Grinds 20 and 21 - Big Shoutouts, Olympic Spirits and our Double Everest!

 Sponsorship Shoutout!

     
           Well Team, here we are, nearing the end of our voyage (none too soon though we will miss it). To be honest we really didn't know what we'd be taking on when this all began, if people would respond, if we'd be able to do it and if we would actually be able to keep up with our blog or if it would get forgotten amidst the fury. By the time one week rolled around and we saw about 500 people had viewed our progress we knew we couldn't stop and we loved it. Now, we know that you don't wait by your computers just itching for another post to pop up from us but we appreciate the following and hope we bring some humour and interest to your day. In all seriousness we all live busy lives and knowing that you took your time to support us whether it be financially or simply by reading this means a lot to us. We've been trying to thank people individually throughout the Grinding though it can be tough and keeping up the writing (which we do thoroughly enjoy) has been as exhausting as the hiking itself. We apologize to those who wished us well who we may not formally thank as the support has been overwhelming. For those who didn't have a chance to donate we know that there are many other worthy causes and priorities and that's totally cool and we appreciate your support. So, over the next couple of entries we want to make sure that every sponsor gets to be thanked (in Jay-Zed style) as you all more than deserve it.We also thought we'd through in some of our favourite photos from our adventure, enjoy.

          Scotty Greenwood, you ridiculous man, we love you and as a token of that we're going to send you the running shoes from our Grouse Grinds, which I expect to see framed in your house by Christmas. As a fellow traveler, my ferocious foosball partner when Mark, Brendo and we lived on Edward St. and a fun trip leader of Jill's way back, we love you man.

The Edward St. Boys - Dunc, Scotty, Mark, Brendo!

          Sue Waywell you were the first person we heard from and you rock. Thanks for housing all the boys throughout highschool and all the drives to hockey for about ten years of my childhood and for putting up with Steve and I when we were shitdisturbers. Best to Tom and really hope to see you at Christmas.

        Pete-Pete-Pete...Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete...Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete! Do you still want Larry Fitzgerald on fantasy football? He's yours, he's a bum. Love you and Alissa like crazy and really looking forward to getting together for beers soon. Alissa, we want you and Pete to come move here... I think that apartment next to lamplighter is up for sale.
 
         Matty Corkum, you are my hero man and keep up the great work on Wind Energy, I'm being the Eye of the Wind for Hallowe'en so I don't have to move at all which'll be great because these Grinds are wearing me down. We can't all bike 200,000km in a summer! We Love you man, see you at New Years!

Guinness My Goodness!

        Gord Cruess, it's been too long. The Bourke and Cruess brothers need to reunite soon and fill that empty feeling I've had for years. Hope the Cruii are all good and NYC is treating you well. Really appreciative that you'd think of us and hope to see you soon.

       Wooguh, we'll be back up to Yellowknife for Easter again this year so don't finish off that tree we shot at together without us, it's a team effort. Best to Annie and thanks for being like another brother to me, which was key because there's no way Robin could have pushed me into snowbanks by himself. Love you bro.

       Andrew and Morgan, it's been great getting to know you guys the last few years and we're looking forward to many more, you guys are awesome, thank you both tons. Looking forward riding the backcountry this year though it can be dangerous out there so don't forget about our safety meetings!

         Freddy, another 'nother brother from another mother. We've had some great ones over the years though none in recent memory, let's change that. You're a hell of a guy and we looking forward to our next meeting, likely at a bar that rhymes with Forts (Sports, Ports) to watch hockey.

        Brad, from Sasquatch to Softball and Basketball to beers we can't get enough of you. The greatest gift you ever gave was to Duncan for making him feel somewhat human for being a fellow profuse sweater.

        Nate and Mya, so happy that you're helping us along our journey. Your two boys are amazing and the third will be too having parents like you. Also Nate, you may not sleep sometimes running the StructureCraft shop (especially with Van Dusen down there) but knowing your running things definitely helps me sleep better if that's any consolation.

