Six months ago I wanted to challenge myself and I couldn't think of anything until one day I was on facebook and ran across this place in Colorado that had a hill that looked impossible to complete. It looked fun and challenging. I always prided myself on walking hills, especially since I lived in Ringwood New Jersey (hello Hills), so why not give it a try. I began to train for this climb and really thought to myself, "how difficult can this be?" Until someone stated to me that it wasn't the climb as much as it was the altitude. I was going to be up almost 9000 feet. The incline starts at 6000 feet and goes to 8700 feet in less than a mile and many have not made it and one actually died attempting this challenge. I think as bad as it sounds, the dying part made it more interesting to me.

Well, as I stated, I worked out for six months, walking up stair master for 100, then 200, then 300 flights of stairs. It got to the point where I could do 300 flights in 44 minutes. I then transitioned myself to outside and nature hill with the goal of walking the hill 10 times. That hill i believe is about 60 degrees vertical which is what the incline is. I also decided to drive to colorado instead of fly so that my body could adjust itself to the climate there. Okay after 6 months of working out I decided I was ready and made all the reservations I needed to and began the journey at 0200 on the 28th of April. I was excited to get there and attempt this beast. My only goal was to do it. However, a friend had suggested that I make this into a fund raiser for the Ellis Hope Foundation. Hey, why don't you have people sponcer you for $20 then if you can complete the climb in 40 minutes or under they give you and additional $40. Now it became a challenge and many people joined the cause.

I remember the day I got there and the weather was cold but doable. I decided to attempt it on that thursday the 30th and then on my birthday make the big climb. One problem though, when I got therte I was tolsd that it was going to snow and not a little but a good amount and the only time I had to do it would be that Wednesday becuase Thursday was out of the question. So, I went to the Olympic center and then decided to go for it. I had not prepared myself for it the way I wanted to but oh well.... let's go!

I get there and park the car and walk over to the beginning of the train and it was very overwhelming. It looked long and steep. But I told myself not to look up or down but just one foot in front of the other. I did run into 6 others that were starting the same time I was, so we left all at the same time. After around step 300, 5 out of the 6 people stopped and it was just me and my friend Juan who is 26 years old from chicago. We kept our heads down and got into a good pace. However at step 800 he said he needed to stop and take a break. So we did but I didn't stay long I had to keep going so I told him to catch up to me. 

At step 1000 I was now in the clouds and he was no were to be found. At step 1200 I was breathing really heavy and my heart rate was 185 bpm. I wanted to stop and call it but I just couldn't. I just couldn't. I began to make small goals. 10 steps and then break. 10 steps and break. At step 1700 I ran into another person. He had been there for a bit resting and was beginning to get back on the path. I decided to follow him but by step 1900 I was falling behind him really bad. Then I was the number 2000 which gave me a bit of hope because there is only 2768 steps in total to the top. My breath began to smooth out and I began to focus my whole effort on completing the challenge now . then I saw 2200, then 2300, then 2400, then finally 2500. There is only 268 steps left. By this time I was drained but I couldn't stop. I had to finish. So I picked up my pace a bit and got to the end. 

Once I got to the end I hit my knees and thanked God for the ability to accomplish this. It took 42 minutes to complete and it was .88 mile and over 2000 feet in verticle climb. I felt accomplished. I spent a few minutes up there then... you the decline. Now that was hard but I decided to take my time and enjoy the view so I did. Yes, my legs were screaming at me on the way down but it was worth it. I will do it again.

Thank you for all those that donated their hard earned money to this challenge. I can only hope that my efforts can help someone get their health improved thru EHF sponsorship.