Rogers set to paddle for cancer research

Veronica Duran

On Sunday, Mike Rogers will again test his mettle against the ocean.

Rogers, 49, of Costa Mesa, will paddle 32 miles through the open sea

in a one-man fund-raising effort he calls “Paddle for the Cure.”

Rogers is raising money for cancer research at Hoag Cancer Center and

will compete in the Catalina Classic, a paddleboard race from Catalina

Island to Manhattan Beach. The race is considered to be the longest and

most difficult of its kind in the world.

Rogers and other competitors will begin the race at dawn Sunday in

Catalina. With the cooperation of water and wind conditions, Rogers hopes

to finish the grueling trek in about seven hours.

The race will end at the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Rogers initiated “Paddle for the Cure” five years ago in honor of his

late father-in-law, who died of cancer. Rogers, who had never entered the

Catalina Classic before, chose his marathon race as symbolic of the

physical struggles a cancer patient must endure.

He has raised more than $140,000 since beginning the fund-raiser.

To make a donation, make checks payable to Paddle for the Cure and

send to: “Paddle for the Cure” Hoag Hospital Corporate Communications,

One Hoag Drive, P.O. Box 6100, Newport Beach, CA 92658-6100.