        Payne, you only sponsored Jill and she's not writing this entry so you'll have to wait.

       Megan and Kevin, you newlyweds you, I know we only see eachother for few weekends but that's probably for the best, people can't have that much fun all the time. I know you guys are awesome friends to my brother so there's a lot of love between us. See you in Spring when I impersonate the Snow King yet again.

        Jamie, we did it, Jill carried me on her back all the way up. We have hard evidence because here's a picture of Jill carrying me at the top. Thanks for the support you're a good man and a genius, see you before long, we'll celebrate. I know you guys aren't in it for the corporate plug but anyone who hasn't checked Gelaskins out needs to... immediately. www.gelaskins.com

 














           Drew, another Gelaskin creative genius and a Bourke Bash legend, hope you boys are planning on coming out here a bunch over the winter, there's already snow on the peaks and we're getting pumped. We'll hand out pictures of you to the Tanzanians so they know where the good will is coming from, you'll be like Bono over there.

          More thank yous to come on our next entry! Now... approaching our second Everest!

Grind #20 - Saturday October 20th - Olympic Spirit!
Celebrity Guests: Andrew Chad and Brad Jones
Grind time: 47:13

            We were fortunate enough today to be graced with the presences of one Andrew Chad (not to be confused with my other good friend Chad Andrews) and Brad Jones (not to be confused with aged Saskatchewan Country Star Brad Johner, see right). Andrew Chad and I work together at Fast + Epp and I remember when he started at the firm almost 3 years ago now and a few of us went out to lunch. We talked about where we lived and I said I knew someone who lived up near there from Kingston and he asked who. I thought I'd humour him by playing this game though before we knew it we made about 100 connections. We shared a ton of mutual friends and we eventually discovered that my then to be girlfriend Jill was also his girlfriend Morgan's coxswain with Queen's rowing. I soon met Brad and his other friends who are great fun and it's been a blast getting to know and hang out with them out here over the last few years. This past week Brad actually asked us if we'd mind him coming along and of course we responded the more the merrier and Andrew was more than down as well. Something to do with training for the upcoming season (let's all pray to La Nina that we get a ton of snow, unlike last year).

          Remember last year? Remember the Olympics? What a couple of weeks it was. It's amazing how exhausting eating food, drinking beer and watching people play sports can be! I must say that the experience of being in Vancouver over the Olympics was incredible though for the pinnacle event you could've been anywhere on Sunday February 28th, 2010 and marveled in the wonder and celebration that was Canada's Golden Game. Brad, Andrew, Morgan, Robin, Matty, Ali, Danica, Jane, Jill and I (and others) were all together at an English pub which switched to the game right before puck drop and we nervously watched our boys in red battle it out, afraid that there would be a repeat of our loss to USA the week before. When Crosby scored that overtime goal, as ugly as it was, the pub exploded with cheering and we were dancing on tables, hugging strangers and singing O Canada as pure glee rushed through our veins. It's not about sport, not really, it's about knowing that 30 million other proud Canadians were sharing that same glorious feeling at that exact moment (half an hour later in Newfoundland).

   
          The group of us headed downtown with a couple of stops along the way including the Canadian tire to buy a hockey stick to wave our flag on. We gave thousands of high-fives to complete strangers and hugged anyone in a Canada jersey. It was the culmination of two weeks of national pride as we set records for gold medals at a Winter Olympics and put on one hell of a show (regardless of what the British tabloids said).
    
            We all trudged our way up the Grind and arrived within minutes of eachother. We were completely bagged and decided that in true Olympian style we would have a celebratory beer at the top. We talked about how we were looking forward to the upcoming skiing/snowboarding season and were hoping that the weather projections would be true as we felt like we were owed a good one after last year's balmy winter. It was a great day and we were happy to have the company and like a good Brad Johner concert (another Olympic moment we shared together - at the Saskatchewan house) we left fully satisfied.

