NEWS RELEASE
End2End cycling relay shatters own fundraising record, helps families of cancer-stricken Island children
They did it.
The nine cyclists who rode the 2026 End2End cycling relay not only completed their 1,000 kilometre, around-the-clock journey within 48 hours, but more than doubled the amount raised last year.
The amount, $272,843 and counting, was revealed shortly after the riders — wind-worn, sleep-deprived, aching and elated — arrived at Victoria’s Trek Bicycle Store on Thursday.
The money will go to the Island Kids Cancer Association.
The ride was a gruelling challenge in which the cyclists battled windy days, dark nights and fatigue while pedalling from Victoria to Port Hardy and back non-stop.
The nine Victoria-area riders included well-known broadcaster Ed Bain, his CHEK News The Upside partner Jeff King, Saskia Bjornson, Ryan Clarke, Morgan Harker, Jen Millar – whose son was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago at age nine — Kevin Nunn, Sophia Pugh and Sara Park, who, remarkably, tackled the relay less than a year after concluding her own cancer treatment.
The cyclists, riding in groups of two or three, took turns pedalling a succession of 50-kilometre segments. Each team member rode a total of 250 kilometres over the 47 hours of the ride.
This was the second year of the End2End relay. Last year’s event raised more than $110,000, the money going to IKCA, a small frontline charity that provides financial aid, mental-health supports and other services to Vancouver Island families blindsided by childhood cancer.
While the money is definitely appreciated, IKCA executive director Susan Kerr – who founded the charity in 2017, and who lost her own son, Jacob, to cancer – was touched by something less tangible: the buy-in of the people at End2End.
“Understanding the journey and spreading awareness is key to community involvement and raising much-needed funding,” she said. “The individuals within End2End not only understand, but have taken on this cause as their own, which is amazing.”
Kerr expressed her gratitude to End2End: “Feelings of isolation throughout this journey are truly difficult, and it is so unique and special when our community partners understand, mobilize and help with enthusiasm, care and compassion. This is End2End. All of you have made our kids and families feel like they are not alone.”
Andy Dunstan, the chair of the all-volunteer End2End group, thanked those who donated to the cause. The fundraising total what achieved through a groundswell of local support, a combination of individual and business-community donations and a series of associated events ranging from spinathons to music concerts and beer-and-burger nights. The common thread was that almost all the money was donated by people on Vancouver Island. All the money raised will stay on the Island, too.
That’s why End2End uses the motto “Islanders helping Islanders.”
For more information (or to donate) go to End2Endcancer.com.
Contacts:
Media inquiries: media@end2endcancer.com or 250-888-0081
Website: end2endcancer.com
Andy Dunstan, End2End committee chair
Andydunstan2@gmail.com
(250) 857-3521
Susan Kerr, executive director and founder of the Island Kids Cancer Association
Susan@IKCA.ca