Riding to find a cure
Ride to Conquer Cancer participant will carry others with her on 200km journey
When Niagara Falls resident Pam MacDonald takes part in the 10th annual Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer this weekend, she will be wearing the names of nearly 30 people who have been touched by the disease.
She will also be thinking about her friend, Niagara Falls resident Todd Guest, who died from esophageal and stomach cancers in October, as well as her brother, Phil, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December and underwent more than 35 radiation treatments.
“Todd meant a lot to my husband and I, and my brother getting better means so much to us,” said 59-yearold MacDonald.
“If this money can help find a cure, all the better. I know so many people have been touched by cancer.”
When Guest was diagnosed, it was too late and there were no treatment options for him.
He asked MacDonald to do the ride to conquer cancer for him.
Fulfilling her promise, MacDonald will complete the ride for the first time, alongside Guest’s wife.
After everything her loved ones have endured in the last year, MacDonald said riding 200 kilometres from Toronto to Niagara Falls is the least she can do.
When she sent out a letter asking for sponsorships, MacDonald said she told people she would wear the names on her shirt of people donors would like to remember during the ride.
She said she has nearly 30 names.
“I didn’t know how I was going to raise the ($2,500 for the ride), but people have been more than generous. It’s just absolutely unbelievable the generosity of people.”
MacDonald said she raised $3,500. She began her training Jan. 1. “We bought a trainer and I put it in the basement and I tried to go down several times a week.”
MacDonald said weather permitting, she has also been riding along the Niagara Parkway.
The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer is a two-day, 200-kilometre ride between Toronto and Niagara Falls, benefitting Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
Two out of five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
Every day, 555 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer and 216 will die from the disease. The ride brings together communities of riders, survivors and their supporters.
Funds raised through the ride support personalized cancer medicine, including research, treatment advances, education and new standards of care at Princess Margaret, across Ontario, and around the world.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is one of the top five cancer research centres in the world and is home to the largest clinical trials program in Canada.
As global leaders in cancer care, the centre has the expertise to treat more than 200 types of cancers, including the rarest forms of the disease.
Riders will be supported by hundreds of volunteers and crew members, providing meals, water and snack stops, gear transport, portable restrooms, safety on the course, medical services and an overnight campsite with tents, hot showers and entertainment.
This weekend will mark the 10th annual ride in Ontario, with similar rides scheduled throughout the summer in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.
In the last nine years, the Ontario ride has raised more than $155 million for cancer research across the province.
Since 2008, the ride event series has raised more than $339 million across Canada.
“It’s so important because we definitely need a cure,” said MacDonald.
“They need to find a cure and save more lives. The progress that has been made in the last few years is tremendous. There’s a long way to go, but through these rides and Princess Margaret and all that takes place there, I believe that eventually they will (find a cure).”
An opening ceremony is scheduled to take place before the ride Saturday morning, including at the starting line along the Niagara Parkway in Niagara Falls, where the total number of participants and funds raised for this year’s event will be announced.
Ramona Oss, director of the ride, said the event will likely feature 5,000 riders.
She said the best fundraising year was in 2014, when the ride generated $20 million.
“This year, we are racing towards that $20 million. The final numbers certainly aren’t in yet, but that is certainly our goal for this to be a recordbreaking year.”