Well Deserved Lagers

       

Grind #21- Sunday October 21st - Second Everest!!
Grind time: 50:12

   








         
          Today we reached our second Mt. Everest in terms of elevation gained. Since we began five weeks ago we've climbed 17,913m or 58,755ft! Trust us, it feels like it! Now if you'll look back at our original entry and the e-mails we sent out in hopes for your support this was the goal we were aiming for and we've gotten here! Now, we did threaten to push further and with a few days of Grinding left we're hoping to... though don't worry we won't put you out of house and home as we're certainly nearing the end of this exhausting but amazing experience. We're hoping to push a little further to raise as much as we can to make this mission possible! We know that some of you who've donated may have budgeted for 21 so we'll happily except a donation based on that estimate though we're determined to push on and if you chose to support us through then that's great! As you can see from our photo today was Everest like in more ways than one! It was freezing and with the precipitation on it's way we though we may be in for some snow. We made decent enough time considering this was our fourth in as many days and went down to get warm.

     

Sponsorship Shoutout!
    I'm not sure if you're all aware but I (Jill) am the lucky member of not 1, or 2, or 3, but 4 lovely families! And I would like to make this shoutout to them, the Wartmans, Quirts, Mackillops and Amoses :) Its wonderful to have such a supportive and extensive family spread all over the country and world! I'm sorry to have missed many fun and certainly entertaining family gatherings since moving to the West coast. It always makes coming home for Christmas so fun!
On Mom's side: thank you to the boisterous, generous Wartmans! It's been great catching Ryan, Nancy, Alanna, and Kelsey as you've passed through. The Thanksgiving Ultimate game looked like a hit, thanks for posting all the pictures. Don't worry Duncan and I have been training for the Christmas showdown Snowultimate..get ready!
On Dad's side: thank you to the ever-growing Quirt clan! I'm looking forward to finally meeting all the new additions,all boys still. We seem to have an every other generation trend here: Dad is one of 6 boys, there are only 2/12 boy cousins and no girls of the 3 great-grandchildren...uh-oh!. Tons of love to Grandma Q, the Queen of it all and amazingly sane after all those boys.
On Rachel's side: thank you and a huge and long overdue hello to the big warm family!
On Bill's side: "Tapadh leibh" to my Scottish family! The farthest away, and most climately the same, we'll make our way there for a wee dram soon. Duncan has been trying to perfect his Scottish accent...it seems to improve with a few not so wee drams. Although when we visit you Mary, he'll have to struggle through with the French, yikes!
Thank you all for your cheering us on as Duncan and I have tackled the Grind one climb at a time. We'll look forward to seeing and catching up with everyone over Christmas. Lots and lots of love!!!

 Grind #18 - Thursday October 21st - Bring on the Insta-Winter
Grind time: 50:40

           We have to admit that we've been pretty fortunate with the weather during our Grinding fundraiser though in the last week it's taken a bit of a turn for the wet. Wednesday was a gorgeous day though Duncan was away in Penticton on work so we had to push it until Thursday when insta-Winter kicked in. That's how it goes out here because it doesn't really snow in the city so it's just kind of cold and rainy - and it happens fast (just add water). You see we're of the belief out here that snow is for the mountains; though this means when it does snow in the city its highly entertaining. Two years ago when I (Duncan)was living up at Cambie and 21st with fellow Kingstonians Noah, Eli and Steve we had two weeks of snow that just wouldn't quit. Maybe it's because Vancouver only has two snowplows or maybe it's because snow tires are about as common as a corner without a Starbucks but for some reason a foot of snow is a borderline state of emergency here. One Sunday we were sitting in our living room and it seemed as though every five minutes we'd here "phhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.... PHhhhrrrrr... PHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...." as someone would rev their engine and slowly sink down into an abyss of snow outside our place. We'd get out, help push, rock it out and, if necessary, kick people out of their own car in order to get it unstuck. Eventually the snow subsided and went back up to the mountains where it belongs (unless it's an Olympic year - then it belongs nowhere apparently). So, as we've got one more week of Grinding we're dreading a few of these wetter ones, but the end is near and the mountains are starting to get a little dusting already so it's all good. When we started the Grind it was about 8 degrees and rainy I thought to myself "maybe you won't sweat profusely this time...". That thought typically lasts about three minutes, as long as I'm moving I could sweat through a glacier. We arrived at the top in just over 50 minutes knowing that this would be the first of 4 or 5 in a row as we continue to push ourselves on a daily basis. We got to the top and the mist in the air gave the illusion of snow, though given the temperature we figure it's not too far off! Bring on the snow.


