Starting on June 7, a group of kayakers, runners and bikers will paddle and pound the pavement through the entire Florida Keys – and a good portion of Miami – like other people’s lives depend on it.
The 26th Castaways Against Cancer tour, dubbed “The Bigger Boat Tour,” will aim to “take a bite out of cancer” by drawing inspiration from the legend of Big Mo, a 20-foot hammerhead shark reportedly lurking beneath Middle Keys bridges.
“Like the stories of Big Mo, cancer can be a scary monster,” the group’s tour description reads. “That’s why the Castaways Against Cancer will fight back against the darkness of the depths in 2025 with the Bigger Boat Tour.”
That “fight back” entails raising more than $300,000 in donations for the University of Miami’s Sylvester Cancer Center. There, funds are matched at 50 cents on the dollar to fund ongoing research projects – learning more about chemotherapy-resistant sarcoma cells and exploring new virus-drug combinations to cure advanced renal and colon cancers, to name a few.
Volunteer athletes for the nonprofit traverse the Keys in three ways, all starting from the recently-renamed “Castaways Against Cancer Beach” on Virginia Key in Miami. Kayakers will open the trek on June 7, followed by an eight-runner relay team departing on June 12 and a cycle team leaving the beach at 4:30 a.m. on Friday, June 13.
If all goes to plan, all three teams will converge at Key West’s Simonton Beach between 4 and 5 p.m. on Friday for a celebration to honor those who have fought the battle against cancer, regardless of the outcome.
Battling bugs, weather, winds and scorching sun, the Castaways have raised more than $2.7 million in their 26 years of daunting treks, with more than 4,000 miles paddled, 680 miles cycled and 320 miles run. They hope to break past the $3 million barrier this year as they continue chipping away at a five-year, $1.5 million pledge to Sylvester from 2022.
Though she can’t accompany the team on the full paddle as she used to, Marathon-based cancer-fighting legend and survivor Suzy Curry stepped up her game in a different way in 2025. Repeating a feat from the year prior, Curry is in the middle of a “Golden Oldies Triathlon” at her own pace – traversing the length of the Keys via every method used by the Castaways. She’s already walked 107 miles, kayaked 110 and biked 67, and she’ll finish up on June 4 with a 20-mile ride into Key West.
“Being 70 now, the body says, ‘No way you can kayak 110 miles in five days,’ even though the brain says ‘Hell yeah, you can do it,’” she told the Weekly. “I laugh at the brain.”
The public is invited to celebrate the Castaways’ arrival in Key West on Friday, June 13 beginning at 4 p.m. A closing ceremony will take place at the Hyatt Centric Key West’s dock at 7:45 p.m.
