The Riedel Family formed the ForeverMarthaSTRONG team in honor of our bad-ass daughter who fought Ewing Sarcoma for 7 years, from the age of 13 until April of last year. This team is a way for the Riedel Family to continue to give back to St. Baldrick's and to keep Martha's spirit alive.
The photo above is of Martha finishing the Colorado League high school mountain bike race in Steamboat Springs in the late Summer of 2017. If it's not obvious from the purple and gold jersey she was racing for Boulder High. Only days before that race, Martha had received news that the cancer had returned, despite surviving 9 months of treatment after her initial diagnosis in 2015. It was an abnormally hot day with temperatures in 90s, not quite the best of riding conditions. I told her she did not have to, but Martha chose to race anyway. She was the last rider, across all categories, to come across the line that day, and her teammates greeted her as she came across the line to "FINISH IT". That never give up attitude, rooted in positivity, dominated Martha's outlook on life.
Martha was an avid St. Baldrick's fundraiser both as a student at Boulder High School and after graduation. If you join our team ForeverMarthaSTRONG, you will help us continue the fight against childhood cancer as well as continue Martha's legacy of fighting and never giving up.