On Thursday, Lynn Fast, alongside 30 other cyclists, will dip the back tire of her bike in the Pacific Ocean at the kickoff of the 2015 Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, a relay style fundraiser that will have the group pedal across the country.
Lynn, a mother of three and a grandmother to six-year-old Talon, became a tireless advocate for children with cancer after losing her 17-year-old daughter Briony to the disease in 2009.
“I was in a downward spiral and I started running,” recalls Lynn. “My friends told me I‘ve got to run before I lose my mind.”
“I started running, I hated it, but I kept on going back.”
Lynn began volunteering at cycling events raising funds for kids cancer and that led to her involvement with the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride.
“I realized that there were people who were doing stuff for children who had cancer and I wanted to do more so I started riding.”
Lynn's daughter Caitlin admires her mother’s bravery.
“The fact that she's taken something that would normally weaken someone and she's grown strength out of it,” said Caitlin. “She's inspired others to grow strength out if. She inspired me to pull strength out of it every day.”
“I love what she's doing.”
Briony will be riding alongside her mother throughout the cross country trip as Lynn will carry her daughter’s ashes in a locket around her neck.
In 2014, Lynn took part in a charity ride from Vancouver to Red Deer. She knows this year’s ride will be far more difficult.
“It's going to be hard, but it's supposed to be hard,” explains Lynn. “We're supposed to be out there experiencing a little bit of what these kids go through.”
Lynn Fast is this week’s Inspiring Albertan.
With files from CTV's Darrel Janz
