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courtesy of dennis lee

Linda Thompson, of the Pelham Peddlers, participates in the Cancer Connection's Trikathlon in Look Park Sunday.

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courtesy of dennis lee

Four Things parade in front of the judges. From left, Donna Burhoe, of Hadley, Nancy Newton on the bike of Hadley, 3 Cindy Turnbull of Sunderland and 4 Tina Shen from Sunderland.

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NORTHAMPTON - There was something inspiring about a little red tricycle with a green frog and two Dr. Seuss "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" dolls strapped to the handlebars.

Nanci Newton's entry into the first annual "Trikathlon," held Sunday at Look Park to benefit the Cancer Connection, influenced seven other people to don whimsical costumes and hunch themselves over onto child-sized bikes for charity.

The Trikathlon was part of "Bill's Challenge IV," an annual fundraiser for the Florence-based group. The nonprofit provides people with cancer and their loved ones opportunities to learn how to navigate the disease through education, peer support, therapies and creative programs.

For the Trikathlon, 10 teams - consisting of four adults - rode gussied up trikes in a relay race that also required them to hop up and down, rub their tummies and pat their heads and exchange a baton - in this case a rose - for each leg of the race. Teams raised pledge money to enter the game.

"They've been doing these up in Killington, Vt., for years and they make thousands" of dollars, said Thom Kyker-Snowman, who volunteered to organize the Trikathlon. "I thought, #Hey, we can do this.'"

Newton, proprietor of Hadley's The Healing Zone Therapeutic Massage, kept the trike in her office in the lead up to Sunday's race. Most people were compelled to ask what the silly vehicle was all about and from there, some people entered the race.

"I wanted something that kids would like, something goofy," said Newton, 45, dressed in her team's (The Four Things) uniform which resembled Seuss' mischievous "Cat in the Hat" "Thing" characters: a red shirt and pants with blue streamers taped to the top of her bike helmet. "It's just for a great cause."

"One bike started it all," said Linda Thompson, 50, a member of the "Pelham Peddlers," a spin-off team inspired by Newton's trike. "It's just like the Cancer Connection's (motto): just one person can make a difference. One person started this, and it's big ... just look at it today."

Bill's Challenge was named in honor of William "Bill" Schafer, of Leeds, a former connection member. Schafer died of cancer in 2004 and left a gift of $10,000 to the organization, but with the stipulation that Cancer Connection match the amount for the gift to be realized. It was the connection's cue to start the annual fundraiser.

In addition to the Trikathlon, Sunday's challenge included a multi-prize raffle, a walkathon, a parade of trikes, face painting, games, a rock climbing wall, music and a demonstration by Tom Ricardi and his birds of prey.

Newton's team raised about $1,000 in pledges for Cancer Connection and won the Trikathlon. Their competitors included: "The Trike is Right," the "Trike-le Down Theory," the "Super Grovers" and the "Pirates of Co-op," which represented employees of Northampton Cooperative Bank. Why the pirate theme? "Because we arrrrrre such good pirates," exclaimed teammate Megan Lococo, 22, who wore an eye patch and a bandana. The team raised $417 for Cancer Connection.

"I like to get involved in these kinds of things," said Co-op pirate Seth Hopkins, 20, of Easthampton, who wore a white, puffy shirt and a long black bandana. "Sometimes it can be hard to get people to make fools of themselves, but it's worth it."

That afternoon, Kyker-Snowman said he was unsure how much Sunday's challenge raised for Cancer Connection, but estimated it would be in the thousands of dollars.

"I just hope when the word gets out about how much fun this is, we'll get even more people next year," he said.