia Magallon, Morgan Lyew, Richard Franco, Melissa Kwan Kwan, Chad
Closs, Allison Acosta, Justin Tan, Oscar Hernandez, Leanne Abad.

 

On June 8th, 2019 Degenkolb Engineers attended the University of California, Irvine’s (UCI) Annual Anti-Cancer Challenge. The mission of the Challenge was to bring awareness and raise funds to help with lifesaving cancer research at the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Challenge was a huge success, raising over $615,000!


Photos: (left) The Anti Cancer Challenge starting line. (right) Justin Tan of Degenkolb’s
Los Angeles office.

 

Degenkolb Team

Degenkolb participated in the UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge in 2018 with 2 engineers on the team. Recognizing the great influence of this event, we spread the word through our Los Angeles and San Diego offices to gather more employees and their families to join our 2019 team. Our efforts proved effective as Degenkolb’s team number increased to 20 adults, 1 baby, and 3 dogs! Two team members signed up for the 10K while the rest took part in the 5k. Both routes took the team all around the campus and ended in Aldrich Park. To ensure that everyone could complete the event at their own pace, the team divided itself into runners and walkers. Impressively, Design Engineer Octavio Cortes was able to finish the run in record time at 20:42, placing 7th overall out of 1,510 people! We are very proud to have raised over $1,000 for the challenge and are excited to join again next year to continue promoting this important event.


Photos: (left) Octavio Cortes of Degenkolb’s San Diego office. (right) Matt Barnard
of Degenkolb’s Los Angeles office and his dog Bandit.

 

The Event

The Challenge was held at Aldrich Park on the UCI campus in Irvine. Attendees could choose to do a bike ride at various levels (ranging between 14 miles and 100 miles), a 5K race/walk, or a 10K race/walk. Each event took the participants around the UCI campus, with the bike routes extending out to the neighboring areas. At the finish line riders, runners, and walkers were greeted with a cheering crowd. Medals were also handed out to congratulate everyone on their successful completion of the event. The Challenge was full of activity with people of all ages attending. Many families even brought their dogs to join in the fun!


Photos: (left) Hannah Johnson of Degenkolb’s San Diego Office. (Right) Degenkolb Engineers San Diego
office team members with UCI’s Peter the Anteater. From left to right: Alex Motzny, Octavio Cortes, Morgan
Lyew, Hannah Johnson, Chad Closs, Melissa Kwan Kwan, Peter the Anteater.

 

To learn more about the UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge, click here.

To learn more about the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, click here.