Trans-Canada treks struggle for attention
Importance of marketing has grown
Canadians are running, biking and even pushing shopping carts across the country for various compelling causes this summer, but it’s often a struggle to be noticed in the post-Terry Fox era.
Trekkers still draw inspiration from Fox’s 1981 onelegged run in his attempted Marathon of Hope, which ended when the cancer that had taken one leg recurred in his lungs and resulted in his death. But as the years have passed, the journeys are often more solitary, attention from media outlets more sporadic, and the need for carefully calibrated marketing has intensified.
There are also a lot more people doing it.
“It’s hard because it’s almost like a competition,” Eileen Zheng, who has herself crossed paths with a number of other people making the trek, said of the effort to raise money in a cross-country ride.
Zheng rode her bicycle into New Brunswick this week, raising money for the Canadian Transplant Association and continuing her efforts to encourage 1,000 registrations for organ donations by year-end.
Nova Scotian Chris MacDougall set out on his bicycle on July 24 with the goal of raising $1 million for the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute in memory of his son Charlie.
The 62-year-old owner of a Tim Hortons franchise said at this point he will “be satisfied by hundreds of thousands of dollars,” and is having to make a rapid study of social media campaigns and reaching out to personal business networks if he hopes to hit his goals.
His son had dreamt of becoming a biochemist and research scientist. Instead, Charlie was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, the same bone cancer that Fox had, and after an exhausting and successful initial treatment, the cancer recurred and took the 14-year-old’s life just after Christmas in 2004.
The voice of the businessman still breaks as he talks about his lost child, and his desire to make “Charlie’s ride” something that will help others receive improved treatments. “I find when you’re on the bike ... you think about everything,” he said.
At the end of rides, sweaty and tired, MacDougall’s niece has him go on his computer and write down his reflections and send photos of the day. He’s learning the art of creating a narrative that readers tie into.
Along Zeng’s journey, she’s crossed paths with trekkers such as Brad Firth, also known as Caribou Legs, an ultra-marathoner who runs in support of missing and murdered aboriginal women, and Martin Bauman, who was also biking across Canada to raise money for mental health.
Then there is Joe Roberts, who is pushing a specially designed shopping cart across the country to raise money and awareness for youth homelessness. He’s raised $80,000 and has a goal of raising $17 million, or 50 cents from every Canadian and raising awareness about youth homelessness.
“Fundraising is always hard. You’re competing in a sound-bite, distracted ... world,” he said. “The key is to find a way to activate the population. If you don’t do that, you’re just another lonely person on the highway with a cause.”