By Staff
July 19th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Everesting – do you know what it means?
Think Mount Everest and the attempts that are made to get to the top.
A group has created an event that will have cyclists driving 2.4 km up Kerns Road 73 times which would be equal to the 30,000 feet that has to be climbed to get from the base of Mount Everest to the peak.
The 29,029 vertical feet climb on bikes, over the course of 20 hours, to equal climbing the summit of Mt Everest.
The event is seen as the Ultimate Mind-Body Challenge; this will be the first Everesting attempt in Halton.
The 29,029 vertical feet climb on bikes, over the course of 20 hours, to equal climbing the summit of Mt Everest
When : July 22nd 2017
Where: Kerns Road Burglington Ontario
Start: Lap 1 is 4:30 am eastern
Why? Joey Orfanogiannis.
Joey Orfanogiannis with family and friends
At 6 years old Joey and his family lives were changed forever. On January 4th, 2016 they had to hear the words “your child has cancer”, words that would thrust him into the challenge of his life at a very tender age.
Joey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia “A.L.L.”
When most kids would be counting the minutes until recess, Joey was counting “arm pokes” – how many needles he would receive for blood tests prior to receiving a port into his chest which would become a pathway for chemotherapy and give him a break from all the needles. He would count spinal taps to administer chemotherapy that would protect his brain.
He would face numerous setbacks and painful surgeries coupled with nights that would leave him reeling in pain.
Through it all Joey never wavered and never backed down, he stood tall when most would fall and fought back when most would give up. We are happy to report that Joey is winning the fight with the same determination and looking forward to the word “remission” in March of 2019
Through it all, the statistics for children’s cancer became deeply troubling to his parents.
Aside from cancer being the leading cause of death in children, as well as the medical issues that occur after cancer survival from the heavy medication, one of the scariest facts is that children’s cancer research is grossly and consistently under-funded. It receives just 4% of government funding on an annual basis.
Joey’s parents knew something had to be done and wanted to help in an immediate and impactful way. They knew the challenge needed to be daunting, something that seemed as insurmountable as fighting cancer, and from that idea the Everesting event came to life.
It’s important to remember that no matter how difficult it may be to climb the cumulative height of Mount Everest over nearly 20 hours, it pales in comparison to the challenges faced by Joey and the many children battling cancer every day.
Joey will be running a lemonade stand and all the proceed will be going towards fighting cancer.
Grupetto will be serving coffees starting from 9am till noon.
Riders from the 30 top cycling clubs in the province will be taking part including the elite team Morning Glory from Mississauga and CCF Racing from Burlington.
The road will not be closed – it is seen as a very quiet road in a cycle friendly community.
Anybody can ride and no one will be ask do donate as the riders are coming to support the cause of fighting cancer and to bring awareness about how many kids are affected.
All Proceeds go directly to the Toronto Sick Kids and Montreal Children’s hospital for research funding in support of Pediatric Oncology.
73 trips and I bet not 1 stop at a stop sign.