Dempsey and the Challenge roll into town this weekend

LEWISTON — Early fundraising figures look strong, the weather forecast looks good and Patrick Dempsey — fresh off racing in Fiji and shooting a movie in London — has his bags packed.

The seventh annual Dempsey Challenge kicks off Saturday.

“The overall feeling and openness of everyone participating in the challenge is magical,” the actor said in an email last week from Japan. “Nobody has an agenda. (That’s) consistent every year.”

Thousands are expected to walk, run and bike, with friends and supporters cheering them on, to raise money for The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Located just off Main Street, the center provides counseling, classes and financial help to people affected by cancer — all of it free.

Dempsey, who grew up in Turner and Buckfield, and his family were inspired to start the center by their mother, Amanda, who battled ovarian cancer several times over 17 years. She died last year at age 79 after volunteering for years at the center.

New this year to the Dempsey Challenge are a two-day ride that has some cyclists seeing more of Maine and a two-mile Family Ride for families with young children who aren’t yet ready to tackle the 10-mile course.

Aimee Arsenault Labbe, the center’s manager of development and special events, said the number of registrations was 200 more than this time last year.

In 2014, 3,871 participants raised $1.14 million.

“We’re hoping to break that this year,” she said. “It’s going to be close.”

Every dollar raised in the Dempsey Challenge directly benefits the Dempsey Center, according to Labbe. Event costs are covered by sponsors and a portion of registration fees.

The challenge record was set in 2012, when 4,294 participants raised $1.2 million.

Oct. 17-18 is the latest in the year that the challenge has been held. From a foliage perspective, it’s worked out perfectly.

“I think the route is going to be really beautiful,” she said.

Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston will serve as event headquarters for the weekend with a Packet-Pickup Party planned for Friday night with beer from Baxter Brewing Co. and music from the Dapper Gents.

Walking and running events take place Saturday, most biking takes place on Sunday.

Patrick Dempsey will officially open the challenge at 6:45 a.m. Saturday, participate in the Survivor’s Walk at 10 a.m. and open and close the day on Sunday.

Lincoln Street will be closed to traffic on Saturday from downtown to Alfred Plourde Parkway for the 5K and 10K participants. Roads won’t be closed for the cyclists.

There will be free festivals in the park both days with food trucks, music by the Mallett Brothers Band and The Awesome, and children’s activities.

The new, two-day ride will have 20 cyclists leaving Saturday and biking a 70-mile route that ends at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport, staying the night in Brunswick, and reconnecting with the 50-mile event the next day. To be part of that ride, participants had to raise at least $1,000.

“The goal is really to provide an additional challenge for those really avid cyclists,” Labbe said. “The other piece was wanting to really attract participants from out-of-town and out-of-state to come make a weekend out of it and get to do some riding along the Maine coast and see different parts of the state.”

Celebrity cyclists on the two-day ride include Paul Sherwen, an NBC Sports analyst and former professional cyclist from Uganda, and professional cyclist Carmen Small from Colorado.

Other professionals joining the challenge this year include “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez, Tim Johnson, Ally Stacher and Alison Tetrick.

“The Bold and the Beautiful” actress Katherine Kelly Lang, who is an Amgen Breakaway from Cancer spokesperson like Dempsey, will also ride.

The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing is planning an open house from noon to 4 p.m. Friday so participants can check out its work firsthand.

Executive Director Wendy Tardif said about 4,000 people have come through the doors this year. The center offers support groups, nutrition classes, massage and yoga. New this year is a Maine Fund for Cancer Patients that helps people who have to cut back hours or take a leave from work during cancer treatment pay basic bills.

Most people using the center live within an hour of Lewiston.

“It doesn’t matter where they get their treatment, it doesn’t matter how long ago their cancer was,” Tardif said. “I do think people are still trying to understand more about who we are, what we do and who we serve. You kind of get this feeling when you walk off the elevator what we’re all about.”

Though it receives some grants, the center’s largest fundraiser is the Dempsey Challenge.

Dempsey, who has been shooting the movie “Bridget Jones’s Baby” in London, plans to ride the 50-mile course Sunday.

Best known for his role as Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” Dempsey left that show earlier this year and poured himself into his other passion, racing. His team, Dempsey Proton Racing, finished second in its class in the 24 Hours of the Le Mans in June and sat in fourth place in the World Endurance Championship heading into a race in Fiji on Sunday night.

Dempsey said coming home for the Dempsey Challenge is much like coming home for a family reunion, sharing memories, grief, accomplishments and support.

His sister, Mary, is the assistant director and center co-founder. A second sister, Alicia Hatten, who lives in Florida, will be up for the challenge and selling Amanda Dempsey charity necklaces during the weekend.

“Our mom would always gently walk around and talk one-on-one with patients going through their journeys and encourage them to ‘keep moving forward,’ ‘give it your best every day,'” he said. “Today, myself and both of my sisters try hard to live these words that mom always spoke. The Dempsey family is proud and honored to be part of this amazing place called the Dempsey Center.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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