By: Laura Eggertson

When Dr. Robin Urquhart cycled 170 kilometres from Troy to Inverness along Cape Breton’s Celtic Shores Coastal Trail in June, it was the fourth time the Dalhousie researcher had completed the challenging BIG RIDE to support the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.

Dr. Urquhart, an associate professor at Dalhousie who holds the Canadian Cancer Society (Nova Scotia Division) Endowed Chair in Population Cancer Research, is also a member of the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.

She’s one of more than 50 participants in this year’s BIG RIDE, a community fundraising event that GIVE TO LIVE organizes annually. GIVE TO LIVE’s mission is to “inspire people to live happy and healthy lives through generosity, fitness, and achievement of the extraordinary.”

The BIG RIDE raises money for the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute’s Cancer Research Trainee Program, providing fellowships for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, as well as funds for summer students.

Many of the riders, who this year raised close to $160,000 for the Institute, have personal stories of living with cancer or losing someone they loved to the disease.

Dr. Urquhart supports the BIG RIDE because both her parents died young of pancreatic cancer with little to no medical care in the tiny outport town of Westport, Newfoundland.

Her parents’ inability to access care is also the reason Dr. Urquhart focuses her research on equity and access to cancer care in Atlantic Canada. “It’s motivated my own research, for sure.”

As the Scientific Director of the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (PATH), Dr. Urquhart is also one of the leaders in building a national population health study that will link lifestyle, environmental factors, and genomics in a massive new database of more than 37,000 Atlantic Canadians.

She knows the value of research and the importance of the medical trainees who drive it.

She took up cycling during the pandemic after a foot injury sidelined her from running, completing two of the yearly Big Ride events by cycling from Halifax to Chester and back.

Her third BIG RIDE took place in Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park, near the area where Dr. Urquhart grew up. That was the most challenging of all the rides she’s participated in so far, she says.

“I’ve never done anything in my life physically as hard as that. So, it wasn’t so bad this year, by comparison,” she says with a laugh.

The three-day event this year included a seven kilometre or 11-kilometre hike through the Mabou highlands, sandwiched between cycling two and from Inverness. The hike was difficult in its own right, Dr. Urquhart says, but provided beautiful views of rugged Cape Breton coastline. She enjoys the ride every year because of her fellow cyclists, she says.

“The people who do it are completely 100 per cent committed to the cause, because they’ve been somehow impacted by cancer,” she says.

“They are a very friendly group that takes everybody in. Some of them are really hardcore cyclists, but it doesn’t matter. You still feel like you fit in, regardless.”

Since participants in the BIG RIDE began supporting the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute in 2018, the money they raised has financed 22 Cancer Research Trainee Program studentships, as well as seven summer student positions.

This year, in addition to the money the cyclists raised, four children bolstered the total by $486 by setting up a lemonade stand at one of the points along the trail.

Dr. Urquhart intends to complete the BIG RIDE again next year, whether they return to Cape Breton or choose another location.

“I will probably follow them wherever they go, because the group is really
excellent,” she says.

The BIG RIDE: A Community Effort

In Cape Breton, the spirit of community shone brightly during this year’s BIG RIDE, a fundraising cycling event for the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.

As cyclists traversed the scenic Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, they were met with heartfelt local support. In Cape Breton, the spirit of community shone brightly during this year’s BIG RIDE, a fundraising cycling event for the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.

As cyclists traversed the scenic Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, they were met
with heartfelt local support.

Mary Janet MacDonald, a resident deeply moved by cancer’s impact on her family, baked homemade cinnamon buns for the riders. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs. MacDonald started making home cooking videos and now has an active website, Facebook page, and cookbook. She baked cinnamon rolls for all of the riders, passing them out on the trail.

Her personal connection to the cause—stemming from the loss of her mother to cervical cancer and her niece’s ongoing battle with bowel cancer—drove her to offer the warm welcome as a small token of her
appreciation. When she was only three years old, Mrs. MacDonald lost her mother to cervical carcinoma at the age of 37, leaving five children.

Her father was able to keep the three oldest children, aged nine, seven, and six, while Mary Janet and her baby brother, who was just two years old, went to two different family members’ homes in the community.

“There are days I would like to know what my mother’s voice sounded like. I hope that one day there is a cure so that no other child will have to yearn for the sound of their mother’s voice.”

Fundraising for such a worthy cause touches Mrs. MacDonald deeply.

“This research means everything to me,” she says. “I was sincerely honoured to give the riders just one little cinnamon roll to welcome them to our beautiful county and to thank them in one small way for the effort they put into this journey year after year.”

Young community members also joined the effort.

Local youth, Lucy VanZutphen, Dylan Campbell, Avery Campbell, and Ryan Campbell set up a lemonade stand for the Ride that raised almost $500 to support the cause.

These acts of kindness and dedication highlighted the profound impact of community solidarity in advancing cancer research and supporting those on the front lines of the fight against cancer.