Mark Johnston participated in the 2011 and 2012 B.C. Ride to Conquer Cancer. In 2013, Alberta was his focus for the big charity ride. This year, he’ll be in Ontario. Next year, it will be on to Quebec.
When Mark Johnston started talking about the people who have inspired him to participate in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, he didn’t start with his mother, who died of stomach cancer in 1999, or the friend he lost to lymphoma. He started with two men on a memorial ride in Vancouver’s Stanley Park who had both lost young sons. It’s not that his mother’s or friend’s stories aren’t part of why he rides. The story of the two fathers just seems to have an extra bit of magic to it.
“We were riding on the seawall. Then we came across the most beautiful rainbow I had seen in my life. I heard one of them say, ‘That’s a message.’” Johnston had to take a moment as he told this story as he started to well up. “And they stopped. They looked at this rainbow. I had my camera with me, but I remember thinking, ‘I can’t take this picture. It’s too…it’s too divine.’ But something told me to take the picture. It’s such a poignant moment of these two fathers embracing under a rainbow looking out over the water thinking about their sons and supporting each other.”
The two dads are at the centre of a B.C.-based team called Riders for Ryders. (Both of their sons are named Ryder.) The team started in 2010 and has grown to more than 200 members. In 2013, RFR expanded to have an Ontario team. This year, an Alberta team is in the works. “It’s a brilliant cross country kind of thing. It’s been building. The energy on that team ripples through people,” Johnston said.
It’s booster juice, man!
Johnston, a co-founder and CEO of a TV production company, has a cross-country energy like his team. His company has offices in both Toronto and Vancouver, so his participation in the 2011 and 2012 British Columbia rides from Vancouver to Seattle were a natural fit. He rode the Alberta ride in 2013 because his friend who died of lymphoma was based in Edmonton. This year, he’ll be cycling in Ontario, from Toronto to Niagara Falls, as his best friend’s father is fighting cancer in that province. That ride benefits The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and has raised $99.3 million since it started in 2008. Next year, it’s on to Quebec. Johnston has raised $7,500 since 2011.
“Cancer affects so many families,” Johnston said. “As I got older, I saw more and more of it. I didn’t want to sit idle, or just donate or be there for support. I wanted to physically do something. As cyclists, this is something we can do. Cycling is a lot of fun. It’s a great pastime. It’s a beautiful sport. But when you attach a cause, something that you really believe in, to cycling you clock twice as many kilometres, in my option. You go twice as far when you put a cause to it. It’s booster juice, man!”
The seasoned Ride to Conquer Cancer rider’s training advice hues closely to the basics: ride, add variation to your training routes, and do pay attention to proper nutrition and rest. For fundraising, an essential part of any charity ride, Johnston has three words: “Make it personal.”
“Find a way to connect,” he added. “There’s a universal story in the Ride to Conquer Cancer. What I find with my donors is that I share my story, and my story is their story. They have a cousin who is going through treatment. They have a next door neighbour who they take to the hospital or they know didn’t make it. You find a way to connect through the cause.”
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