Last weekend, my brother Graham participated in an event to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. He’s been fundraising and training for months to prepare for it. He and about 140 other cyclists rode 400 km in ONE DAY from Kelowna to Delta, BC. They started riding at 4:00 am and finished up around 11:15 pm. They only stopped for very short breaks along the way.

Together, they raised close to $400,000 in donations! Jon, my mom and I went to join the welcome back celebration at the end of the ride. (that’s his girlfriend Sarah in the photo with him) It was very emotional to see them all ride in with the cancer survivors leading the way. None of them are professional cyclists, just people trying to help a great cause. This a grass roots organization that has been going for a few years and has gotten bigger each year. You can read much more about them at Ride2Survive.

Each of the cyclists rode in honor of someone in their lives who was affected by cancer. They copy the names onto their legs so that when they feel they can’t go on any longer, they can look down at the names and draw strength from them.  Our family has certainly had its share of cancer. Graham was treated for skin cancer himself a few years ago. Thanks to the great talents of a plastic surgeon, the cancer was completely removed and the scars on his face are nearly invisible. Our dad passed away from cancer 10 years ago. Our aunt died of breast cancer that same year. Another aunt has survived colon cancer twice and is now in her 90’s. Our uncle has brain cancer right now. Jon’s father lost one of his eyes to cancer many years ago.

Graham’s accomplishment has inspired me even more for my upcoming participation in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer this August. I’ve been doing much better with my training lately. I’m trying to walk everyday for at least 40 minutes. I joined a 10k training walk a couple of weeks ago and it was much easier than I thought. 60 km in 2 days is something else…but I think I can do it with the right tools. (vaseline to prevent blisters, some good socks and a couple pairs of good runners)

If you’re so inspired, you can donate to my fundraising directly by going to my online donation page here. If you prefer paypal, just click on the donate button here on my blog. Every little bit helps! Thank you so much:-)