meet our champions

Everyone who rides, volunteers or fundraises for this event is a hero and has their reasons why supporting cancer research at the Perkins matters.

Whether it be because they want to put an end to cancer, show support to someone they love or for themselves, the Ride is a community dedicated to beating cancer for good.

Meet a few of the champions from the MACA Cancer 200 Community.

"I WANT MY STORY TO INSPIRE AND HELP OTHERS."

MAT LYONS

TEAM CAPRICORN CRUISERS

People assume the worst moment of my life was being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma.

It wasn’t.

It was sitting my young sons down and telling them their dad was sick. 

I was fit, healthy and did not expect this could happen to me. Then, in 2024, a seizure on a bike ride led me being rushed to hospital before tests reveal the awful truth. I had two tumours in my brain, one in my lung, one in my abdomen and 1 near my kidney.

The terror of this new reality hit me hard those first few days thinking about how uncertain me and my family’s future had now become fragile. 

What followed was an intense road: precision surgery, immunotherapy, radiation. It saved my life and left its marks, both physical and mental. 

However I try to not let my cancer diagnosis stop me from living my life. I want to show up for my wife and our boys the way they’ve shown up for me because they are my purpose for living.

I’ve always believed in the purpose of the Ride, but now it’s personal. I’m driven to help create a future where fewer families have to face conversations like the one I had with my sons, making a difference not just for myself, but for others through funding research and raising awareness of melanoma.

CLARE MCGONAGLE

TEAM MINERAL RESOURCES

In July 2021, I scratched the front of my neck and felt a large, tender lump. I assumed it was nothing — a swollen lymph node, a winter bug. I would have ignored it, but my sister-in-law insisted I see a doctor that day. Within weeks, tests, scans and urgent phone calls turned my world upside down.

Around the same time, I discovered I was pregnant. 

Only eight months earlier, we had lost our first daughter, Clodagh, at 30 weeks. From that moment on, protecting this pregnancy became everything. I was terrified, not for myself but for our baby. With my parents stranded in Ireland due to COVID’s closed borders, I leaned heavily on my mother-in-law Debbie, who was fighting metastatic bowel cancer and became a rock for me.

I spent weeks in limbo, getting second opinions, attending scans, and waiting, all while knowing deep down that the lump growing inside me, alongside my baby, was cancer. At 15 weeks pregnant, I underwent a hemi-thyroidectomy. The surgery was later successfully completed in June 2022. Debbie sadly passed away shortly after my first operation. I was devastated, but I knew I had to stay strong.

In April 2022, our daughter Ivy came into the world healthy and strong—an overwhelming relief. A few months later, I received a radioactive iodine treatment, which means I’m now cancer-free. I will have to take medication for life, but that feels like a small price to pay for more time with my daughter.

"MOST OF US HAVE, OR WILL LOSE A LOVED ONE TO CANCER. I WANT TO DO MY BIT."

"JUST STAY ON COURSE AND THE BIG BREAKTHROUGH WILL COME."

WAYNE CARTER

TEAM GREEN

I wouldn’t be here without my family.

In October 2023, I knew something wasn’t right. A trip to the GP led to tests, then more tests, and finally the words I never expected to hear, pancreatic cancer. I was in total disbelief.

Treatment was tough. Whipple surgery, seven weeks in hospital, and rounds of chemotherapy took their toll, not just on me but on everyone around me. My wife Kelly carried so much through that time, and the unwavering support of my family gave me the strength to keep going when things felt overwhelming. I’m deeply grateful for every moment they stood beside me. 

In 2024, my son-in-law Blaine rode in the Cancer 200 for the first time, riding in support of me while I was going through treatment. Watching him cross the line was incredibly emotional and planted a seed.

After that, I decided cancer wouldn’t keep me down. In 2025, I joined Blaine on the Ride. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it, but my daughter Keely and grandson Aston signed up too and together we rode as a family.

Training and riding together has been one of the greatest gifts. My hope for 2026 is that the funds raised by the Perkins continue to improve cancer treatment so families like mine get to stay together longer.

LAURA JEFFERY

TEAM TUNDRA

In 2023, while on holiday in Canada, my 34-year-old cousin Sam died of cervical cancer less than a year after her diagnosis. She was training for her 12th Boston Marathon. Her death devastated my brother Dan, her marathon partner and kindred spirit.

Not long after her funeral, we noticed Dan wasn’t well. A long history of IBS led to a colonoscopy that revealed a massive tumour. In July, surgeons removed a 3.4kg tumour and much of his lower intestine. Months later, after “preventative” chemo and agonising pain, we learned the cancer had spread everywhere.

Genomic results finally revealed a BRAF mutation; had we known sooner, his treatment may have been different.

Dan died at 41 in June 2024, days before we were due to ride in Toronto’s Ride to Conquer Cancer. Four days after his death, Mum and I rode 200km in his honour. It was healing, powerful and unforgettable.

This year I ride the MACA Cancer 200 to fight for faster testing and more targeted treatments.

"We're riding for each other's reasons, losses and families."