Throughout the month of August, Tarrin McDonough committed to walking one million steps in the name of cancer research, to raise donations for BC Cancer. Tarrin makes up one half of the Styrogirls, a sister duo made up of herself and Sorrel McDonough, who are foam fabrication artists and costume/statue creators from Vancouver.
Tarrin completed a total step count of 1,129,484 steps in August, or an estimated 836 km. Tarrin engaged her community on her Instagram account and through word of mouth to decide which routes she would take. “I accepted challenges from people who would tell me, ‘OK, I want you to walk to UBC,’” Tarrin explained. Another person challenged her to walk to the North Shore in one day, and said that if she could do it, then they would “make a donation of a $100 to BC Cancer,” she recalled. “I did probably about 10 of those challenges, which were really fun and interesting,” explained Tarrin.
Some of these single-day challenges included walking the route of the 2026 Vancouver Marathon, walking the rough perimeter of Vancouver, and various point A to point B challenges such as Surrey to Langley. Sometimes, they also included fun challenges like dancing with strangers in public. Tarrin shared, “People know that I’m an introvert so they wanted to get me out of my shell a little bit, so at one point, I had to walk to the Lionsgate Bridge on the Vancouver side and stand right in front of where the lions are and do an Axl Rose [snake] dance,” the famous hip-swaying dance of the Guns and Roses lead singer.
Tarrin had previously done a walking challenge for herself, so she wanted to do something new that benefitted the community. “The reason I chose cancer research is because I felt like it’s something that touches everyone. Everyone is either directly or indirectly affected by cancer,” said Tarrin. In 2024, cancer was the leading cause of death in the province. In 2026, approximately 35,000 people in BC are expected to be diagnosed with cancer.
“I chose BC Cancer because they obviously do a lot of research but they do a lot of other things as well,” said Tarrin. BC Cancer offers services such as the BC Cancer library, patient and family counseling services, prevention programs, support programs, and Indigenous Cancer Control in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority, Métis Nation British Columbia, and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres.
“People are incredibly generous. I feel like most people do charity giving and so it’s just a matter of inspiring them to donate to your campaign.”
— Tarrin McDonough
When asked what she learned from the campaign, Tarrin said, “People are incredibly generous. I feel like most people do charity giving and so it’s just a matter of inspiring them to donate to your campaign.
“I interacted with a lot of strangers on my walks and I think that was something that was really good, most people are so lovely when you chat with them out in the world,” said Tarrin.
On August 31, the final day of the challenge, the Styrogirls hosted a Schitt’s Creek themed party with a foam lego figure of Catherine O’Hara as the centrepiece.
