Kate Larkin’s lungs will be working extra hard this weekend in support of other people whose lungs aren’t so healthy.
The Squamish woman will be taking part, along with hundreds of others, in the B.C. Lung Association’s Bike Trek for Life and Breath.
“Trek is a success due to participants like Kate and their generous donors who fund vital research and patient programs in support of the one in five British Columbians with breathing problems,” BC Lung Association organizer Marissa McFadyen said in a news release.
The event is a fundraiser for the association and a way to promote respiratory health.
The two-day, 200-kilometre ride takes places Sept. 10 and 11.
“My main motivation is to have fun and raise money for a good cause,” Larkin says.
This is her third year doing the trek, which starts in White Rock and makes its way toward Cultus Lake. On the second day, the riders turn around to make the reverse journey.
“It’s about 100 kilometres each way,” she says. “They break it up really nicely.”
Still, there will be a few tough stretches, such as some of the hills on the way to Cultus, and this year the organizers have added a wrinkle in the form of a friendly contest for the rider that makes the climb up to Stillwood Camp near the south end of the lake.
“They’re having a ‘King of the Hill’ contest,” Larkin adds.
Larkin is not the first person in her family to make the trek.
“My mother did it a couple of years before I did,” she says, adding she also does the ride with her aunt as well.
Another motivation for her to make the ride is as a tribute to her patients.
“I work in health care as a respiratory therapist,” she says.
At Vancouver General Hospital, she sees the effects of patients facing lung and breathing issues on a daily basis that leave them gasping for air.
For the ride, she did not undertake any special preparation, other than to ride her bike more frequently.
“I’m just making sure to get on a bike a bit more,” she says.
She emphasizes the trek is really about supporting a cause and enjoying the ride.
“It’s a really fun atmosphere to be around,” she said.
“Everyone has a lot of different reasons for being there.”
There is more information about the ride, including how to sponsor a rider, at www.bicycletrek.ca.