Grind #19 - Friday October 22nd - Getting Squirrelly
Grind time: 48:39

           As you've probably gathered something crazy doesn't really happen every time we grind and hence why maybe what we write only has a little bit to do with what we did that day. This day is no different. We've seen some good wildlife when we've hiking - deers, chipmunks, grizzly bears (behind electric fences), and the vicious beast of the Forest - the Western Squirrel. Some Grinds it seems as though the squirrels follow us up mountain like were a couple of nuts, bounding from tree to tree and mocking us with that miniature hyena-like laugh. So, as a squirrel who had been following us ran along a log next to us I instinctively squirted him with my waterbottle (to the delight of a guy behind us). Now for most people this would seem like animal cruelty but this laugh unearths a memory from my not too distant past that I've tried so hard to suppress over the last few years. It's only now that I've been able to talk about it, and for the first time in history I'm going to write about my experience.
           It was the summer of 2007 and a beautiful day on a cut block in Northern BC. It was my last year of treeplanting and I was planting along with a lively French-Canadian named "Red" and a rambunctious dog named Taiga. Taiga decided that it would be fun to start chasing a squirrel, not knowing what horror this would inflict on future Duncan's psyche. We were thoroughly entertained as Taiga and the Squirrel ran off in the distance like a Tom and Jerry cartoon and then back towards us. Then, as they approached at breakneck speeds I had an "Oh, Crap" moment as I looked around and I was by far the tallest thing in the area and with my month old beard and earthy nature, resembled a tree. Now my memory is far from photographic but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a perfect picture in my mind of a vicious cat-sized (maybe kitten sized) squirrel face about a foot from mine staring me down with those vicious beady little eyes and it's mouth open as if it was ready to eat my face. The next I know someone screams like a girl (we don't have to say who, but it wasn't the Frenchman), the squirrel hits my chest, runs up my shoulder and jumps off my face! I'm dazed and look over at Red who's on the ground laughing and I start to lose it too.

Maybe not all that shocked that the squirrel mistook me for a tree

           It was hilarious and before I know it I get a call on my radio from another crew boss on the other side of the block: "Come in Duncan". I reply: "Yeah, um, ahem, Duncan here". "Yeah, we, uh, think we may have heard a small girl scream somewhere over near your crew though we know all the planters on your crew are guys, everything okay?" he responds. "What? Uh, yeah, weird... um, yeah, nope, nothing here. We were just, uh, ahem, talking about football and eating beef jerky... you know, man stuff." I lie. The story quickly comes out and becomes legendary though I stand by the fact that this squirrel was beastly and had ninja like qualities. For your benefit (and my pride) I've included a recreation (to scale) of the horrific attack.

          Today as I squirted water at the Squirrel on the Grind he took off along a ridge and I really felt as though I'd faced my fear and have had some closure. The weather was half-decent and it was a Friday so there were a number of people that were going up the Grind. The greatest thing about the Friday Grind is knowing that 1) You get to sleep in tomorrow and 2) There are deliciously cold beers waiting for you at home. But... 3) We're Grinding again tomorrow. Luckily we had a couple of friends who were down to join us tomorrow so we were looking forward to it.

Parking Fail in the Grouse Mountain Lot

   


          

Rackin-em up! Grinds 14, 15, 16, 17!

