A few months ago, Terry Langian decided to step up and do something.
His mother-in-law, Val Johnson, was in treatment for bladder cancer, and Lanigan wanted to find a way to support her. He had just bought a road bike in the spring, and when he saw an advertisement for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, it seemed like the perfect fit.
“I thought instead of sitting back and expecting somebody else to do it, I might as well try and raise some money,” he explained from his home in Jasper, Aug. 11.
So he started canvassing friends and family for donations, and raised about $3,300. Last weekend, Aug. 9–10, he joined 1,767 other riders for the race’s sixth annual incarnation in Alberta. Saturday they rode out of the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, all the way to a football stadium in Okotoks, and back again the next day.
The two-day, 230 kilometre bike ride supports the Alberta Cancer Foundation, which will distribute the whopping $7.9 million of donations to organizations such as the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton and 15 other cancer centres across the province.
Lanigan said the race was “a really powerful experience,” and that he was inspired by the strength of the cancer suffers, survivors and family members who came together for the ride.
Many of the riders, he explained, had battled cancer and lived to pedal in the race, and others who lost their battles were remembered with teams named in their honour.
He was particularly touched by a young boy, the same age as his son, who had survived a vicious form of brain cancer, and was taking 100 kilometre bike trips with his father.
“I remember he said that ‘in some weird way this is like a gift, because I see how precious life is.’ And here’s a 14-year-old kid telling us this? It was inspiring,” Lanigan said.
The ride itself was tough for Lanigan, and while he praised the support and organization of the event, he said what kept him going was the bravery of the people he met over the weekend.
“When you’re hurting you just have to think about the other people who are going through treatment, and you know what? All of a sudden it puts your little hill that you have to do in perspective. And you’re going to be hurting at the top, but you’ll feel better soon after. Some people have to feel a lot worse, and they don’t really get that reprieve,” he said.
Johnson is still going through treatment, and while she couldn’t be reached for this story, Lanigan said she is doing well.
