Wall Street Rides FAR will mark its 10th year in September, and the annual financial-industry fundraiser for autism research has added Chicago as a fourth location.
Markets Media caught up with the “three-legged stool” behind the charity bike ride via Zoom and email: Wall Street Rides FAR co-founders (and husband and wife) Bryan Harkins and Melissa Harkins; Alison Singer, President of Autism Science Foundation (ASF); and Eric Epstein, President of Global Impact Productions, which stages the event.
First off, congratulations on 10 years! How did it start and did you ever think you’d make it this “FAR”?
Melissa: We’re excited! Bryan and I have always been involved in endurance sports – cycling, racing, etc. – and we’ve been in the business for a while, so we know a lot of generous people.
We wanted to come up with a unique event that would raise money for the Autism Science Foundation. It just seemed perfect: a friendly competition and athletic event that gathers a network of people who want to donate.
Did we think we’d ever get to 10 years? I think we did. But in terms of the scale of how we’ve grown, through word of mouth, through marketing, through people just reaching out to us – that’s been incredible, and spectacular to see.
Alison: What’s so special about WS Rides FAR is how the whole financial community comes together to support people with autism. All of the top Wall Street firms participate as sponsors; over 65 of them! It’s amazing to see people who are staunch competitors during the work week come together on the weekend to focus on a common goal of improving the lives of people with autism. It’s also become a huge networking event, and many participants look forward to meeting others’ families and catching up with colleagues who may have moved to new firms.
What have been some highlights over the past decade?
Alison: For me the main highlight is the good work we have done on behalf of people with autism with the $4 million raised through Rides FAR. Historically, each dollar the Autism Science Foundation invests in autism research leads to $54 dollars of funding from the National Institutes of Health, so the multiplier effect of the funds raised at Rides FAR is over $200 million! Our research prioritizes issues related to risk factors, diagnosis, intervention, and services; in other words, the issues families say are the most important to them. Our research goal is to improve the real lives of real people.
Eric: As event producers, the best highlights for us are the moments when we’re able to give our participants the “wow” factor. Many riders and walkers have remarked that they’ve never seen such a well-organized event. What’s truly unique about this event is that it gives so many financial services companies a chance to network together in a totally different way.
This year you’re adding Chicago to the other ride locations of White Plains, NY, Columbia, MD, and Toronto. How else has the event grown?
Bryan: The first year was pretty grassroots – we had probably a few dozen riders and a dozen or so sponsors. Fast-forward to today, and between the four official rides and people around the world riding in their own neighborhoods, we should have around 1,000 participants this year.
From a funds perspective, we raised a bit more than $200,000 the first year, and recently we’ve been scratching out $1 million, even $1.2 million per year. Our goal this year is $1.5 million.
Our corporate sponsors are amazing. It’s an impressive list across equities, credit, crypto, derivatives, and FX, plus law firms and fintech vendors.
New York is our flagship ride – we get more than 300 riders and it’s growing. We get about 200 riders in Toronto and our goal is 100 for this first year in Chicago. We get about 50 riders in Baltimore. Those numbers are impressive, and we feel we can still significantly expand our reach.
How competitive / difficult are the rides?
Melissa: In terms of difficulty, particularly for the New York ride, there’s a 62-mile option that’s extremely hilly. If you’re not an avid cyclist, you’ll struggle to complete this ride. But there are other distances that aren’t that difficult.
In terms of competitiveness, it’s not a timed ride, but it is competitive in the sense that we get teams from different companies. So there’s going to be some competitiveness, both on the course and also when it comes to team fundraising.
But mostly we just want it to be a fun ride.
Eric: For this year we have revamped our shorter routes to make them less hilly, more accessible, and just overall friendlier for a wider range of rider abilities.
Bryan: Well, for the longer New York ride, we have a “sag wagon,” ha ha. If you watch any type of cycling event, like the Tour de France, there’s a sag wagon, which is the support vehicle that follows the riders. We’ll have people go out on the 62-mile route and end up getting scooped up by the sag wagon, but they all come back with big smiles on their face and they laugh it off.
Melissa: “No man or woman left behind” is our goal!
I want to stress that our event is very inclusive and we have different options for people who are not avid cyclists. We have 20- and 30-mile routes, we have a family ride and a kids ride, and we also have a 5K walk. And of course we have refreshments and cheering people and volunteers throughout the courses. Some people come just to hang out, socialize, and listen to the Lava Trading band! Any type of participation is welcome.
Are you doing anything special to mark the 10th anniversary?
Bryan: We want this year to be a celebration – a celebration of gratitude to our community. We mean that sincerely. It’s been amazing. We couldn’t do it without the support of the industry.
Also, we’re trying to go the extra mile this year to get everyone who has ever participated in the past – whether as a rider, a donor, or a volunteer – to join us again in the Fall.
What is your longer-term vision for Wall Street Rides FAR?
Melissa: I see more involvement with our board. We have an excellent board of eight to 10 people who have taken upon themselves to get involved, which entails adding new corporate sponsors and getting riders out on the course.
Some of our more recent additions have come with great passion, motivation, and are touched by the cause. People like Marc Wyatt, Jen Fagenson, and Jos Schmidt. They have instrumental in our growth and scale.
We need more Marcs, Jens and Joses – people who go above and beyond in terms of taking an active leadership role.
Bryan: Our board has been amazing and it has driven our growth. We’re also seeing organic growth – people reaching out to us saying I would love to start a ride in Miami, or in London, or in Denver. The first step is to have a conversation, then it’s about building a critical mass on the ground and then we start to support it officially.
Also, the ride is getting younger. It’s great to see “young butts in the saddle” as we like to say.
What are you most excited about for this year?
Alison: We are owed good weather! The last two years we’ve had rain and drizzle, so this year we are expecting a beautiful sunny day!
