WENTWORTH – Jogging, walking, and maybe even crawling up, and down a hill for 14 hours straight would be a tough slog for anybody.
Doing it in the dark makes it only that much tougher.
“The thing that Mitchell went through was super, super hard,” said John Collicott. “Although this is going to be challenging, it’s not going to be anything like what he went through, so having a little bit of bigger challenge by doing it overnight kind of says, ‘why take the easy way.’”
Collicott spoke those words just before he and Mike Hudson set off on their 14-hour trek of High Head Trail in Wentworth.
The High Head Hustle, which started last Saturday at 5 p.m. and ended Sunday at 7 a.m., was a fundraiser for Mitchell Richard.
“He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer a little over one year ago. He was struggling and losing a little bit of his mobility, so we thought we’d do this and raise money for him,” said Hudson.
Mitchell passed away Nov. 25 at the age of 22 after losing his battle with cancer.
Hudson coached Mitchell in basketball in Grade 7 and 8, and says the best way to honour Mitchell was to have fun during the run.
“Mitchell knew what we were doing and he was pumped up about it. He was an outdoors kind of guy. He loved the outdoors,” said Hudson. “We’re keeping it very positive. Mitchell would have wanted it that way. He lived his life that way. He was cracking jokes right up to the end.”
Each trip up and down the High Head Trail is about five kilometres.
In the end Hudson and Collicott went up and down the trail nine times, for a total of 45 kilometres.
The fundraiser, up to now, has raised more than $2,500, including $1,650 on the High Head Hustle Go-Fund-Me page, and $1,000 from money donated to a charitable organization called Life Rolls On. All money raised goes to help Mitchell’s family.
“For the past year there was a lot of travelling for Mitchell and his family, including traveling to Ontario,” said Collicott.
To make a donation go to Go Fund Me, and search for High Head Hustle, or go to the High Head Hustle facebook page to find links to the Go Fund Me page or to Life Rolls On.
