Photo Courtesy Wilf Marquis

By Tanner Smith

Communtiy

Grande Prairie Cyclist is Raising money for the SickKids Foundation

Aug 14, 2022 | 8:00 AM

A Grande Prairie cyclist has turned his passion for riding into a fundraiser for the SickKids Foundation.

Wilf Marquis has completed multiple events already this summer, most recently the Tour de Bowness in Calgary, where he placed 2nd overall and donated 100% of his winnings to the SickKids Foundation. This month he is riding 1,000km to raise even more money with the ‘Great Cycle Challenge.

“It kind of popped up on my Facebook because a lot of my friends who are avid cyclists like the page (Great Cycle Challenge) or whatever. There’s a guy from Victoria, who’s been doing it for a couple of years, and I just thought, I like to ride my bike, I like to stay active, what can I do, while doing something? I love to help other people.” Said Marquis.

Marquis added he doesn’t have any personal connections to kids’ cancer but knows it does affect lots of Canadians and wants to do something to help, and is already “fifty per cent through” his 1,000km goal for the month of August.

He said his dad was the one who originally got him into cycling, but it wasn’t till the pandemic and a serious hockey injury that made him pursue it as a passion.

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“My dad was always an avid cyclist, mountain bike and road, so we always had bikes as kids, Hockey is kind of my main background and when I was 23 I tore my PCL ligament in my right knee and my doctor said you know your probably not going to be much of a runner anymore, I bought a road bike and started getting into that.”

Marquis isn’t done with races yet this summer, with one more in Drayton Valley on September 10, the DV 100 a 160 km race.

Donations for the ‘Great Cycle Challenge’ are still being accepted until the end of the month, to visit the donation page, click here.

Photo Courtesy Wilf Marquis