Sponsorship Shoutout!
 
            We would like to give a huge and loving shoutout to two wonderful, amazing women: Beatrice  Corbett and Norma Wartman! BT and Grandma W are the heads of large, boisterous families and somehow these women manage to keep us all in line. I've (Jill) loved getting to know BT, one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable women, particularly about all things important: the history of Kingston, Canada and Scotland. During the second world war, BT listened for Japanese subs on the West Coast of Vancouver Island for the Royal Canadian Navy. She's also a published journalist and prominent figure of the WRENS in Kingston the Octogenarian seems to have a busier schedule then either of us combined! She was the one to kindly inform me of Duncan’s true character as an "exemplary child" (insert sarcastic tone here). This story seems to add a little more every time she tells it and the last time I heard it I believe it went like this: The family was having a wonderful weekend at their cottage at Presqu’ile, when BT and little 5 year-old Duncan were out in the barn and noticed a wasps nest. Duncan went running out, pushing over the lovely BT, slamming the door and knocking down the nest. He then bolted it from the outside, pushed a gigantic 300lb log in front of the door (yes he was also freakishly strong at 5), locked BT's keys in her car and then slowly strolled back to go for a swim with just the littlest smirk on his face. All the while BT was in the barn with the wasps! The little rascal!!! BT of course held her own against the wasps and to this day has the story to hang over Duncan’s head, until she seeks her revenge…watch out Duncan!

               Grandma W is the kingpin of a family currently 22 in number, and this is just children and grandchildren (soon to grow with grandchildren-in-law... as my sister has just become engaged, Congrats Kate and Adam!) and somehow she manages to be at each important event, trounce people at bridge, sew almost everything she wears AND help organize our Paterson family reunion (which by the way is attended by over 300 tri-annually).  She was also always there to take us in when we were sick. I remember being bundled up in snowsuits in July and cranking the heated seats. It always worked. We would simply sweat out the sickness.  I also remember always having the most amazing Halloween costumes out of my friends thanks to the annual weekend at Grandma’s house where “we” sewed them (any chance you and your Singer could come to Vancouver this weekend?).

Both these women are role models for everyone in their big loving families, and we would like to thank them for not only being so supportive of our newest endeavour, but also for each and every thing they’ve done, do and are. We love you both!

Grind #14 - Friday October 15th
Grind Time - 47:13

            About half way through this fundraising mission we decided we could go a little further than we originally anticipated and would attempt to complete 25 Grinds by October 30th. On Thursday, We sat down and mapped out a schedule of how we could accomplish this and determined that we needed to do four grinds in the next five days. Jill picked me up from work and we headed over to the Grind for #14 to reach our second Kilimanjaro. We were running a little late but figured we'd be alright as we still had about 75 minutes of daylight and the drive hadn't been too bad lately. We drove downtown and headed towards Stanley Park to find ourselves in a complete deadlock and proceed to not proceed anywhere for a good fifteen minutes. We tuned into the radio traffic report to see if the Lions Gate bridge had dropped out or perhaps a meteor had landed in the middle of the Stanley Park Expressway. Turns out it was even crazier than both those situations combined - a stalled car, in the opposite direction, and everyone was slowing down to look. Now this, I totally get. This is what I usually do when I see a stalled car: "Whooooooooooaaaaaa, what is that up there Jill? It isn't? No, it can't be... That car isn't moving at all! It's totally stalled! Wait, hold on a minute... I just need to grab my camera and I'll take a picture... put it on aperture of F2.0, flash or no flash? Okay, no flash. Slow down Jill my camera's not ready yet. Should I take a video? Look... behind us! There's a thousand other cars that aren't moving too! Incredible!" Jill and I are very fortunate in that we rarely have to drive to work or much of anywhere for that matter. Having said that it doesn't take long for Vancouver drivers to get to you. Growing up in Kingston where a traffic jam often means three cars at the Princess and Ontario St intersection because the Wolfe Island Ferry's come in. I'm sure some of you may have read about the two-week long traffic jam in China a couple of months ago. Two weeks. How does that happen? One stalled car, that's how. Unfortunately we reached a tipping point in the traffic jam and realized we weren't even going to make the base of Grouse by nightfall and had to turn around. This upended our whole schedule that we'd put forth for ourselves in order to reach our goal and our goal had just become a heck of a lot more painful - 4 Grinds in 4 days.

