Kids’ cancer fighter Jarrod Russell and his sister Lana Lane talked about Jarrod’s eighth Great Cycle Challenge rides in August to raise money to support the SickKids Foundation with the event kick-off on Aug. 1. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
This year’s Great Cycle Challenge is shaping up to be another tour de force for Lloydminster kids’ cancer fighter Jarrod Russell.
The gritty 47-year-old is set to begin his eighth national cycle challenge to raise money for the SickKids Foundation by riding his bike for donations throughout August.
He plans to fuel up on Honey Nut Cheerios and protein bars to ride 1,000 kilometres and raise $25,000 to support kids with cancer—despite dealing with a nagging injury that’s limited his training.
“I bruised my ribs about a month ago and off and on, you hit a bump and it just jars you right in the side,” explained Russell.
“All I’m worried about is the kids fighting for their lives.”
Last year, Russell rode for young Oilers’ superfan Ben Stelter who died in August from brain cancer, and in 2021, he raised extra funds for a young American boy, Braxton Weidman, who also died in 2022 from cancer.
“All the kids I ride for passed away and I decided to go another year,” he said on Monday morning.
Russell himself was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was just four and is still battling the side effects of his cancer treatment.
He has epilepsy and partial paralysis on his right side and limited movement of his arm, fingers and legs, but nothing slows down his commitment to helping kids.
Russell’s sister Lana Lane says he took another fall a while back which has made it a bit harder for him to get in his training rides. This year’s hot weather hasn’t helped either.
She says the whole family rallies around him every year at this time knowing the cycle challenge supports a cause he strongly believes in.
“There’s a spirit within him that just seems to rise up at this time riding for kids,” she explained.
“We know he’ll achieve the goal he set out. It may be a little more difficult to do, but as he always says, the things kids are having to battle through are way more than what he has to battle every day.”
Russell has raised more than $206,000 for SickKids over the years thanks to the support from the community and family members who donate to his link on the cycle challenge website.
He says he’ll be ready to “chew on a pizza” when it’s all over.
Boston Pizza in Lloydminster has decided to come onboard again with a special event on Sept. 7 when $1 for every pizza sold will go toward’s Russell’s ride.
“Between 4 to 8 p.m. that same day when Jarrod would be there we’d be doing a little bit more partying with balloons and things for the kids,” said Lane.
