Break the Cycle 200 hosted dozens of runners and bikers this weekend to bring awareness to human trafficking.
The organization, which was started in 2011, organized to talk about and raise money for human trafficking victims as they cycle and run 200 miles across Iowa.
“200 miles on a bike hurts,” said Rocky Vest, President of Break the Cycle 200. “I don’t advise anyone to do it.”However, dozens of locals participated in the event. The group travels from West Des Moines, through rural roads and to Okaboji.
“The fact that people are being forced to be an object of someone else’s pleasure for money is shocking,” Vest said. “And it’s not happening somewhere else. It’s happening right here, in Des Moines.”