14 years ago, Michael Schoen rode in his first Pelotonia, raising nearly $60,000 for cancer research for the OSUCCC-James. Since that first Ride, Michael has continued to passionately share the Pelotonia mission with his family, friends, co-workers, and anyone who would listen and has consistently finished as a Top 5 fundraiser each year.  In 2023, Michael became only the second person in Pelotonia history to cross the $1.1M lifetime funds raised for Pelotonia, a truly remarkable accomplishment and testament to his dedication to our collective One Goal!

Matt is a 15-year Lead Volunteer who has led and developed the SAG program from day 1. He has recruited, trained, and led this team over the years from planning training sessions to providing on-site instruction, preparing vehicles and supplies, and receiving and dispatching all support requests. Beyond this, Matt does anything and everything needed to make Ride Weekend safe and successful. This year alone, he single-handedly swept significant portions of the route from fresh gravel and chip seal to make the route safe for Riders, organized additional variable message boards as needed across the route, and more. Matt has been instrumental in the planning for our inaugural Gravel Day event, driving routes to test radio coverage, creating a personnel & equipment plan to best access all areas of the remote routes, and assisting with route support and communications recommendations. Matt’s passion for Pelotonia is unmatched, as was evidenced by the best thank you message left at Pelotonia HQ after this year’s Ride Weekend. We couldn’t do it without him!

Christian Jeric, Adrenal Team Maria: Christian rallied his family and friends to create the Adrenal Team Maria in honor of his sister, Maria. Maria was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, Adrenocortical Carcinoma, at the young age of 25 in April of 2022. Through Christian’s leadership, the Peloton has raised more than $24,000 for innovative cancer research this year with 5 members, creating tremendous impact within the Pelotonia community!

Julia Tolloty, Team Granville Spokesman: Julia participated in her first Pelotonia ride this year in honor of her younger brother, Tristan Tolloty. Tristan was diagnosed with leukemia at 15 months old and lived cancer-free for 15 years. Due to the aggressive treatment at such a young age, he passed away in March of 2023. Julia's passion for Pelotonia has been fueled by Tristian, and her impact has been remarkable. Julia is not only one of the top fundraising first-year Riders, she is the youngest fundraiser in the top 50 list at the age of 20 years old, raising more than $16,000 for cancer research!

John, known as Jack by his friends and family, first joined the Pelotonia community in 2020 after he was treated at the James for Sarcoma, a very rare form of cancer. Through his journey, John not only courageously fought to be cancer-free, but has also inspired countless community members to join him in his efforts.

John leads Team Jack, which is made up of friends and family from across the country. His leadership over the past three years has resulted in more than $192,000 raised by the Peloton. John has been a fierce advocate in the Pelotonia community by sharing his cancer journey at several events to inspire others to join us in our movement, and he has had a tremendous impact on the Pelotonia mission.

Dr. Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld is a tenure-track Assistant Professor and physician-scientist whose research focuses on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) genetics, and how age-, gender- and race-associated differences uniquely impact cancer patients. Dr. Eisfeld originally received Pelotonia funding in 2011 as a Post-Doctorate Pelotonia Scholar and has gone onto receive four Pelotonia Idea Grants to support her research, as well as many other prestigious international cancer research awards.

Her diligent mentorship and collaboration is evident throughout the OSUCCC-James, including with her undergraduate mentee Isaiah Boateng, who received a Pelotonia Scholar Award in 2022! Dr. Eisfeld, or AK as her colleagues often call her, serves as director of the Clara D. Bloomfield Center for Leukemia Outcomes Research at The Ohio State University, which leads large-scale AML correlative studies directed at discovering associations between patient outcomes, genetic/genomic features, and clinical/demographic characteristics. The Center is dedicated to the long-term friend and mentor of AK and countless Leukemia researchers and clinicians, Clara Bloomfield, and was established in 2020 to carry on her legacy. She is a steadfast champion of Pelotonia throughout the community, and a respected mentor, colleague, and physician. Learn more about AK's research here!