Amgen Breakaway Challenge Turns Walking, Running or Cycling Miles Into Support for Eight Independent Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations
Amgen has launched the Breakaway Challenge initiative, a national social fitness program to motivate individuals to take action in their health and to support the fight against heart disease and cancer. Amgen’s Breakaway Challenge joins together Breakaway from Cancer® and Breakaway from Heart Disease™ and serves as a complementary component to its title sponsorship of the Amgen Tour of California, a world-class cycling event that takes place May 12 – 18, 2019.
The Breakaway Challenge urges participants to turn their walking, running or cycling miles into support for eight nonprofit advocacy organizations that are dedicated to cancer and heart disease research. For a six-week period starting May 1 through June 12, 2019, Amgen will donate $1 dollar for every Breakaway Challenge mile completed by initiative participants, up to $400,000. The donations will be evenly distributed among the eight nonprofits.
“Making a positive difference in the world is at the heart of what we do at Amgen, and it goes beyond developing vital medicines to creating powerful connections with the communities we serve,” said Murdo Gordon, executive vice president of Global Commercial Operations at Amgen. “The Breakaway Challenge encourages personal health while also supporting organizations that work with patients and caregivers in the fight against cancer and heart disease.”
Amgen Partners with Strava
Amgen has teamed with Strava, a social fitness app that tracks cycling and running activities, to create the Breakaway Challenge. Strava will aggregate the total miles contributed to the Breakaway Challenge with the goal to collectively reach as many miles as possible with Amgen matching the first 400,000 miles with a $400,000 donation evenly distributed to the nonprofit partners. Participants can join the Challenge by downloading the Strava app to their mobile device and joining the Breakaway Challenge, or by visiting https://www.AmgenBreakawayChallenge.com.
In addition, the Amgen Cycling Club, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization led by athletes and cyclists who enjoy spending time outdoors on their bikes both in Southern California and around the world, is joining the efforts of the Breakaway Challenge by providing a fundraising platform through the MobileCause app during the Challenge period. The total proceeds raised through the MobileCause fundraising platform during the Breakaway Challenge period will be also evenly distributed to the eight nonprofit Breakaway partners by the Amgen Cycling Club.
