Weyburn resident Mary Shirkie wanted to help ease the suffering of children who are going through cancer treatment, so she has been cycling to raise money for the Sick Kids Foundation, and is the top fundraiser in Saskatchewan for the charity.
She was challenged three years ago by a friend who had been cycling in the Great Cycle Challenge, and she decided to give it a try to raise funds to go towards research, to find a cure for the cancers that afflict children.
“Last year, I rode 350 km in June, and my initial goal, I thought if I could raise $500 that would be cool. I raised $600, so I increased my goal,” said Mary, noting she went on to raise $5,800 last year.
This year, she started with a fundraising goal of $5,000, and when she reached that goal she increased it to $7,500, and ended up raising $7,538, with another $220 to add to that total at time of this interview.
Her two-year total of fundraising was $13,338 for 703 km of cycling, with 351.1 km this year alone. This made her the top fundraiser for Saskatchewan, and ninth for all of Canada.
“People have been very generous. It’s a great cause,” she said. “People just pledge how much they want to give — you can set a goal.”
She cycled about 16 km a day five days a week through June, with her longest ride 26.6 km as she took advantage of a strong easterly wind on Thursday, and rode out on Highway 13 towards Trossachs.
Her husband Jim was to go pick her up, but she ended up much farther out on the highway than she had planned.
Asked why she undertook this ambitious cycling project, Mary said part of her reason was that both of her parents died of cancer.
“I watched them deal with the indignities and the pain and suffering. I just figured that’s something kids shouldn’t have to deal with. I have five grandchildren, all of them healthy. I feel very blessed, and this is something I could do that maybe some other people can’t,” said Mary.
She hadn’t done much long-distance cycling before this, except for once in university when she rode a bike 60 km for a fundraiser event.
“This is the first time I’ve done something like this. I’m not a distance bike rider,” she added.
Part of her motivation, in addition to being thankful for her grandchildren’s health, is seeing photos of children who get cancer treatments at the Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto. In some of the photos, they wear necklaces with pins and buttons given for every time they’ve had a needle or a blood test, and one child named Alex had a long necklace filled with buttons and pins.
“It’s hard to imagine as a parent that your child could be poked and prodded that many times. For me, I thought if I could do something so these kids don’t have to suffer like this any more, then I’ll do it,” said Mary.
She admitted there were times as she rode and faced strong winds, often on the trails system of Weyburn’s Tatagwa Parkway, there were times she felt like quitting at first, but then she had the thought, “I’d think that these kids are suffering way more than me, so I’d tell myself to ‘shut up and pedal!’,” she said with a chuckle.
Mary turned 60 in May, and thought this was a good way for her to try and make a difference to the children going through cancer treatments.
While her cycling ended in June, her fundraising page is open to take more donations until the end of July. People can donate directly to her with cash or cheques, or they can give online at https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/
