A 9,000 mile bike ride to end Childhood Cancer
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Peter Halpert of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has raced across the country before. But never to this scale.
In three months, Peter will ride his bike across the United States three times. Totaling 9,000-miles in record breaking temperatures to raise awareness for childhood cancer.
"That's a huge feat, let alone like doing that on a car. He's doing it on a bike, which means that he's putting his body through some a lot of grueling pain each and every day," said documentary filmmaker Drew Renner.
"He's dealing with heat exhaustion, he's dealing with fatigue, he's dealing with low energy. He's dealing with just a lack of nutrition because his body is burning through nutrition faster than he can consume it."
Peter ran a marathon every day for 114 consecutive days in 2020 for the same mission. With this endeavor, he's pushing himself to the next level on behalf of Emery’s Memory Foundation (EMF), a Missouri-based non-profit raising awareness and funds to fight neuroblastoma cancer in children.
"It's okay to let it cost you a little bit," Peter tells us. "You know, to feel a little bit of suffering when you're helping people. It's it's a real blessing to suffer on behalf of somebody else."
While Peter road into Idaho Falls 8 days into his ride, his real journey began 6 years ago. In 2017 Peter's grandniece, Emery Smith, lost her battle to stage 4 neuroblastoma.
"I wanted to scream," says Peter. "I didn't understand how the parents were about to do what they were about to do in regards to emory. Emory was three years old when she passed away"
"He saw what those families go through, like when they have to bury their children," Says Peter's son Jacob Halper. "He just doesn't want them to go through that alone. That's one of the main reasons why he does this."
On his ride saturday, Peter peddled from Arco to Idaho Falls in over 90 degree heat. He often rode on the sides of highways or backtrails.
He tells us, "Even if i climbed this 100 times in this heat, it's nothing compared to what a parent goes through when they're fighting for their child."
Peter says that at Emery's funeral, he realized something had to be done.
Today, the money he raises riding across the country will go towards both the seen and the unseen burdens cancer can cause.
"When somebody has cancer, their lives stop because all they're doing is trying to care for their loved ones," says Renner. "That means that sometimes families lose income, they lose benefits and they acquire debt. And the last thing they need when they're going through this is a financial burden."
As of 2021, only 4 percent of the National Cancer Institutes budget was allocated for all types of childhood cancer. Even less was devoted to Neuroblastoma research..
Peter hopes to raise $3 million dollars on his ride.
He says, some will go to Emery's Memory Foundation, helping aid the financial burdens cancer can put on families. The rest will go towards underfunded childhood cancer research.
"There is a day coming...I know it's coming...when parents are going to bring their kid in and the doctor is going to say, 'I got this. I know what to do.' And it's not going to be a big deal," says Peter.
"That day is coming, but it's not just going to come if nobody does anything," he continues.
"So that's the ride."
Peter and his crew are publishing weekly webisodes highlighting his ride and collecting donations for childhood cancer research.
For more information or to get involved, click HERE.
