The Ride for Heart is a charity bicycle ride organized by Heart & Stroke (the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada). [1] For more than 20 years it was sponsored by margarine brand Becel. In November 2017, Manulife was announced as the new title sponsor starting in 2018. [2]
Until 2019, the event closed Toronto's Don Valley Parkway (DVP) and Gardiner Expressway on the first Sunday in June, with designated routes of 25, 50, and 75 km for recreational and endurance riders. [3] [4] Since 2020, Ride for Heart has operated as a national, month-long, digital-first fundraising challenge held throughout June, in which participants ride, walk or run wherever they live. [5] [6]
The first Ride took place on this route in 1987, and has grown immensely since then. In 2011 the Ride for Heart attracted a capacity 13,000 riders and raised $3.9 million in funds towards heart and stroke research, education and advocacy. Nine out of ten Canadians are at risk of heart disease or stroke conditions, and one in three Canadians die from heart disease or stroke. Each year, about 250,000 potential years of life are lost in Canada due to cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and other chronic heart-related conditions.
The Ride turned 25 on June 3, 2012, and raised a record $5 million.
In 2020, the Ride was cancelled and shifted to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7] Heart & Stroke has continued to run the event as a digital-first, month-long challenge in subsequent years. [8] [9] [10]