His warning by water: one in six

Billerica teacher's Chicago-Manhattan paddle to spotlight prostate cancer

Skip Ciccarelli will embark on a 54-day, 1,700-mile Chicago-to-Manhattan kayak journey Saturday to raise awareness about prostate cancer. (Don Meskie)

Skip Ciccarelli never saw it coming, never thought that he would represent the "1" in six men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

For years, he kept quiet about it.

Until three years ago.

"One of my colleagues was diagnosed" with prostate cancer. said Ciccarelli, an award-winning teacher at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica.

"I would hear people in the hallways talking about it, and they had a lot of questions with not a lot of answers. That was when I realized how little people know about it and decided to answer those questions. It had a real effect on me and I knew something had to be done to raise awareness. But what could I do?"

What Ciccarelli did was combine his passion for kayaking with his desire to shine the spotlight on prostate cancer.

On Saturday, he will begin paddling at the Lincoln Park Boat Club, situated on Lake Michigan in Chicago, embarking on a 54-day, 1,700-mile trip that will reach its conclusion on the Hudson River in Manhattan on Aug. 9.

Ciccarelli hopes to paddle an average of 40 miles per day, camping out at state parks along his route, or sleeping at motels.

A carpentry teacher at the Billerica-based school, Ciccarelli began kayaking recreationally 10 years ago. In 2005, he joined the racing circuit on a whim. Paddling in a friend's kayak, Ciccarelli won his first race and soon met Pam Browning, who was instrumental in his racing career.

"I met him at his first race and told him about the annual Memorial Day 70-mile race along the Susquehanna River" in upstate New York, said Browning. "It was only his third race. Most people do 5- or 10-milers for a year before they get into the longer races, but not Skip. It seems whatever he sets his mind to, he does it. He's a very giving person, and this is something important to him, so, no, I wasn't surprised when he came up with this idea and why he was doing it."

Seven years ago, when Ciccarelli was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he was told he had two months before the cancer would spread to other areas of his body. In August 2001, his doctors successfully removed the cancer.

In fact, Ciccarelli's cancer was removed on Aug. 9 of that year the same day he plans on arriving in New York City.

"I just realized it the other day, that it'll be my anniversary the day I finish," said Ciccarelli. "It wasn't planned that way, but it just came around full circle that way. It's interesting to look back and see how it's changed me. I was quiet about it, and now my goal is the opposite. The whole point of doing something crazy like this was exactly to get people talking and learning about the cause behind it."

He added his approach to planning his trip was as an, "awareness raiser, rather than a fund-raiser."

While Ciccarelli will be on the water alone each day, he hopes to garner support from fellow kayakers and on-shore followers of his journey, which will be chronicled online thanks to the help of a few Shawsheen Tech students, including some of Ciccarelli's own.

When the 53-year-old Ciccarelli is not training during the racing season, usually mid-April to late October, he builds strength and cardio endurance crosstraining at the local YMCA. He is a member of the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association, NECKRA, and competes in the Sea Class, for boats less than 18 feet long.

Browning, a resident of Harvard, and chairman of NECKRA, noted the anticipation of Ciccarelli's endeavor among kayakers across the country.

"I heard that kayakers in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are getting excited about seeing him," said Browning. "Forty miles a day is a tough thing to do, especially by yourself in unfamiliar waters. It takes a lot of endurance day to day and he's got some tricky areas he might face, so hopefully people come out and help him with the waters they're used to."

Last summer, Browning and Ciccarelli raced along the Susquehanna. When Browning's boat got lodged behind a large pile of debris and overturned, Ciccarelli jumped out to help her into her boat before the duo continued to finish the race.

"He always puts others first," said Browning. "It's just like him to help me out of that jam and then we raced the rest of the route together pretty much."

With his students, the school superintendant, Charles Lyons, and faculty behind him, Ciccarelli is set to receive a sendoff in Chicago, from the American Cancer Society's branch for prostate cancer survivors.

For Ciccarelli, the annual running of the Charles River, the 30-mile ARC race through the Adirondacks, the Josh Billings team race, and the Tulley Triathlon stand out as his favorite races of the summer.

"There's a certain meditativeness when you're kayaking," he said. "You've got to get in the zone when you're paddling. This has been a process, sort of, from being diagnosed to this journey coming about. I was lucky enough to have come out of it, but it took me being affected by it to become educated. I knew I could paddle, I know how to do that. And if that means more people become aware of prostate cancer ahead of time, that's what this is about."

Sapna Pathak can be reached at sportsgalsp@gmail.com.