This summer, I've chosen to answer a question that's been quietly weighing on me: what does it mean to witness suffering?
Like a lot of people, I spend too much time on my phone - faces from Sudan, Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine scrolling past endlessly. Two and a half hours a day. Seventy-five hours a month, and I started to feel uncomfortable with how passive that made me.
I want to do something instead of watch.
I knew I wanted to finish a Half-Ironman, so I figured, if I'm going to put in the effort anyhow, why not make it count for something?
I’m running a gauntlet of increasingly difficult endurance events to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. They’re one of the most noble charities out there. Approximately 80-85% of every dollar goes directly to programs that help people in crisis, delivering healthcare to some of the world’s most dangerous places.
The Events:
April 12 — Around the Bay, Hamilton | 30 KM Run ✅
May 3 — Toronto Marathon | 42 KM Run
June 13 — Gravenhurst Triathlon | 1.5 KM Swim · 40 KM Bike · 10 KM Run
July 26 — Calgary Half-Ironman | 2 KM Swim · 80 KM Bike · 21 KM Run
October 4 — Guriye Ironman, South Korea | 4 KM Swim · 180 KM Bike · 42 KM Run
A one-time donation is always welcome, but if you'd like to keep me honest — consider pledging per event completed. It's a good motivator, and it means your contribution grows alongside the results. No finish line, no donation. Either way, every dollar goes straight to the people who need it.
I'll mark each completed event on this board and if I cross every finish line, we rename it to The Summer of Success.
If you're able to give anything, thank you. It goes to people who need it far more than any of us need another hour of scrolling.
Hope to see you at the finish line.