Team FabuLisa Rides Once More For Cancer Research

For more than 40 years, Barry Gallup has been a cornerstone in the foundation of Boston College athletics. He remains one of the Eagles' most decorated athletes after setting nearly every receiving record over a four year career in the late 1960s. He is a revered coach for his ability to recruit for head coaches Joe Yukica, Ed Chlebek and Jack Bicknell, and he helped assemble the rosters that produced some of the 1980s most iconic teams. He is still an active participant in history as an administrator in the athletic department, the glue holding together the football alumni family.

Other coaches, administrators and personnel come and go, but Barry and his family always remain a part of Boston College, beloved and respected by everyone who wears maroon and gold. So it's fitting that the capstone event of the year is a tribute and rallying point around the man who is the ultimate Eagle.

On Wednesday, Boston College student-athletes, coaches and staff members will participate in the Cycle for Survival as part of Team FabuLisa, in memory of Barry's daughter, Lisa Gallup '09.

"These athletes aren't so much competing in their own sport or their own event because they're fighting against cancer," field hockey head coach Kelly Doton, who organizes the event, said. "It is a fun event, but it's also important because everyone always supports it."

All of the Eagles' 31 athletics teams participate in the event, which serves as the unofficial capstone to the academic calendar. The teams mount spin bicycles for half-hour intervals, competing with one another in an atmosphere that includes lights, colors, props and smiles. It's not mandatory, even though all of the teams participate, and this year, athletes will file into the Flynn Recreation Complex to raise money, in Lisa's spirit and memory, for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

"It's really so much fun," Doton said. "It's local to everyone, so they don't have to travel anywhere. Everyone still loves getting their t-shirts, and they wear them everywhere on campus. It's really awesome to watch the lacrosse team at a practice with their FabuLisa shirts on or a football player works out wearing the shirt."

It's an event that Lisa helped kick start in Boston, having been a Collins School of Nursing graduate from Boston College. She never saw it to completion, though, after receiving a cancer diagnosis. In December, 2012, she passed away at 26 years old, two months before the first Cycle for Survival debuted in Boston.

In the seven years since, her dream became a staple at BC. May signals year's end even though spring sports continue churning towards their respective postseasons. But it still represents how all Eagles celebrate together as one collective unit right before summer break begins. It became a little bit bigger and bigger each year, resulting in this year, the event's seventh, as its largest yet.

"We are moving out of the spin room (in Conte Forum) this year and moving into the Plex because we outgrew it," Doton said. "We are increasing the number of bikes in each room to 30, which means we have increased participation. There's 525 student-athletes and then another 20 or so staff members. That's the most riders than we've ever had."

It's taken on a mythical level of enjoyment, and the participation remains even for teams in the thick of their schedule. Both baseball and softball have a game day in the afternoon at the Harrington Athletics Village, and both lacrosse and women's tennis are in the middle of NCAA Tournament preparations.

"I can't describe it," Doton said. "I'll do this as long as the Gallup family and the student-athletes want me to. I heard last year from some of the sports that don't get the same notoriety as football or basketball, and they emailed me about how much they enjoyed the event. I never truly understood why because they only participate for 25 minutes, but they told me that's more about the entire day.

"Our former field hockey players who graduated recently came back for the lacrosse games (this past weekend," she said. "They saw the flyers and wrist bands in my office and talked about how much they love it. It's across the board."

It's all driven by the programs' desire to give back to the man and his family that forever represent the very core of being a Boston College Eagle. Coach Gallup is still a central figure to the football program, and Wednesday is simply a way to return the favor for someone who always greets them with a warm smile.

"The love that the football team has for Barry Gallup is always first and foremost because they're around him and hear his story," Doton said. "Then we have all of these other teams that aren't around Barry as much and hear the story about the Gallup family and of Lisa. It's a check back as to what we're doing here, and it's a fun event to do that for them.

"Every time you see him, you just want to give him a big hug," she said. "He's always around the program, and everyone supports him. We're going to have the (nursing college) there, and Matt Hasselbeck is going to be coming back. People like that don't just show up for anybody. It's because it's Coach Gallup and his family. That speaks wonders as to how amazing he is, and everyone is looking forward to it tomorrow."

For more information, visit the event's website at cycleforsurvival.org. To donate, click here.

Team FabuLisa Rides Once More For Cancer Research

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