“I’m Glad I Got Cancer.” | Capt. Red Flowers & The Great Loop Challenge

Captain Red Flowers survived Stage 4 melanoma after losing his mother, brother and sister to cancer. What happened next changed the direction of his life. In Episode 001 of Hear Me Out…, Red tells the story behind the Great Loop Challenge — from discovering the route almost by accident to turning it into an endurance run designed to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. We talk cancer, family, the realities of spending weeks aboard an open center-console, running through the night, pushing through brutal conditions, traveling more than 7,200 miles, raising more than $600,000, and why Red says he’s committed to this mission for the rest of his life. This isn’t really a story about setting a boating record. It’s about what can happen when something that nearly takes your life gives you a completely different reason to live it. ABOUT THE GUEST Captain Red Flowers is a veteran charter captain with more than 45 years on the water and the founder of the Great Loop Challenge. After being diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma — and having already lost his mother, brother and sister to cancer — Red’s treatment exposed him to something he says he had never fully understood: the number of children fighting cancer alongside him. That experience eventually became a mission. Through the Great Loop Challenge, Red and his team use extreme endurance runs around America’s Great Loop to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. The effort has now generated more than $600,000 — and they’re nowhere near finished. Learn more about the Great Loop Challenge or donate: https://greatloopchallenge.org CHAPTERS 00:00 — “I’m Glad I Got Cancer” 00:37 — Coming Home From the Great Loop 03:05 — Discovering the Great Loop 04:57 — Turning the Challenge Into a Mission 08:31 — Losing His Family to Cancer 09:58 — The Kids Across the Hall 15:14 — Fighting Cancer While Planning the Great Loop 20:39 — Building the Crew for 2.0 23:55 — The Call That Changed the Trip 30:14 — Why 2.0 Was a Completely Different Challenge 32:58 — Zero Visibility & a Collision Course 38:53 — 1,000 Miles of Brutal Water 42:39 — Hitting a Submerged Object in Lake Huron 49:44 — Why They Choose to Suffer 54:18 — Coming Home & Setting the Record 56:07 — $11,000 for Eating a Sardine 59:13 — $600,000 Raised — And It Started in DeLand 01:03:30 — What Comes Next: Great Loop Challenge 3.0