Brenda Noonan is cycling to raise gynaecological cancer awareness

A woman who has a close association with harness racing is currently cycling the length of New Zealand to raise money for gynaecological cancer awareness. Brenda Noonan, the former secretary of the North Island Breeders Association, is biking the 2,100 km from Bluff to Cape Reinga with three friends.

It will take 21 days and Brenda is asking people to show their support by making a charity donation.

Last year Brenda cycled 4,565 km across Australia and she's looking forward to her second long-distance ride, this time by cycling the length of New Zealand where she lived for the first 45 years of her life. She will be joined by friends Don and Annie Bright, Margie Silich and Pat Williams as support crew.

"This ride is half the distance of my ride across Australia, but we are also taking half the time" says Brenda. "New Zealand is also way, way hillier so I'm picking we'll be pretty fit by the end of this ride!"

Brenda and her team have chosen to support Zonta New Zealand's District Project 2012-2014, the New Zealand Gynaecological Cancer Foundation. The Foundation is a national charity working with women and health professionals to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancer. The five main types of gynaecological cancers are ovarian, endometrial/uterine, cervical, vaginal and vulval.

"One woman dies every day in New Zealand from a gynaecological cancer and we are on a mission to significantly reduce this number," says Michelle Quirk, General Manager of NZGCF. "We are extremely grateful to individual fundraisers like Brenda and her team who raise money to support our work and who also raise awareness of gynaecological cancer as they travel through the cities and towns of New Zealand. We wish the team the best of luck on their adventure and look forward to cheering them on."

During her last big ride, Brenda raised around $20,000 for the Heart Foundation in Australia and New Zealand and was named Best Individual Fundraiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.

"Biking Australia was a wonderful challenge and it made me realise if we set a big goal, break it into small segments, do plenty of planning and work hard to achieve a reasonable level of fitness, then we can achieve anything. Seeing New Zealand from a bike should be fantastic and I'm excited to be raising money for the New Zealand Gynaecological Cancer Foundation this time. I'm really looking forward to this next challenge and hope you will all show your support with a donation, no matter how big or small," concludes Brenda.

Supporters can donate here.

Ride itinerary (Date, start, finish):

1 November Bluff Clinton 124
2 November Clinton Dunedin 110
3 November Dunedin Oamaru 114
4 November Oamaru Winchester 110
5 November Winchester Christchurch 137
6 November Rest Day Christchurch
7 November Christchurch Cheviot 113
8 November Cheviot Kaikoura 68
9 November Kaikoura Ward 77
10 November Ward Picton 73
11 November Picton Mana 27
12 November Mana Foxton 93
13 November Foxton Mangaweka 105
14 November Mangaweka Turangi 111
15 November Turangi Tokoroa 120
16 November Tokoroa Huntly 118
17 November Huntly Orewa 128
18 November Rest Day Orewa
19 November Orewa Whangarei 126
20 November Whangarei Coopers Beach 145
21 November Coopers Beach Cape Reinga 130

Source: http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=101852

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