Note: The Great Skate 2022 has been postponed to Sunday, February 27th, 2022. If required, additional adjustments - including shifting to a virtual skate - may be made in order to ensure participant safety. All registered skaters will be notified of all event changes, and any adjustments to date/time/location will be updated here and on www.thegreatskate.ca
The Great Skate is an outdoor race and community fundraising event that began in 2016 to get Winnipeggers out on the River Trail to take advantage of winter and show off their skating prowess.
Since 2020, The Great Skate has been raising funds to support The Dream Factory, and make more dreams come true for Manitoba kids battling life threatening illnesses. In that time, skaters have raised nearly $20,000 to make Dreams come true; and we are hoping that this year will be the biggest skate yet!
Every year, the event has grown in popularity and we have seen our Great Skaters come out on days colder than -40C to participate. The Great Skate community is a hardy bunch, and has intentionally chosen the coldest weekend of the year to host their annual race. We will be dressing for the weather and lacing up, even on the coldest of days!
This year's Great Skate is in support of Dream Kid Rylyn. Rylyn is 12-years-old and is an avid hockey fan (and therefore, a fellow Great Skater!).
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rylyn was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia - a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Her treatment lasted 6 months, and included four cycles of intesive chemotherapy. At one point, she lost so much weight that she had to use a feeding tube to ensure she was recieving proper nourishment.
While undergoing treatment in the hospital, Rylyn had the opportunity to regularly participate in music therapy and took an immediate liking to the ukulele. When the current travel restrictions are lifted and it is safe to travel, Rylyn’s dream is to visit Hawaii, play an authentic Hawaiian ukulele, and go zip lining through the Hawaiian jungle.
With your support, we will be able to make Rylyn's dream of visiting Hawaii (as soon as it's safe to do so, of course!) with her family a reality. Please consider joining us for this year's Great Skate and raising funds to help make dreams come true for kids like Rylyn right here in our community fihgting life-threatning illnesses.
Thank you for joining us once again for The Great Skate - be safe, dream big, and have fun!