7,200km in 15 days

Times Reporter

 

The third annual Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, SNKCR, began on September 9 and went until the 23. There were three teams, for a total of 42 riders, going across the country, sort of leapfrogging along the way. 

Damian Brown was crew chief for team two and said they started in Calgary the morning of the 11th, and went to Brooks. Another team left Brooks the same day to head to Moose Jaw.  

“The three teams rotated all the time on the road,” said Brown. The 14 riders on team two stopped for a good home cooked meal at the Country Farmhouse, just outside of Cluny. 

“We look for locations in between where the riders ride, say 50 kilometres to 60 kilometres. You have to have a place where you have lunch or dinner and stuff like that.  So different organizations have come by to sponsor and have supported us by providing lunch. Dianne has so kindly said that she wanted us here and it’s her way of contributing to the cause,” said Brown. Dianne Brown is the owner of the farmhouse and was happy to have the riders stop by for lunch. The ride is 15 days long from Vancouver to Halifax, approximately 7,200 kilometres.  Some riders may not be able to ride for a full day, which is fine; there is a bunk truck for the riders. A crew of professionals, including a registered massage therapist, travels with the riders to make sure everyone makes it through safely.   

Ken Cross is also a crew leader, his first ride with SNKCR was last year. Two years ago, Cross’s daughter Megan, 6, was diagnosed with cancer.  

“She was in remission after 2008 and then 17 months passed and her cancer came back. She needed a bone marrow transplant,” said Cross.

Her sister Leah was able to provide the bone marrow Megan needed. Not everyone participating in the ride has been personally affected by cancer, but all want to do their part to contribute to finding a cure. 

“For a lot of these people they either started riding or they rode before and they thought this would be something they could do to give back,” said Cross. SNKCR partners with Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation. Coast to Coast is Canada’s only national charity strictly devoted to fighting childhood cancer.

“This is the only foundation in Canada that specifically looks at childhood cancer and that’s it. It helps with research, it helps with programs and families, and it helps out camps. I will never waiver from this knowing how it’s helped out my family,” said Cross. 

There are no administrative fees for the SNKCR ride. 100 per cent of monies raised go directly to kids cancer treatment. Each province with a pediatric centre dedicated to kids with cancer receives the funds to help cover some of the costs incurred by the patients, and to help the families.