Biking cross country for cancer research

Details

Published on Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Photo by Tony Eu. Chris MacDougall passed through Neepawa on Aug. 12 during his bike ride across Canada to raise money for cancer reseach.

By Tony Eu

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Chris MacDougall is biking across Canada to fundraise for and raise awareness of cancer research.

On Aug. 12, MacDougall passed through Neepawa on his ride from Vancouver, BC, on the west coast, to St. John’s, NL, on the east. He started his ride on July 24 and now passing through Neepawa, he’s well over 2,000 km into it, with over $92,000 raised.

“We’ve lucked out on the prairies with all the thunderstorms, we’ve missed the rain,” MacDougall said about the trip so far. “We really only had one real bad day by Saskatoon that we got caught in the winds and the rain and everything, but other than that, it’s been uneventful, which is good,” he added.

Since the start of the ride, MacDougall has biked between six and seven hours every day, with the exception of his two rest days in Calgary. Over the prairies, that time converts into about 150 km every day. MacDougall travels with friends who bike along with him, as well as a support vehicle that carries the bags and supplies.

“The drivers, especially in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have been extremely friendly, they give us all kinds of room,” MacDougall noted. As for local shows of support, MacDougall said, “Not that many people know what I’m doing on a local basis, but the ones that do know are very supportive. It seems that everyday we run into a person or two that do help us.”

When asked about what the most surprising part of the trip has been, MacDougall answered that it’s his state of health. “I feel pretty healthy, I thought that it’d be harder on me,” he said. “I’m almost 62, I’ll be 62 in October and I prepared for the ride, but I did have some health issues before I left,” MacDougall added. He continued, saying, “I thought it’d be a lot more difficult on me, but I’m almost finished three weeks… and I’m feeling pretty good.”

Funds raised will be going through the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (DMRF), ending up with the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute (BHCRI), which was created in 2009 to help aid cancer research in Atlantic Canada. MacDougall is the chair of BHCRI, but his connections to cancer are much more personal than that.

On July 27, 2001, MacDougall’s 11-year-old son Charlie was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, the same bone cancer that Terry Fox had. Three and a half years later, on Dec. 28, 2004, Charlie passed away.

“My objective is to make people aware that cancer research does make a difference,” MacDougall said. “A lot of people right now, because of the prevalence of cancer, they don’t believe that research makes a difference. It makes a huge difference,” he stressed. “There are big breakthroughs coming every day and I want people to be aware of that and I want people to be aware that cancer research is under-funded and that we have to support it,” he added. 

MacDougall’s final comment was, “It‘ll make a huge difference to people so that people don’t have to suffer the way my family’s suffered.”

For more information on MacDougall’s ride across Canada, his story or if you want to donate, visit his blog charliesride.net or dmrf.ca.