Paralympics canoe racer Dylan Littlehales paddling 111km to raise money for Cancer Council after mum

Most sons will do anything for their mothers and world champion paracanoe racer Dylan Littlehales is no different, with an incredible display of support as his mum battles cancer.

Dylan is raising money and awareness for the Cancer Council as his mum was diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Picture: Richard Dobson

Most sons will do anything for their mothers and world champion paracanoe racer Dylan Littlehales is no different – only his methods are a little extreme.

The 23-year-old dual Paralympic paddler is swapping his usual 200m race distance for a 111km ultra endurance race, The Hawkesbury Classic, on October 28.

His mission is to raise money and awareness for Cancer Council Australia, a charity close to his heart after his mum Nicole was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer at the beginning of the year.

Just two weeks after the diagnosis, Littlehales moved from NSW to the Gold Coast for training.

“I moved to a whole different state while the family has gone through that, so I didn’t see a lot of the bad times,” Littlehales said.

Thankfully, Nicole has been given the all clear following a tough chemotherapy regimen.

Canoe Paralympian Dylan Littlehales is doing the Hawkesbury Classic, a 111km race, which will take him 14-24 hours to complete. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We got it early enough,” Littlehales said. “She got to ring the bell about three weeks ago.

“It’s coming to the end of breast cancer awareness month and I thought it would be a good time to help the cause a little bit by trying to raise some money to help other families as well so they can ring the bell and not have to go through the alternative.”

While the distance is 555 times further than Littlehales usually paddles, he said he hadn’t had to alter his training program too much to prepare for the endurance race.

Littlehales’ international season finished last month when he won gold at the World Championships.

“The last six weeks I’ve been doing an aerobic block,’’ he said.

“I’m not somebody who likes doing too many long kilometres in the off season but this has been motivation to get through it knowing that if I don’t do the kilometres now, there is no way I’m getting through 111km.”

Dylan is raising money and awareness for the Cancer Council as his mum was diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Picture: Richard Dobson

While some paddlers will take up to 24 hours to complete the event, Littlehales believes he will cross the line in about 14.

“There will be a bit of leeway either side of that as I’ve never paddled that far before,” he said.

“I’m sort of guessing the speeds I’ll be holding at different parts of the racing and hoping that’s how long it will take.”

Logistically, Littlehales plans to do 30km blocks and stop at the checkpoints to stretch, eat and hydrate.

Once he gets through the event, Littlehales will turn his thoughts to his third Paralympics.

He is hoping to better his performance in Tokyo, where he finished fourth.

Having recently tested the Paris course and finished first, Littlehales knows it won’t be easy next year.

“It’s going to be an interesting one,” he said.

“The good thing is everybody is the same but it’s very choppy.

“It’s not going to be a fast course next year but it’s going to take a lot of skill to paddle that fast.”

Click here to donate to Littlehales’ fundraiser.

Originally published as Paralympics canoe racer Dylan Littlehales paddling 111km to raise money for Cancer Council after mum