June 18, 6:49 p.m.
Wow! We knew the End2End fundraising total was going to be great, but not this great. Thank you, thank you, thank you Vancouver Island for your generosity in supporting your neighbours, the families on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands that have been struck by childhood cancer. Thanks to you, a phenomenal $272,843 — and counting — has been raised. That’s 2 1/2 times as much as last year. Islanders helping Islanders.
June 18, 5:17 p.m.
They made it! Wind-worn, sleep-deprived, aching and elated, the nine cyclists of the 2026 End2End relay team just rode up to the Trek bike store in Vic West, 47 hours after they left the shop on their 1,000-kilometre, non-stop relay to Port Hardy and back.
Can’t wait until their fundraising totals are revealed at 6:40 or so tonight.
June 18, 4:12 p.m.
This year’s awesome-looking End2End riding jerseys feature the artwork of Eamonn Miller, the 12-year-old son of Jen, who is flanked in this photo by her teamies Saskia, Sara and Sophia. The design on the arms is called Enchanted Deep. A previous design created by Eamonn when he was in B.C. Children’s hospital was incorporated into the 2025 End2End kit. Our thanks to Eamonn and family for allowing us to use his designs in the jerseys, which are being sold as a fundraiser for the Island Kids Cancer Association.
June 18, 3:18 p.m.
Want a sense of why the riders are riding? Jeff and Jen collaborated beautifully in telling the Millar family’s story for CHEK News
June 18, 2:23 p.m.
Hands up if you’ve ever had one of those days when you go “You know, I just have too much money.”
If your hands are still down, you might want to get in on the End2End 50-50 draw. Tickets are two for $10, five for $20, or fifteen for $50. Only 5,100 tickets available, with the draw happening at Thursday’s finale. Even if you don’t win (which, of course, you will) there’ll be more money raised for the Island Kids Cancer Association. The deadline to buy tickets is 5 p.m. You can purchase tickets here.
June 18, 1:16 p.m.
And away they go. Sara and Saskia roll out to take on one last big challenge, the legburner up and over the Malahat on a hot day
June 18, 12:26 p.m.
Over the past couple of days we have spent a lot of time talking about the End2End fundraiser, but not that much about where the funds go.
The Island Kids Cancer Association is a small frontline charity that works directly with Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands families hit by childhood cancer. Founded in 2017 by Susan Kerr — who lost her own son, Jacob, to the disease — it is made up of people with an intimate knowledge of the struggles such families face.
The End2End effort will help IKCA provide support and connection through every phase of a family’s cancer journey, Kerr says. It will mean more access to the essentials – things like mental health care, gas cards for families driving to far-off hospitals for treatment, food in the fridge for people who often have to give up their jobs to care for their children in far-off hospitals.
Then there are the challenges families face post-treatment. A childhood cancer journey can be more complicated, and costly, than many realize. Cancer treatments themselves can cause other long-term health issues that require dental procedures and surgeries, adding more bills to families already struggling with reduced incomes and extra expenses. IKCA helps them deal with the fallout, providing families with financial and other forms of help. But IKCA itself needs money to provide such aid.
That’s where End2End comes in. That’s why our nine riders spent the past two days gutting their way up and down the island. That’s why their friends and neighbours supported the cause. Like our motto says: Islanders helping Islanders.
June 18, 11:14 a.m.
End2End really is a family. Sophia‘s husband Mike and Trek’s Bill Fry fix Kevin‘s flat tire (the only — we hope — one of the relay) moments before Kevin and Sophia head for Cobble Hill
June 18, 10:40 a.m.
Morgan is at the rest stop in Cassidy, serenading Ed with Ed’s least favourite song. Think the boys are happy/giddy to have just finished their last big leg of the ride?
June 18, 9:46 a.m.
End2Ends reps have pulled up at the Galaxy Motors location in Nanaimo.
That brings us to one of the great things about the relay: the ultra-low cost of staging the event. Last year’s expenses were, literally, a few hundred bucks. As a result, End2Ed was able to send almost all the donated money straight to the Island Kids Cancer Association.
How is that possible? First, End2End is an all-volunteer effort. Nobody gets paid.
Most important, though, is the role of our sponsors – generous Vancouver Island companies that provide goods and services for which we would otherwise have to pay. That includes Galaxy Motors and RV, which donated both money and the use of a fleet of vehicles during the relay. Maxxam is insuring them. Wilson’s Transportation lent a 15-passenger van, while U-Haul came up with a cargo truck. Peninsula Co-op pitched in with a vehicle and $500 worth of gas. Refire Kitchen came up with delicious hot food to serve the riders on the road. In a busy tourist season, Courtenay’s Crown Isle and Port Hardy’s Airport Inn found the beds on which support crew can lay their weary heads. Country Grocer will provide the burgers and fixings at our finale today. Childhood cancer survivor Nicole Garneau and her Tsolum Veterinary Hospital outfitted our riders and crew in End2End hoodies, T-shirts and caps. You’re reading this website courtesy of Caorda Web Solutions. And, of course, our organizing sponsor, Victoria’s Trek Bicycle Store, swallowed the soft (and many of the not-so-soft) costs of running End2End. Those are just some examples: check out our Sponsors page for a full list.