 
            Friday we left work early to make sure that we would make it in time to show that Grind who's boss and arrived with plenty of time to spare. We pushed ourselves decently hard considering this was to be the first of four consecutive Grind days and reached the top as the Sun was setting just in time for some great pictures.

      

Grind #15 - Saturday October 16th - Slow as Molasses
Celebrity Guest Appearance - Will Crosby
            
           When we woke up on this glorious Saturday morning we thought wouldn’t it be a good idea to invite a friend along for our hike. We have to admit that there was an ulterior motive. If we could find a friend who wasn’t doing the Grind every day (and thus didn’t have the Posterior Grousus Maximus Assus Painus muscle – See Grind #3) or had stayed out late the night before then we would have a bit of an excuse to maybe not go as fast, considering we were only at #2 of our 4 in a row line up. Will Crosby kindly volunteered for the job!  Though we joke, Will is by no means slow but thankfully he was not planning on Grinding that day, so we had the element of surprise. We reached the top in good time and headed down the mountain to meet up with our friend Brendan Myles for a beer as he was passing through town for the day. Brendan and Karen are good friends from Kingston and Dalhousie and being the philanthropic type they are supporting our efforts as are many of you. It was great hanging out with my old roommate and catching up on how time has flown since we graduated a few years ago and how we've become contributing members of society (at least Brendan anyways). They're also responsible for the first wedding among our friends a couple of years ago which was an incredible time; poofy wedding dresses, plaid yamulkes, scotch and all. We packed it in and psyched ourselves up for another big day tomorrow - although there was an added challenge to both of our days...

Jill tries not to breathe in

Grind #16 - Sunday October 17th - The Day of No Rest
Grind Time -  51:02

Today was shaping up to be a great day. After completing our third grind in as many days we headed down the mountain to indulge in some 'leisure' activities, which seem to be few and far between these days! Andrew, one of Duncan’s co-workers, seems to truly enjoy donating to anything that will cause Duncan pain. Most recently, Andrew generously gave Duncan his old golf clubs, and promptly invited him to what would certainly be a very painful (emotionally and physically) semi-annual golf game for the year. I (Jill), although enthusiastic, had not been invited. Perhaps due to my very very sliced shots the day before, when at the driving range. Duncan assured me that it’s alright he’s a slicer too and it’s better to be a slicer than a, um… someone who hooks it. In my defense, it was my second time ever and I was using Duncan’s clubs… okay, I can’t golf (yet). Apparently enthusiasm doesn’t get you very far in this ‘sport’. So I decided to begin the other annual sport, Christmas Shopping. Duncan complained about how he had to walk another 10km mid-Grindathon in hilly North Van while I got to go “shopping”.

