Miles for Millions and the Brain Tumour Walk
In 1968, when I was in Grade 12 at Oakridge High School in London, Ontario, there was a special event that attracted many friends and classmates, namely Miles for Millions, a popular charity walkathon designed to raise funds for international development and combat poverty and hunger in Africa and Asia. As a 16-year-old, I was carefully nurturing a budding sense of social justice through enthusiastic participation, and the 26-mile walk to secure pledges also fostered a magical sense of solidarity and well-being among the young people who nimbly navigated the lengthy circuit.
Involving a full day’s walk, Miles for Millions was designed to be a grueling endurance challenge to create empathy with the poor, but the walking made me high, as endorphins, those “feel-good” chemicals, kicked in, and combined with riotous hormones – I had a massive crush on a girl named Cathy Reed – led to a heady sensation that no then illegal substance (now the backbone of our local economy) could possibly bestow.
Now some 58 years later, I’m involved in another such event: The Brain Tumour Walk is the largest volunteer-led movement in Canada dedicated to supporting everyone affected by a brain tumour. Each year, participants from coast to coast come together to honour a loved one, remember someone deeply missed, support a child or family facing the unknown, and connect with others who truly understand.
By walking and fundraising, we help ensure that no one faces a brain tumour alone.
Every dollar raised helps advance research and provides support, education, and information to patients, survivors, caregivers, and families affected by this devastating disease.
Each step helps bring hope and connection to the brain tumour community.
Each day, 27 Canadians will hear the words, “you have a brain tumour.” Brain tumours are unpredictable and complex, with effects that include physical, emotional, cognitive, financial, and interpersonal impacts that can last a lifetime.
Every story is different. Every reason matters.
As a volunteer at the Ottawa event on June 6, I will be able to share my story, or more accurately my late wife Anne’s story, through conversations and through a poetry reading.
For a year I was Anne’s primary caregiver. At the beginning of May, 2025, Anne was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and essentially incurable form of brain cancer.
Anne passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
Numerous kind people have asked how they can honour Anne’s memory. One way is to read about her combat with brain cancer, and if so inclined, contribute to the Brain Tumour Walk (BTW) fundraiser.
Here’s where to read about the Brain Tumour Walk and/or to contribute. Simply click on the link below for my awareness-raising and fundraising page, created to pay tribute to Anne and to those thousands of victims of this scourge:
https://btfc.akaraisin.com/ui/BTW2026/p/RobertMcBryde
As an author, I have written extensively about Anne’s condition.
If you feel like learning about Anne’s cancer journey, I have chronicled it in prose and poetry here:
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/news/
And here is an article about my Anne and about my caregiving journey, written by Trina Boyko of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada:
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/caring-for-anne-a-husbands-journey-through-glioblastoma/
Your friend,
Robert
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
https://www.braintumour.ca/get-involved/raising-awareness/awareness-month/
