CV Brothers Raise Money, Awareness for Health
Co-founders Ryan Allen (second left) and Nick Allen (second right), as well as Castro Valley natives Aaron Cheung (third left), Kyle Ah-Tye (third right), and Gaspar Gamez (right) in their volunteer support team, pose on the South Kaibab Trail following their Zone 7 Grand Canyon Challenge, in which the two founders each carried 100 lbs of water for approximately 5 miles and 3500 ft elevation gain. Each year, the founders attempt a daring physical challenge to raise awareness for their annual fundraiser and community health projects.
Castro Valley natives Ryan and Nick Allen have taken on the extraordinary challenge of preventing and treating illness—by raising money for preventive care and becoming doctors themselves.
“We’ve felt inspired to do this for quite a while,” says Ryan, 22. “We’re both med school students and every year we do some sort of physical challenge to raise money for various healthcare-related programs we’ve got going on.”
Ryan started a non-profit (Zone 7: Beyond Health) to help people avoid preventable illnesses. He will join his brother Nick studying at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix this year, where Nick is in his third of four years.
“In the hospital, we see patients who walk through the door with an illness, and at that point, we can only do so much,” says Nick, 24. “Our mission with the non-profit is to address preventive health care early on, to keep people from having to come to the hospital in the first place. These are ‘upstream’ issues like getting nutritious food, having access to health care, getting exercise, and getting enough sleep. We raise money so we can help communities that need it.”
Through Zone 7: Beyond Health, which Ryan started about three years ago, the brothers and a group of volunteers have provided health screenings—such as blood tests and blood pressure checks—for underserved populations, including the homeless and people on the streets. They fund scholarships for deserving students who share their passion for health equity and community well-being. They've brought nutrition information to underfunded schools. And to encourage exercise and combat childhood obesity, Ryan donated soccer balls to an elementary school in Oakland. The school had major funding limitations on its physical education programs, so Ryan taught the kids to play soccer.
To raise funds and awareness for these activities, the brothers receive pledges for physical challenges that they do between studies.
The first year they did a 600-mile bike ride from Castro Valley to the Mexican border near San Diego. They raised $1,500 from family and friends.
The second year they did an Iron Man Triathlon: swimming, biking, and running a marathon, and raised close to $10,000.
On May 6 this year, they tried their most difficult challenge: each carrying 100 pounds of water seven miles from the Colorado River at the base of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim—a 5,000-foot elevation gain. This has only been done once by elite Olympic athlete Ryan Hall. Unfortunately, the brothers made it five miles and had to stop carrying the water due to safety concerns as darkness approached. They finished the final two miles without the water.
“This was definitely our hardest challenge so far,” says Nick, who had very limited time to train while in med school. “I had a big water jug in my backyard that I'd carry around whenever I had 20 minutes to spare or on my days off.”
Despite the setback, the Allens were able to raise over $15,000 and are still gratefully accepting donations at their website https://www.zone7.io/ .
Their non-profit has also expanded from just the two brothers to approximately 20 volunteers now. Most are med students, but others are nurses, people who work in affordable housing, and computer support.
The Allen brothers, who were active in local sports here, attended Jensen Ranch Elementary and Canyon Middle Schools in Castro Valley.
Both graduated from Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, Nick in 2016, and Ryan in 2018. Both graduated from U.C. Berkeley and are excited to be together again, studying at the Mayo Clinic campus in Phoenix. Ryan plans to be an Emergency Room doctor, and Nick to become a primary care physician.
Their non-profit’s name, “Zone 7,” comes from a term used in exercise science.
“There are six so-called ‘zones’ of exertion, 1 to 6, increasing in intensity,” says Ryan. “In Zone 1, you’re resting. By Zone 5, you’re sprinting. Zone 7 doesn’t really exist, but it’s our way of creating another level if you will.”
To find out more about the Allens and the Zone 7 activities, or to donate, see the following online: Website: zone7.io/donate; Venmo: @zone7health; Email: contact@zone7.io ; and social media (Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.): @zone7health