Be Like Bruce is Back: Chris Gordon Tackles Pancreatic Cancer

Researchers Under the Scope

When Bruce Gordon's relatives descend on Saskatoon this month, his wife will put them to work.

Bruce Gordon was a police officer and a lawyer, who competed as a triathlete and in the Crossfit Games. He was a fierce competitor until he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer at age 54.

Hear his story in Episode 43.

After Bruce died in 2017, Chris Gordon became one of the chief organizers of the 'Be Like Bruce' fitness festival -- an athletics-driven fundraiser for pancreatic cancer research that's now raised more than $60,000 dollars in his memory.

"A lot of Bruce's family are coming this year to help out. I will have a house full of wonderful guests and I have jobs for them," said Gordon. "I even have a niece that lives in Vancouver who just started triathlon and she's coming to do it."

The festival is also recruiting dozens more volunteers, to keep athletes safe during each event.

The action begins on June 16, 17 and 18 with events at both Crossfit 306, and Riversdale Pool in Saskatoon. There's also a raffle, and merchandise available online.

In this episode, Chris explains why she chose to funnel donations from the fitness festival to the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine.

"100% of our donations go to the research," said Gordon. "There's no administration costs, and that to me was a deciding factor."

Earlier this year, Dr. Andrew Freywald and Dr. Franco Vizeacoumar published their 'one-two punch' treatment findings in Clinical Cancer Research. They've collaborated to create a new drug—a bi-specific antibody that targets two key receptors at once.

It's effective in treating triple negative breast cancer and pancreatic cancer in mice, and its creators hope to see it advance to clinical trials over the next five years.

"I just feel like I'm part of that team," said Gordon.

She said if you're not competing at the fitness festival, making a small individual donation still pushes forward pancreatic cancer research at the University of Saskatchewan .

"It may not seem like a lot of of money, it's not millions and billions of dollars, but it makes a huge difference for these researchers," said Gordon. "This is where our money needs to be."