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Mason native and friend to roller blade from Boston to Michigan for cancer relief efforts

Posted at 5:29 AM, Jun 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-04 06:06:53-04

MASON, Mich. — A Mason native and his friend are lacing up their roller blades for a 800-plus mile journey to raise money for cancer.

They call themselves the 'Men In Blades.'

Normally they are shredding ice for the University Of Massachusetts Boston.

However, with the rinks closed, Andy Walker and Jake Adkins are hitting pavement with rollerblades... skating towards a new goal.

"We just thought of rollerblading from here to my home town," said Walker.

That's a roughly 870 mile trip from Boston to Mason, Michigan.

"We thought, what is a good way to raise money? We love to skate and both of us don't get tired that easily especially while rollerblading," said Walker.

"We will see how long that lasts," laughed Adkins.

But this epic rollerblading ride isn't for fun of it, it's to raise money for the American Cancer Society that is also taking a hit during the pandemic.

"Cancer patients aren't getting the resources or the donations they should be getting and we feel like shedding some light on that, and bringing some relief to them would be a lot bigger than us," said Adkins.

To train for such a journey, the two plan on rollerblading roughly 50 miles a day, rain or shine.

"We try to get a little more each day to get ready for it," said Walker. "I would say it takes about an hour twenty, an hour forty to go about 20 miles for right now."

The two take off from Boston in July and hope to make it to Mason, Michigan in just seven days.

"We think seven days is going to be tough, but our health and safety are a priority so we are going to take as long as we need if it comes to that," explained Adkins.

"His brother will follow us with his truck in case we need anything," added Walker.

While the two take the next month to train, their Go Fund Me is up....and ready to roll for the American Cancer Society.

"I guess we are going to see how hard this is going to be, but we wanna show that nothing is impossible when you set your mind to something," said Adkins.

Walker is a 2016 Mason High School graduate.

You can find the link to how to donate to their cause, here and you can follow their journey here.

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