How far would you go to support your local hospital?
Participants in a new pledge-based fundraiser have decided, no mountain is too high. They’ll be scaling Everest. Well, they’ll be scaling the equivalent of Everest, by climbing Blue Mountain 40 times.
The Everest Challenge, organized by Simon Williams of Causeplay, is a new event created to raise funds for the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. The event is open to teams of 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 or 20 individuals who will climb Blue Mountain via the trail of their choice 40 times on Oct. 13, 2018, which will be the same distance as it is to the top of Mount Everest (29,092 feet).
So far, there are about 200 participants signed up, including Nick Brindisi and his teammate Martin Rydlo.
They will each have to climb Blue Mountain 20 times during the event, but Brindisi isn’t worried about it. In fact, he doesn’t have to alter his regular routine to add training in, because Brindisi is a trail ultra-runner. Last week he ran 73 km in four days over 3,000 vertical metres.
“I am a runner, it’s not a sport I do,” said Brindisi at a launch event for the first 100 participants who signed up for the Everest Challenge held at Northwinds at Blue Mountain Village on June 6.
He ran two marathons in May, including the Ottawa event. He also ran a race in Crow’s Nest Past in British Columbia that was 160 km and 20,000 vertical feet. There’s a 30-hour cut off for participants in that race.
Brindisi grew up in Collingwood, and started running competitively at 10-years-old. He’s 55 now.
“I found myself in the mountains, and it started in these hills,” he said, gesturing to Blue Mountain. “It’s a journey you take and it centres you as a human.”
He said he’s happy to support the Collingwood Hospital, where his life was saved in 2001 when his appendix burst. His father, a local police officer, also needed the hospital often for his diabetes and later for dialysis.
When Oct. 13 comes, he and Rydlo will be more than ready to climb Blue Mountain 20 times each.
“We know we’re mountain goats,” said Brindisi. “We can handle it.”
Jory Pritchard-Kerr, executive director of the G&M Hospital Foundation said the funds raised through the Everest Challenge event will go to upgrades for patient rooms. The upgrades are unique for an Ontario hospital and will draw on modern anti-bacterial technology. The hospital plans to announce more about the initiative later this summer.
Registration is still open for the Everest Challenge. The entry fee is $50 per person and event organizers as well as the foundation would like to see each participant raise $400. There will be social media and communication support for all participants to help them raise funds for their climb.
Simon Williams said he planned the event because he wanted to use the natural features of the area to help people participate in a charity event.
“It’s very democratic,” he said. “There’s no special equipment, you don’t even have to be an athlete, you just put on a pair of shoes and you go up the mountain as little as one time and you give back to your hospital.”
For more on the Everest Challenge or to sign up to participate, click here.
