West Des Moines Patch will be posting video of the Above and Beyond Cancer team as they race to the finish line in rigorous bicycle Race Across America. The team, led by Mercy Cancer Center Medical Director Dr. Richard Deming, began their journey Saturday and hopes to finish the race June 23 in Annapolis, MD.

RAAM, which at 3,000 miles is longer than the Tour de France and must be completed in half the time, is regarded as the world’s toughest human endurance test. The course has a 170,000 vertical-foot climb, the equivalent to climbing Mount Everest six times.

Above and Beyond Cancer, a charity founded by Deming, offers rigorous outdoor experiences — a climb to the base camp of Mount Everest, to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and now RAAM — to cancer survivors, giving them a platform to advocate for policies and programs that prevent cancer and improve patient outcomes.