Submitted photo Dane Torcivia from New York and Marco Gacke of Marshall pose in front of a Logan Pass sign located along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, in Montana.

MARSHALL — Despondent over the death of his beloved younger sister, a Southwest Minnesota State University student is honoring her memory by raising money for a good cause.

Marco Gacke, a Southwest Minnesota State University senior, biked 4,500 mile across the country last summer from Baltimore, Maryland, to Seattle, Washington, as part of the organization 4K for Cancer — and he plans to do it again this summer.

The group has raised $900,000 for the Ulman Foundation, which is a nonprofit that creates “a community of support for young adults and their loved ones impacted by cancer, according to its website https://ulmanfoundation.org

Gacke graduated high school from Luverne and is double majoring in biology and chemistry. After graduation, he plans on attending graduate school.

He could spend his summer working at a job or in an internship, but says he can always do that. Instead he is biking again across the country — from Baltimore to San Francisco this time — 70 days riding over 4,000 miles.

Gacke was an avid bicyclist and liked to ride with his baby sister, Dani. In the summer of 2017 she died by suicide at the age of 13.

“After her death I was so lost in life, I no longer had the interest in the things I loved doing especially cycling which I would do with my sister often,” he said. “Then one time on Facebook I saw a post about the 4K for Cancer and remembered my sister telling me about it and how I should do it because I was a ‘bike loser,’ she said, so I sent in my application and in the summer of 2018 my life changed from there.”

The trip was life-changing because of the people he cycled with and the people he met along the way, he said.

After spending 70 days of at first grueling days of cycling and sleeping in sleeping bags on concrete floors, the 27 college-aged started out as strangers and ended up as people he communicates with almost every day.

“They are friends closer than family,” he said.

During the trip, the team members stayed at host churches where they were fed supper, and had the chance to shower and do laundry. In the morning they had breakfast and by 7 a.m. were on their way to the next town. They averaged 75 miles a day.

“A short day was 40 miles and the longest day was over 100,” he said.

They traveled with a van that carried their duffel bags and backpacks. Another van carried the water which was offered frequently.

A bike manufacturer, Jamis Bicycles, donated the bikes.

“They are nice bikes,” Gacke said.

The bicyclists met many people across the nation.

“There was so much hospitality — so many nice people every place we went,” he said. “I saw lots of love and friendliness. They have their stories too.”

At a gas station where his group stopped for water — they travel in teams of four or five — they met someone who saw the organization’s logo on the van and told his story of surviving cancer.

They stopped at a cancer ward in Montana and visited with cancer patients including a man who was receiving chemotherapy.

“He was so upbeat and happy,” Gacke said. “He had all these cool stories about his life.”

As they were leaving, the team members asked the patient how many more chemo treatments he had before he could say good-bye to cancer. The man told them he was terminal.

“He had six to eight months to live,” Gacke said.

Another trip highlight is when his group of four riders stopped to get water near a group of people in North Dakota who were having a potluck. They waved the bicyclists over and invited them to eat with them.

Another time the group stopped at a small town A&W in Washington for lunch. They asked the owner if he could donate hamburgers for the 27 riders.

“The owner said, ‘yeah, come on in,'” Gacke said. “He said, ‘have some onion rings, have a shake, have a bacon cheeseburger.'”

After riding 4,500 miles across 13 states last summer he wants to do it all again.

“I decided I needed to do it again this summer with the 4K after meeting so many people affected by cancer,” he said. “I’ve set a goal of personally fundraising over $6,000 to support the Ulman Foundation’s work.

The following is a link to Gacke’s fundraising page: https://ulman.z2systems.com/marco-gacke-2019