Mady Kennedy of Manitoba is biking across Canada to fundraise for the Canadian Cancer Society and raise awareness for families and individuals who have struggled with cancer.
Kennedy started biking across the country by plunging into the Atlantic Ocean April 27 at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia and plans to end early June when she reaches the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver.
She is following a family tradition. Her uncle, Sheldon Kennedy, rollerbladed across Canada in 1998 raising awareness and fundraising for a charity. Kennedy attributes the idea to her uncle and wants to continue the legacy.
“I am an endurance athlete. I just started biking 10 months ago, and I am biking across the country to raise a million dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Kennedy stopped in Elkhorn last Wednesday evening and was greeted with a large crowd of family and friends during a community barbecue held for her journey and cause.
“I currently live in Winnipeg, and I grew up in Beausejour. My family is from Elkhorn, Virden, and Brandon. We own the water park in Brandon, so I grew up in Manitoba, this is home.”
Halfway through journey
Kennedy explains stopping in Elkhorn and travelling through Manitoba last week was the halfway point in her journey.
“We started in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, we jumped in the ocean there at the beginning. This is the halfway point, which is kind of poetic—the halfway point being the hometown stretch, it is definitely the motivation I needed. Then, we’re going to end in Vancouver on June 14, my 30th birthday.”
Family affected by cancer
Kennedy says cancer has closely affected her family and sees her journey as a way to embrace the privilege of a healthy body.
“My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, and I seen firsthand how quickly and easily our health can be ripped away from us, and it just made me never want to take that for granted again. So I’ve been on a mission to really take advantage of my healthy, able body and inspire other people to move and appreciate life more while we have it.”
Inspiration from family
Kennedy says her uncle, Sheldon Kennedy, was a huge inspiration to bike coast to coast.
“My uncle rollerbladed across Canada 30 years ago when he was also 29, and so now I want to continue on that legacy, and I just thought, let’s go big and try to raise money and do this experience with my dad. So, I came up with the idea and when I commit to something, I go all in. So then I told my dad, ‘Dad, we’re doing this,’ so I kind of forced him into it, but it has been fun being on the road together and having him by my side.”
Kennedy says she is motivated to bike for cancer survivors.
“It’s about being able to move and having the privilege of a healthy, able body. I want to be able to do that for the people that can’t, and show people what’s possible.
“I think people assume because I’m biking across Canada, I know what I’m doing, and I have all this experience, and I don’t. I literally have no idea what I’m doing. I’m figuring it out as I go. I just started biking. I biked on a trainer for hours a day. I had no experience with elevation or wind or being outside. I got my bike a week before I left. I have almost no training outside, so it’s been a learning curve the entire journey, but I think I’m a huge advocate for starting before you’re ready and figuring it out as you go, and just trying. I believe in starting as a beginner, failing, and learning the lessons as we go, and I don’t think we do that enough in life.”