June 18, 8:42 a.m.
Jeff, Ed and Morgan just left Parksville, heading for Cassidy. We asked Jeff what it was like to ride in the windy, disorienting, middle-of-nowhere, can’t-tell-where-we-are, sleep-deprived 1 a.m. blackness of Vancouver Island last night. “It felt like I was living a once in a lifetime experience, a really cool experience,” he replied. “I felt grateful.”
June 18, 7:23 a.m.
Just now, north of Qualicum Beach. Ryan and Jen are on their fifth leg of the relay. Cheer them on!
June 18, 6:32 a.m.
It’s a beautiful day at Buckley Bay as Saskia and Sara finish their leg. Next up, Jen and Ryan, bound for Parksville
June 17, 11:48 p.m.
Tonight’s wee hours will see Ed, Jeff and Morgan tackle the heavily forested ribbon of road north of Roberts Lake. It’s dark up-Island. Like, Oak-Bay-after-Jeopardy dark, as black and empty as Rogers Arena at playoff time (sorry, Canucks fans). Happily, a Victoria company named Full On Lighting has provided our riders with bike lights that turn night into day. Couldn’t have a round-the-clock ride without them.
June 17, 10:59 p.m.
Shout-out to the End2End support crew. Yes, this means you, Chris Day, Kevin Nystedt and Rob McDonald, who are currently in a truck trailing the riders through the long, dark expanse north of Sayward.(yes, yes I know I got my directions messed up in the last update). Theirs is one of two vehicles that comprise the bread in the security sandwich protecting the cyclists from other traffic. It’s not a glamorous job (poking along an unlit, desolate highway at 25 km/h for hours on end isn’t as thrilling as it sounds) but it’s an important one.
Two shifts of volunteers accompany the team in vehicles that include a motorhome to sleep in, another to eat in, and a van to shuttle the riders to their next leg of the ride. Among the crew are a couple of bike mechanics and several first responders, providing a comfort factor for the riders.
BTW, Day, Nystedt and McDonald were cyclists on last year’s End2End team.
June 17, 9:25 p.m.
Saskia and Sara have arrived, so now Jen and Ryan set out on a long, steep stretch north towards Sayward. They’ll hand the torch, in the dark, to Ed, Jeff and Morgan. All of this comes after catching, at best, a couple of restless hours of sleep while being driven down the Island Highway. These people are awesome.
June 17, 9:04 p.m.
A note to the riders from Louise Hartland — “Every kilometre you ride is a message to Island families: you’re not alone.
Thank you, End2End team, for pushing your limits to support kids facing cancer. We can’t wait to welcome you home.”
June 17, 8:05 p.m.
Not going to lie, today’s winds were brutal, buffeting the riders, sapping the energy from their legs. But here’s the thing: they’re headed south now, knowing tomorrow night they’ll be home safe, worry-free, the challenge over. Families of sick kids don’t enjoy that kind of certainty. They need a community to help them through. That’s why the End2End riders have been out there in the dark and the unrelenting wind. After Sophia and Kevin finished the first leg out of Port Hardy, Saskia and Sara took over. They’re heading for Woss now.
June 17, 5:33 p.m.
Another quick shout out, this one to Port Hardy RV & Resort, which stepped in when we needed help filling a water tank and emptying the holds in a motorhome. Love that north Island hospitality
June 17, 4:34 p.m.
While we’re here up north, hats off to Lisa Harrison of Port Hardy’s Love Local Marketing and Media, who once again has been donating social media and communication skills to End2End. She’s also one of the organizers of today’s festivities. She’s also been juggling all that with another big celebration at the high school this week: the graduation of her son. Congratulations, William!
June 17, 3:37 p.m.
A message from the Bjornson family: “We’re proud of you Saskia! And all of the great End2End riders. Keep up the hard work!”
June 17, 1:54 p.m.
The Times Colonist’s Cleve Dheensaw once wrote that Port McNeill has two types of vehicles: trucks, and bigger trucks. Today there are bicycles, too, ridden by Morgan, Ed and Jeff, who head for Port Hardy on the relay’s last northbound leg.
Watch CHEK News at 5 and 6 p.m. today as Jeff and Ed report on their ride live from Port Hardy.
June 17, 1:27 p.m.
A nice message of support from the Kozoriz family: “You’re almost at the halfway point! Sending all of our love and cheering voices to the entire End2End relay crew!”
June 17, 12:50 p.m.
If you’re in Port Hardy this afternoon, make your way to the high school, where a terrific group of End2End supporters has organized a celebration to mark the halfway point of the relay. Music! Facepainting! Oceanside Cantina will be there to offer smash burgers and jumbo hot dogs in exchange for a donation to the cause! The event goes from 3 p.m. until 6
June 17, 11:50 a.m.
