photo by Jeff Harbin, Life of Riley Photography

The Human Spirit Effect

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It wasn’t quite the year Ryan Parnell had expected. It was January 2006 when the gastro-intestinal problems started, and after a visit to a specialist, eight spots were found on his stomach and in his abdomen. A biopsy showed they were benign, so Ryan was told to wait and see.

As the year progressed, so did his symptoms. Another scan was done in mid-November and Ryan received the results the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. He was enjoying lunch with his wife, Kimberly, a teacher, when he got the phone call. He excused himself from the school cafeteria and it was then that he heard the word lymphoma. Surgery was necessary, as soon as possible. Ryan scheduled the consultation for the following day, the day before Thanksgiving, and then returned to the cafeteria to tell his wife.

“We were shocked,” says Ryan, recalling that day. “We were just like, ‘now what?’”

At his appointment the next day with the surgeon, he learned that the spots on his stomach and abdomen were growing and a full biopsy would be required to determine what stage he was in and what course of treatment would be necessary. The procedure was scheduled for December 30th, which gave Ryan the entire holiday season to sit and think about his cancer.

“Kimberly got right to researching on the internet but I couldn’t do anything,” he says. “We talked about everything, plans, the kids, everything. But let’s back up, because before all of this happened I’d already come up with the idea for the event.”

The event is 24 Hours in the Canyon, a noon-to-noon road and mountain bike event in Palo Duro Canyon. In 2006, Ryan, a sales rep for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and a biking enthusiast, decided on his own that he wanted to do something. That something led him to apply for and then be selected to attend Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LIVESTRONG Summit in Austin that October, a three-day seminar designed to organize and inspire a cancer survivorship movement.

“They basically ask, ‘What can you do in your community to help cancer patients?’” says Ryan. “After talking to someone else who had a similar plan, I came up with the idea for 24 Hours in the Canyon. My wife drove us home from Austin while I sat there in the passenger seat developing the whole thing. I was looking for something to be involved in and this was it.”

Of course, just a few weeks after the Summit came the phone call in the school cafeteria. His new project suddenly took on a whole new meaning.

Ryan and his family lived much of December 2006 in a state of uncertainty, as lymphoma was the white elephant in every room. That all changed on December 30th when the doctor’s first words post-surgery were, “Good news.” Everything was benign.

“Those spots were spleen tissue,” he says. “When I was four years old, I jumped off a chair onto a beanbag and ruptured my spleen. It was removed, but apparently when something ruptures there’s leftover tissue. That tissue tried to regenerate and grow.”

For now, at least, lymphoma was off the table. Nearly two months of worry, depression and sleepless nights resulted in a benign diagnosis. While his condition had the potential to turn into something malignant, for now, he didn’t have cancer. Ryan was left wondering: Where do I go from here?

“You don’t go through something like that and not be changed,” he says. “So I channeled all that energy into the first 24 Hours in the Canyon.”

Leaving 2006 behind him, though not forgetting the emotional roller coaster, Ryan hit the pavement to find volunteers, sponsors and participants to help put his idea for a team and individual bike event into action. With the solitary goal of raising money for patient care, cancer education and research in Amarillo and the surrounding Panhandle area, the entire project is volunteer-based and not a single penny is made for profit. In fact, 90 percent of the monies raised consistently go directly to the Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, while the remaining 10 percent go to LIVESTRONG.

In 2007, its inaugural year, the event attracted 120 participants and generated $14,000. By 2008, there were 358 bikers with $40,000 raised. Last year, 24 Hours in the Canyon drew 550 participants and $50,000 in donations.

“It was really important that the money we raised go directly to patients. The money we raised last year was used to pay for 300 women to get mammograms. And a few of them were actually diagnosed with cancer,” says Ryan. “Their care came from this event. It’s not about what shape you’re in or even how beautiful the Canyon is. It’s about helping patients.”

By mid-April, the upcoming 2010 event had already surpassed its monetary goal of $60,000 and acquired more than 60 sponsors, a far cry from a single sponsor in 2007. Support has been overwhelming, and not just from locals. Last year six states were represented and this year that number is in the double-digits. It’s also been picked up by the UltraMarathon Cycling Association as an Ultra Cup Event.

“There’s nothing like this in the area. We do both road and mountain biking at the same time and we have the most ideal place for it,” he says.

Ryan left his nine-year career with Pfizer in March 2009 to start a new position at the Harrington Cancer Center as the director of physician relations, a role that not only allows him more time and energy for the event but also connects him more closely to the cause.

“It’s really become its own animal. If you would’ve asked me in 2007 what my long-term goal was I would’ve said, ‘I just hope we’re still doing it,’” he says. “99 percent of the people who participate have a cancer connection. There are so many stories told down there. For some people this is an outlet. The human spirit is really impressive.”

Event Details
24 Hours in the Canyon
June 5-6, 2010
- Competitive and non-competitive
- Team or individual events
- Included in the $60 registration fee is a campsite, goodie bag, two meals, restrooms with showers, t-shirt, bike repair areas and entry into various prize drawings.
- One headlight and one taillight are required for bikers riding from dusk to dawn.
- Riders are required to wear helmets.

For more information, or to register for the event, log on to 24 Hours in the Canyon.

by Jennie Treadway-Miller

Jennie was a columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press for eight years prior to moving to Amarillo in 2008. She is an avid reader, runner and writer.