Denver Athlete to Compete in the Most Challenging Hand Bike Race in the World

Matt Updike to Conquer Challenge Alaska

DENVER, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On July 19 through July 27, local
DenverParalympics athlete Matt Updike is going to compete against 38 top
athletes from around the globe in the longest and most challenging hand cycle
race in the world - Sadler's Alaska Challenge to raise money for The
ColoradoChapter of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

267 grueling miles over 7 excruciating days and with over 16,000 exhausting
feet of elevation gain, the Sadler's Alaska Challenge is not for the faint of
heart. Only the most aggressive, highly trained and talented athletes in the
world are capable of meeting this challenge. To mark the 25th Anniversary of
the race, organizers have carved out a brutal new route with a mountain top
finish. Described by a race organizer, Heather Pulcinski, as "way more
climbing, way more Alaskan, way more difficult and way more scenery," Denver
Paralympian Matt Updike will attempt to conquer the new route and take home a
win (a major feat which Matt accomplished once before in 2004).

After competing in Beijing in 2008, Matt was eager for his next major
challenge. When asked about his participation in the race, Matt provided four
reasons for taking on this tortuous and most difficult race on the planet,
"It's the most challenging race in the world; it is the 25th anniversary of
the event making it the most prestigious year ever; its an amazing way to
promote the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation; and quite frankly, I like the
pain!"

About Matt Updike: In September of 1997 at 26 yrs old, Matt was in an
automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Matt was an
extremely active guy at the time that had moved out west a couple of years
before the accident from Upstate NY to experience the mountains of Colorado.
An avid skier, mountaineer and cyclist prior to the accident, Matt continues
to do many of these things albeit in a different fashion. Since that life
changing moment, Matt has focused on what he can do and made the most of life.
Cycling, more specifically hand cycling, has became his true calling. Matt's
fundraising page can be found at
http://TeamReeveAllStars.kintera.org/mattupdikechallengealaska

About the Reeve FoundationThe Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated
to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the
quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information
and advocacy. For more information, and to review the entire list of Quality
of Life grant recipients, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org
or call 800-225-0292.

Matt Updike's Race Site:
http://TeamReeveAllStars.kintera.org/mattupdikechallengealaska

Media Contact: Maggie Goldberg
800-225-0292 x7115
media@ChristopherReeve.org

Kathryn Murray
303-847-9933
kathryn@ThePattonGroupInc.com

SOURCE Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Maggie Goldberg of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, +1-800-225-0292
x7115, media@ChristopherReeve.org; or Kathryn Murray for the Christopher and
Dana Reeve Foundation, +1-303-847-9933, kathryn@ThePattonGroupInc.com