Five kilometres past Woss, Ryan and Jen take over, heading for the Nimpkish River. Fun fact: these two have been friends for years — Ryan was the emcee at Jen’s wedding – but each came to End2End without knowing the other was looking to join the team. It’s a small world. Or a small island, one where when we talk about neighbours helping neighbours it feels like we’re talking about real people, not just an abstract concept. This is one of the reasons why – perhaps sadly — End2End resonates so strongly with Islanders. We all know, or at least know of, families like Jen’s, ones that have been blindsided by childhood cancer and are grateful for the community’s support.
June 17, 10:47 a.m.
Saskia and Sara are bound for Woss on a morning that is a lot like your favourite uncle after a bean dinner: brilliant and sunny, but super-windy.
Got words of encouragement for the riders? Email them to media@end2endcancer.com and we’ll post them here.
June 17, 8:46 a.m.
Sophia and Kevin pass Sayward junction, Kevin carrying a photo of his ailing sister in England – a reminder that many of the riders have deeply personal reasons to gut it out on this ride.
June 17, 8:25 a.m.
Sophia and Kevin are heading north towards Sayward. This is where the riders enter a different world. The gap between the sparsely populated north end of Vancouver Island and the Starbucked and stoplighted the south is, literally and figuratively, vast. Other than Woss (pop. 200) and Sayward (400 in the village, maybe 900 in the valley) the 195-kilometre stretch of highway between Port McNeill and Campbell River — roughly the same distance as Victoria to Courtenay — is largely a conifer canyon punctuated by the odd rest stop with bear-proofed garbage cans. It’s beautiful. It’s also a very, very long journey by bike.
June 17, 5:58 a.m.
5 a.m. Wednesday – OK, maybe Ed, the morning man at 100.3 The Q, is used to getting up at this time of day. But Jeff and Morgan? No chance. All three riders are back on their bikes, though, heading north. Feel free, Campbell River residents, to give them a friendly wave as they ride by.
June 17, 2:50 a.m.
Buckley Bay. We have gone through the entire End2End line-up, meaning it’s time for Jen and Ryan to saddle up for their second ride. Once they stagger off their bikes somewhere south of Campbell River a couple of hours from now, they’ll still have three more 50-kilometre legs to go before this non-stop relay is done.
June 17, 12:47 a.m.
At a time of night when the rest of us are burrowing deeper under the covers, Saskia and Sara mount up at the Alberni highway junction at Parksville and pedal into the blackness. It’s not easy, embarking on a difficult journey in the dark. Having been diagnosed with cancer in October 2024, Sara knows how scary a dark, unknown road ahead can appear. But she also knows that the sun can rise again. Who would have thought, when she was undergoing treatment a year ago, that Sara would be riding through the night, cancer-free, for End2End today? Read her story (and that of the other riders)
June 16, 10:27 p.m.
As darkness descends, Kevin and Sophia leave Cassidy for the long climb past Nanaimo, followed by the leg-burning ascent out of Nanoose. These two dynamos are up to the challenge, though, having thrown themselves into the End2End cause.. Kevin’s efforts, you might recall, included cycling around UVic’s Ring Road for 24 hours straight in March. Sophia put together a hockey tournament and recruited a whole army of colleagues at Scotiabank branches up and down the Island to drive donations — amounts matched by the bank itself.
June 16, 9:15 p.m.
As the sun sets, Ed, Morgan and Jeff are riding past Chemainus.
We can’t leave the Cowichan Valley without lifting a mug to the crew at Drumroaster Coffee, where for the second year in a row they packaged an End2End blend and donated it to the team to sell as a fundraiser.
Like our motto says: Islanders helping Islanders.
June 16, 8:32 p.m.
Anybody walking along the main drag through Duncan right now? If so, wave to Ed, Jeff, and Morgan as they ride through on their way to Cassidy.
June 16, 8:19 p.m.
The first leg of the relay is done! Jen and Ryan have completed the long haul up the Malahat and pulled into Cobble Hill. This is the area where Jen grew up. It’s also where her mother, Joyce MacLean, just raised more than $5,500 for End2End by cooking a meal for her friends last week. Joyce must be a fabulous cook. Or she has fabulous friends. Or both. A sign waving cheering section greets Jen and Ryan at the changeover.
June 16, 6:04 p.m.
They’re off! The all-new 2026 End2End team – Ed Bain, Saskia Bjornson, Ryan Clarke, Morgan Harker, Jeff King, Jen Millar, Kevin Nunn, Sara Park and Sophia Pugh – just rode out of the Trek Bicycle Store en masse.
Most of the riders will scoot ahead in support vehicles, leaving Jen and Ryan to tackle the first leg of the journey, the 50-kilometre climb over the Malahat to Cobble Hill. You might catch a glimpse of them riding past if you tune into CHEK News around 6:40 p.m., when Ed and Jeff will be broadcasting live from the roadside
June 16, 9:24 a.m.
Today’s the day! After months of training, the End2End relay team will roll out of the Trek bike store parking lot just before 6 p.m. (CHEK News plans to show the departure live). From now through Thursday, June 18, you can check here for live updates as the riders pedal 1,000 kilometres from Victoria to Port Hardy and back non-stop. Yup, that means close to 48 hours round-the-clock as the cyclists take it in turns to struggle through the dark, the cold and (if Mother Nature deems it necessary) the rain – all for a great cause.