Victoria to Port Hardy cycling relay surpasses $300K for cancer charity
Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, August 11, 2026
A gruelling 47-hour cycling relay across Vancouver Island has completely shattered its own fundraising expectations, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars for children battling cancer.
The second annual End2End cycling relay, which concluded on June 18, had an initial fundraising estimate of $272,843. Now, organizers have announced the final tally reached $301,686, with all proceeds going to the Island Kids Cancer Association (IKCA).
From June 16 through 18, a relay team of nine cyclists rode non-stop from Victoria to Port Hardy and back.
Taking turns in groups of two or three, the riders conquered a succession of 50-kilometre segments to complete the 1,000-kilometre journey.
Organizers say it is hard to wrap their heads around the final number.
“What started as nine cyclists taking on a gruelling, non-stop 1,000-kilometre journey from Victoria to Port Hardy and back became something so much bigger,” the group said in a social media post. “It became an Island-wide movement.”
The volunteer-run event relied entirely on community support to maximize its impact. Local businesses covered almost all the costs of staging the relay, which included providing support vehicles and feeding the volunteers.
This kept the remaining event bills to just $2,369. A small group of supporters donated money specifically to cover those remaining expenses.
This allowed all other donations to go straight to IKCA, which provides financial aid and mental health support to families blindsided by childhood cancer.
The total nearly tripled the success of the inaugural 2025 relay, which brought in just over $110,000.
“That is the power of Vancouver Island coming together,” organizers said.
A completely new team of nine riders will be selected for next June, with the application process launching this September.