Walt Peniuk from Premiere Van Lines in Toronto went above and beyond any call of duty to raise funds for IAM Here2Help in September.

Walt lives and works in Toronto so, rather than catch a plane or even drive a car, he chose to ride his bike and run to Washington, DC to raise money to help the charity in its work. It would involve riding over 80 km and running a half marathon every day.

The adventure took seven days - Monday, 24 September until the following Monday - just in time for the IAM convention.  “I did 857 kilometres with an elevation gain of 21,194 ft (6,460m),” said Walt.  “The adventure was a short version of life.  There were highs and lows, exhilarating times accelerating down mountains with snake-like turns, stress (being on a major highway for nine hours and no way to get around it),  there where times when I had to do things, (such as have an ice bath at the end of the day) that where good for me in the long term but had to suffer in the short term.”  Walt said there were obstacles that he had expected, such as steep hills, and those he didn’t, such as having no cell service in the mountains to get a hold of his support car when he was lost, flat tires, and hitting a huge pothole that threw him off the bike onto the road surface. “I sometimes wondered why I was doing it.  But, like life, you get over these and persevere.”

His weeks of training eight hours a day and six days a week paid off when he completed the journey.  “When I started my adventure I was not sure what to expect, it the end we where able to raise significant funds for IAM Here2Help and I was able to grow as a person.  Now its time to heal from the adventure before I start thinking about my next challenge in life.”

Walt is still collecting money for IAM Here2Help.  If you would like to contribute go to: www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/walts-runbike-to-help.

Photo: Walt arriving at the IAM Convention.