Reaburn Fundraiser | ROC’s Home Page | Ride for Research 2024

This is an update on our previous Meet the Villager feature in February 2022, please jump back and see how this family story began.

Once more the Reaburns, one of our Main Beach families, this time with 4 other Main Beach residents, are taking on an arduous challenge of riding 500kms to support and raise awareness of Rare Ovarian Cancer.

If you are interested in joining this ride, please contact Peter Reaburn on 0408 760 757.  They would love you to ride with them!

Our 30 riders, led by Main Beach resident Peter Reaburn, will be riding over 5 consecutive days to raise funds for lifesaving research into rare ovarian cancer.

There will be two groups of riders, with a limit of 15 riders per group. The ROC ROAD TEAM will be covering 500km over 5 days of riding including three challenging climbs (Tawonga and Rosewhite Gap, Stanley Loop, and Mt Buffalo) and two days of longer flatter rides. The ROC RAIL TRAIL TEAM will be riding rail trails that are flatter and shorter (30-60km) in distance. E-bikes are welcome, especially for the RAIL TRAIL TEAM. 

Peter’s wife Claire was diagnosed at 53 years of age with Juvenile Granulosa Cell Tumour (JGCT), a rare ovarian cancer that typically affects younger females. Claire is the oldest female in the world diagnosed with JGCT. The youngest was diagnosed in Australia at age 11 months! 94% of patients with JGCT are under 30 years of age.

There is no cure for JGCT. Nor is there research to help understand the disease. Clinicians are prescribing treatments based on “best guess” rather than evidence. Research to inform treatment and increase survival rates is needed.

In 2022, Peter and 11 other riders rode 900km in 9 days from Parliament House in Canberra to the MCG. They raised $165,000 that went directly to research that has led to world first outcomes in helping treat JGCT. In 2024, 30 riders including six Main Beach residents (Sue and Jason Stinson, Rebecca Ginley, Jenette Fisher, and Peter Reaburn) are riding with the goal of raising $200,000 for lifesaving research into this killer cancer at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne.

My wife Claire has the dubious honour of being the oldest women in the world diagnosed with Juvenile Granulosa Cell Tumour (JGCT), a very rare form of ovarian cancer.

I’ve been involved in sports since childhood. Initially it was swimming at club then state and national level in surf lifesaving. I played Rugby Union during winter, swam and surfed all year round, and competed in surf lifesaving during summer. An active childhood and youth.

Later in life I immersed myself in masters swimming then triathlon winning several state age-group titles in long course. In 2005 I won the 50-54 yr age group National Ironman championship that qualified me to fulfil my long-held dream of completing and competing in the Hawaii Ironman.

It was during this time that my love of road racing and cycling took hold. Easier on the aging body, social, and very good for the head being out there early mornings and enjoying the rhythms of riding.

After graduating with a Health and Physical Education degree I taught PE for 6 years in Ipswich, Longreach and the Gold Coast. I then went back to Uni and completed a PhD in Sport Science, my lifelong passion. I then embarked on an academic career teaching and researching at The University of Queensland (6 years), Central Queensland University in Rockhampton (20 years), and Bond University (5 years) where I recently finished my career as Professor and Head of Exercise and Sport Science.

Claire and I have two children, Rebecca (31) and Megan (28). Both happy, healthy, confident, and well-adjusted young women. In this year’s ride, we are proud to have our daughter Megan riding and our daughter-in-law Renee riding in the ROC Rail Trail Team. Behind the scenes, our daughter Rebecca and Megan’s partner, Tom, are helping make R4R a real family affair.

Life throws curve balls at us. Claire’s diagnosis with Rare Ovarian Cancer (ROC) in 2014 took us by surprise given we lived a very active and healthy lifestyle. We learnt quickly that nothing is known about JGCT. Retirement has given me time to put my love of fitness and cycling to a positive cause. Riding for Research with great support of ROC Incorporated (ROCInc), raising awareness of Ovarian Cancer in females of all ages, and helping Claire, my wife of 36 years and mother of our children.    

To support Peter’s ride you can donate here:

A couple that rides together stays together!

We met as teenagers during our first year of high school and grew up together on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. After both graduating from Queensland University of Technology, we moved interstate & then overseas to advance our careers in the education and hospitality sectors. We are happily married for more than 25 years with two wonderful children who are both students at The University of Queensland.

Last year we repatriated to Australia having spent the past twenty years living abroad in China & India. We are avid cyclists with a total of eight bikes (four apiece) in our collective herd. Whether it’s a weekend coffee cruise down the coastal strip, a track session on the velodrome, a road ride through the hinterland or a multi-day gravel adventure…we are always up for a ride. Our motto is “a couple that rides together, stays together”!

Sharing a love of adventure, we are passionate about wellbeing and contributing to the community. From Bollywood dancing in Mumbai, cycling & running in Shanghai to Dragon Boat racing in Tianjin, we have been active participants in raising awareness and generating donations for worthy local charitable causes.

On return to our home at Main Beach last year we were seeking opportunities to volunteer in our local community. Having spent many summers together in our youth at Main Beach, we felt compelled to train for and join volunteer surf rescue patrols at Southport Surf Life Saving Club.

We met Claire & Peter Reaburn in our apartment complex. The world is a small place and to our pleasant surprise we shared much in common with long family associations to Southport Surf Life Saving Club, raising awareness for charitable causes and a genuine love of cycling!

Over a coffee with Claire & Peter we learned more about Rare Ovarian Cancer and how Ride 4 Research has assisted to create awareness and much needed funds for research. We were inspired by their story and feel privileged to be part of this special group who are working tirelessly to make a difference in others’ lives. It is an honour for us to join ROCInc Ride 4 Research 2024.

To support the Stinson’s ride you can donate here:

Yogis that ROC!

Meet Bec and Jen, the go-getter yogis on a mission to raise awareness and research funds for Rare Ovarian Cancer Incorporated (ROCInc). Their motto? “Stronger Together!”

Rebecca Ginley (Bec), a Main Beach local and owner of “Yoga by the Beach with Bec” is a community yoga instructor to not only Jen, but fellow yogi Claire Reaburn who is their inspiration for this challenge.  Claire and her husband Peter, who together, are fighting to beat this disease and are dedicated to supporting ROCInc in their research for girls and women. Bec is also Managing Director of Oscar on Main Resort, one of the major sponsors of Ride for Research 2024.

Jenette Fisher, a breast cancer survivor, is very aware of the daily struggles that come with a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatments.  Jen’s a weekend warrior, only riding socially with a coffee catch up the main goal, but always one to embrace a challenge. When she heard about the ROCInc 5-day cycling ride she was in!!!

Bec and Jen will be riding determinedly for not only one of their own, Claire, but for the many others who are battling with rare ovarian cancer.  They are committed and passionate about giving back to worthwhile causes and will be putting their butts on the line (literally) to ride for 5 days in and around Bright, Victoria.

Please support Bec and Jen’s personal challenge with a donation or sponsorship to ensure ROCInc can continue to invest in vital lifesaving research and ovarian cancer awareness for girls and women.  Stronger Together!

Team “Yogis that ROC” would be most grateful. Namaste.

To support the Yogi’s that ROC ride you can donate here: