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History
Coast-to-Coast Against Cancer was founded by Jeff Rushton in 2002
to commemorate his father's successful battle against cancer. An avid cyclist,
Jeff established this annual cycling event as a means to raise awareness
and funding for charities intent on supporting individuals and families
dealing with this devastating disease.
In January 2002, Jeff Rushton and his friend Kevin Wallace each
rode 3200 miles (5100 km), coast to coast, from California to Florida in
just 24 days raising over $175,000 for two cancer charities. View last
year's website.
The Event
On June 14, a team of six cyclists departed from Vancouver, B.C.
and rode 24 hours per day to arrive in Halifax, N.S. just 10 days later;
a distance of 7200km (4500 mi.). Rotating shifts, each cyclist is pushed
to the limit pedaling 12-15 hours across 360 km (225 mi.) per day. The challenge to make this
timeline was a daunting one, but the team trained long and hard with
their support team to reach peak performance levels to make this ride
more manageable.
Along with this amazing feat of cycling, came the design for an
amazing website. This site
(through some of the Coast to Coast’s corporate sponsors) boasted some
very unique properties.
First of all, the riders were wired with some high-tech gadgets
which allowed website surfers to actually view the riders progress
real-time. Also, their
equipment allowed riders who were not riding the ability to upload their
journals and photos along the way, giving the ride a very current,
up-to-date feel.
This year, the Childhood Cancer Foundation was fortunate enough to
have been selected as a co-recipient of this year’s funds, along with the
Lance Armstrong Foundation.
CIBC generously donated $75,000 to kick off the ride and the group
worked hard to reach the goal they had set - to raise $500,000 for cancer
research.
To view the press release put out in conjunction with the event,
please click here.
Final Update
June 25, 2003 - The six “guys from Mississauga” who embarked on
the fastest cross-Canada cycle in world history arrived at their
destination point, Halifax, Nova Scotia, yesterday to greet their
overjoyed family and entourage of supporters.
Guided by police escorts, ride organizer, Jeff Rushton and his
team arrived in Halifax in the crisp morning rush hour to ride past the
cheering group straight toward the quiet lap of the Atlantic ocean. There
on the beach they ceremoniously dipped their wheels in the water as they
had done on the other side of Canada just 10 days before to signify the
end of their journey.
“Quite an exciting sight as all six core riders, plus our two
alternative riders, and several other cyclists made the trek into
Halifax,” said Jeff. “When we got within 20 miles we were joined by 20
Fujitsu employees and a police escort with sirens a blazing. As I got off
my bike I was hugged by my wife Diane, my children Skylar and Brooklyn.
What a feeling.”
The ride is nearing its goal of raising $500,000 and in the weeks
to follow, there will be some follow-up events to raise the monies as
well as an unveiling of a “C2C documentary” to follow. Please go the C2C
website for further details at www.coasttocoastride.com. If you’d like to make a donation
to the event, you can also go to their website and make a donation
online.
Event Advisory
The “Key to the Cure”
Event is a fundraiser geared towards helping the Coast to Coast Against
Cancer reach its goal of $500,000.
To learn more about this unique event and/or to possibly attend,
please click here.
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