There are aliens aplenty at Bellerose Composite this week as hundreds of students bike to space in search of a cure for cancer.
Some 670 Bellerose Composite students will ride stationary bikes for 48 hours in the school’s atrium this week as part of Bellerose Bikeathon. Now in its 22nd year, this school-wide fundraiser has so far raised about $3.6 million for cancer survivors and research.
This year’s Bikeathon has a space theme (“Reach for the Cure”) and came with many stars, planets, UFOs, and little inflatable green men. There were teams dressed as Star Wars stormtroopers, the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy, and those claw-worshipping pizza aliens from Toy Story.
There were also a lot of open ceiling tiles, as the event took place during an extensive renovation of the school. Those renovations have also shrunk the school’s parking lot, Bikeathon coorganizer Jeff Beaton said.
The school decided to hold this year’s Bikeathon a week after the school’s annual open house (instead of alongside it as it usually was) to ensure there was enough parking space available for both events.
“Bikeathon has been through two years of COVID and a renovation and it’s never really stopped,” Jeff Beaton
Beaton said this year’s Bikeathon aimed to raise $100,000 for the Kids with Cancer Society and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Last year’s event raised about $208,000.
During the opening ceremonies, Bellerose principal Peter Fenton dedicated this year’s Bikeathon to Jyoti Mangat, “a true Bulldog” and a longtime teacher and principal at the school who died of cancer last May. He encouraged students to examine the photos of past Bikeathon participants and the stars bearing the names of those lost to and living with cancer posted around the atrium.
Bellerose Grade 12 student and cancer survivor Jolene Dixon-Williams told the students about the softball-sized tumour she had removed from her abdomen last year, and how her multiple battles with cancer had made her a better person.
“It made me realize we can’t let things get in the way of our dreams, and that anything is possible.” Jolene Dixon-Williams
Students hopped on their bikes at 1:59 p.m. March 12 and would keep them in constant motion until that same time March 14. To prepare for that epic ride, they brought chips, chairs, cookies, candy, cushions, and enough game consoles and televisions to fill a Best Buy.
Some participants wore elaborate costumes, such as the silver go-go getups and pink and green body paint sported by Team Galactic Glow-Ups.
Team member and Grade 12 student Eliana Bieraugle, who was riding in memory of her uncle, said the team wanted to go all-out for what would be their last year at Bikeathon. She wasn’t sure how the team’s body paint would fare after 48 hours of sweat, but said it seemed to be doing fine so far.
Grade 12 student Kaiya Buchkowsky was dressed as a cow, as were all but one of her teammates. (They were the cows that jumped over the moon, so one of them had to be the moon.) She said
Bikeathon was really heartwarming.
“You may feel gross after the 48 hours, but you can’t take away the satisfaction of helping others.”
The Bikeathon is not just a fun time with friends but critical life support for those with cancer, Dixon-Williams said. “You are all supporting hundreds of sick kids, and that’s something to be
proud of.”
The Bellerose Bikeathon should wrap up at about 1:59 p.m. March 14. Visit
bchs.spschools.org/students/bikeathon
for details.