Run, walk and ride for heart

4099 Views 8 Comments
#RideForHeart, Ride for Heart

This morning, more than 20,000 volunteers and fundraisers gathered to run, walk and ride the main arteries in and out of downtown Toronto in an effort to raise awareness and funds for heart health. Now in its’ 29th year, the annual Becel Heart & Stroke Ride, supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation, raised nearly $7 million for life saving research, health promotion, and advocacy efforts.

#RideForHeart, Ride for Heart, Finish Line

Personally, this was my sixth time participating in the ride, and having witnessed both an uncle and grandfather suffer from heart health challenges, it certainly will not be my last. This year I was joined for the first time by my brother-in-law and father-in-law, who were both riding in honour of a family member and avid cyclist who recently suffered a heart attack. Fortunately, this family member is now on the road to recovery and we’ll hopefully see him at the Ride for Heart next year.

Ride for Heart, Jon MacIndoe, MacIndoe, Jonathan MacIndoe, CN Tower

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Ride for Heart by the numbers:

  • 5 and 10 kilometers participants ran or walked on the Gardiner Expressway
  • 29 years the annual Ride for Heart has been held in Toronto
  • 25, 50 and 75 kilometers cyclists rode on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway
  • 80 percentage of premature heart diseases and strokes that are preventable by adopting healthy behaviours
  • 5,000 runners and walkers that participated in the event
  • 15,000 cyclists that participated in the event
  • 66,000 Canadians that die each year from heart disease and stroke
  • 1.3 million Canadians living with heart disease (estimate) 
  • 7 million dollars raised at this year’s Becel Heart & Stroke Ride
  • 2.5 billion heart beats during an average human lifetime.
  • 20.9 billion annual cost of heart disease and strokes on the Canadian economy

 

This post was inspired by The Daily Post’s photo challenge. To join their next challenge, check out their blog. New themes are announced every Friday.

8 Comments
  • Beth Norman June 28, 2016, 5:01 pm Reply

    Glad to see this has become an annual event with you and that you managed to convince two more to join you.

  • Jane Lurie June 9, 2016, 4:54 pm Reply

    Looks like a great event, Jon– congrats on your finish and helping raise money and awareness for a disease that in many cases is preventable. Nice web site, too.

    • Jon June 9, 2016, 7:16 pm

      Thanks for swinging by my blog!

  • stridedaily June 7, 2016, 10:22 am Reply

    Congrats on finishing and on helping out.

    • Jon June 8, 2016, 11:44 pm

      Thanks so much!

  • stupidityhole June 5, 2016, 7:26 pm Reply

    Looks like a lot of fun and for a good cause to boot.

    • Jon June 5, 2016, 7:30 pm

      Thanks for checking out my site – it was hard, but a great ride today.

Leave a Reply