Kent resident Chad Schrack is in the midst of a 60-to-70-day kayaking trip down the Mississippi River, his latest feat to raise awareness and donations for colorectal cancer since his wife Sheila was diagnosed in 2006.
“There are a lot of 5Ks out there,” Schrack said. “So we just started out trying to do something a little bit out of the box, something unusual, to raise awareness. We were just trying to look for something different that might catch people’s attention.”
His first idea was a polar bear swim in Ashland in 2007. The event has continued annually ever since.
“We had up to 230 people down there one year jumping in the lake, which is pretty good for all word of mouth and a little bit of social media,” Schrack said via phone while in Minnesota, the night before he began his kayaking trip.
Schrack, 55, has also climbed Colorado’s Longs Peak in 2016 and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2022.
“A really good friend of mine, we were actually in Iraq together, he and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and raised awareness that way,” Schrack said. “That was pretty tough, Mount Kilimanjaro is a pretty big hill.”
As a veteran, Schrack walked from Arlington, Virginia, to Venice Beach, California, with two causes in mind: spreading the word about colorectal cancer and to raise awareness of suicide among veterans.
“I’m an Iraq veteran and a good friend of mine that I was in Iraq with took his life, so I tried to walk 22 miles a day for the 22 veterans a day taking their lives,” Schrack said.
To prepare for his adventures Schrack said he tries to stay in shape and remain as active as he can — especially for the kayaking trip.
“I’ve been out kayaking since March, just going out and hitting the reservoirs, West Branch, the Mogadore Reservoir and Wingfoot, just hitting all the reservoirs and getting in as much time as I can,” Schrack said.
When he is not climbing mountains or walking across the country he is a truck driver for FedEx, and the company has been supportive in helping to raise colorectal cancer awareness.
“They’ve donated a lot, and I’m not trying to do a FedEx commercial here, but they’ve been really, really supportive like we couldn’t do without them,” Schrack said.
Schrack and his co-worker, Chris Ludwiczak, from FedEx are doing the kayaking trip together, and FedEx made sure both of their kayaks safely made the trip from Ohio to Minnesota, which is where they are starting the journey.
“[Chris and I] work at FedEx together, and FedEx has been kind enough to give us the time off to do it, ” Schrack said. “They’ve been really supportive, too, like they made sure we got down here today with our kayaks which was great.”
Schrack’s overall goal is to reach as many people as possible, especially those who may be at risk for colorectal cancer and encourage them to get screened. Sheila has not had any signs of cancer since 2008.
“If we’ve been able to reach one person, and they got screened and caught a polyp, colon cancer, or colorectal cancer soon enough to get it repaired and not get sick from it, it’s all worth it because that one person is everybody to somebody,” Schrack said.
