Wilmot Cancer Institute launches new Warrior Weekend bike ride and race

ROCHESTER, N.Y. The Wilmot Cancer Institute is launching its new Warrior Weekend, which will include a bike ride and a 5k race and walk.

Its slogan is “Leaving cancer in the dust.”

“It’s a real grassroots effort,” The associate director of clinical research at Wilmot Cancer Institute David Linehan.

Cancer research is not cheap. That is something Linehan knows firsthand.

“That’s why I’ve been involved in events like this throughout my career because the research is so important to improving outcomes for patients with these really difficult-to-treat malignancies,” Linehan said.

The event started as a walk but this year they added the Breakaway Bike Ride.

“The ride will include everyone from high school kids up to people into their 90s,” Linehan said.

This event is so much more than just a fundraiser.

“The Wilmot Warrior Walk means hope to me,” uterine cancer survivor Maddy Falletti said. “We had, in the span of four years, three Maiola’s diagnosed with cancer and my brother and I survived. My father, unfortunately, lost his life to bladder cancer in 2018.”

She will be participating in the 5k walk for herself and her loved ones.

“I’ve been on all sides of the cancer spectrum. I’ve been a survivor, I’ve been scared with a diagnosis, I’ve lost a family member to cancer,” Falletti said.

Warrior Weekend kicks off on Sept. 30. Click here if you would like to register.