Now many of you would argue that Christmas Shopping is by no means a sport. I beg to differ. In fact I think it could be placed on par with golf (excuse the pun). Let us consider the qualities of each in terms of sport classification requirements. First, cardiovascular exercise. In the game of golf, I believe there are two levels of exercise: those that walk the course and end up getting a good amount of moderate cardio, and then those that drive the course and unless you count the pushing with the toe on the gas pedal, get none. While I do admit that Duncan did walk the course, let’s be honest how many of you do…who wouldn’t love to zoom around on those miniature cars, it’s like bumper cars with no boundaries. Here Christmas Shopping is a clear win. The only ones not walking are the old grannies in those huge, all terrain motorized vehicles that they zoom around on downtown and to the grand canyon and such. And I am sure they get enough blood pumping thanks to the thrill of the chase trying to mow down pedestrians and cars. Next we have skill. I have to admit Golf does require quite incredible finesse. Hitting that little white ball straight is not easy! I think this is why the fairways are always curved. Christmas Shopping certainly requires finesse, balancing a full black coffee, wearing a white jacket, carrying shopping bags and a purse, walking down a packed street of pushy women and children…now THAT is skill! Further impressive are those women that do it with all their kids in tow. To be honest, I’ve never mastered the skill involved with shopping. Perhaps I’m not a finesse sport athlete, I’ll stick to running. Okay, we’ll call skill a tie. Now for the most important aspect of sport: competition. Here Golf has NO chance. Picture this: A lovely game of golf on a pristine golf course with a silent crowd watching a single player take their time lining up their shot, practicing and then executing their play, followed by gentle applause. Plus, we all know Duncan was no competition with the guys who golf all year (his words, not mine). Now, picture Christmas Eve or Boxing Day shopping. I’m sorry, until all golfers are swinging their clubs at the same ball for the same hole, you just will never reach the level of competition that shopping has. Let’s tally the score: cardio = shopping, skill = tie, competition = shopping. So if we’re calling Golf a sport, then I hereby declare that Christmas Shopping be officially named a sport!

           Needless to say, Duncan had a successful game of golf  as he managed to get over a hundred points! Apparently that’s pretty rare. I came home Christmas giftless, and we were both exhausted and not looking forward to Monday’s Grind. So we carb-loaded with my first Lasagna (which we’ll have leftovers of until Tanzania) and crashed.

Grind #17 - Monday October 18th - A Somewhat Silent Assent
Grind Time - 49:40

           We pulled into the parking lot of the grind to find it surprisingly empty. This time of year it seems that people are fairweather grinders. So on grey cold days they stay snuggled up by their fires at home… not us though! We promised to grind it out till the bitter end considering how amazing everyone has been with this endeavour! We ran into a friend was doing the grind that evening, Andrew Elgar, who was among the few people who toughed out the weather.

Today on the Grind, we saw a total of 5 other people. It was empty! Especially when you compare it to the zoo it was all weekend! We saw three nice women, Andrew, and then an eccentric older gentleman. This fundraiser has been wonderful not only because of the amazing support we’ve received but also because it’s given us more insight into Vancouverites. This guy certainly was one of them! As we approached him he bellowed out that we had to be masochistic to be Grinding sleeveless in October (he was sleeveless himself of course, though he hadn’t seen shirtless Duncan yet). Then as we huffed past him, he kindly informed us it was not polite to pass your elders without permission: “You must be from Toronto!” We chuckled as he then explained that should we hear a loud burp it was just him being eaten by a bear, and not to worry about it. A few paces later we heard a very loud burp…it was just the beer he’d had at lunch, so he explained. He proceeded to continue a conversation with us as we climbed ahead. In the end, it was more of shouting conversation up the mountain. But we learned that you can never stop on the Grind or risk getting eaten by bears or worse cougars (not true, don’t worry mom), that long sleeves are necessary in the month of October, that beer is a lunch time drink, and that people from Toronto don’t know how courteously to do the Grouse Grind. He certainly entertained us while we hiked!

With our four in a row line up complete, we were ready for a day off (consisting of 2 hours of basketball for Duncan). 

Grinds 12 and 13 - Grinding off the Gobbler!

Grind #12 – Friday October 8th - Grinding up an Appetite

Grind time – 45:40

                Another record breaking day! We really thought that this would be getting easier by this point though we assure you it’s not! When this began we pictured ourselves at the midway point of our fundraiser literally skipping up the mountain and getting in reps of 100 continuous push-ups at the 1/4 points. Needless to say we feel great physically though we feel that since we’re raising close to $300 for every grind that we ascend we’re committed to pushing ourselves to the limit to show how dedicated we are to feeling that pain we promised you. We really want to climb in under 45 minutes and it’s starting to look more attainable every time! Since it was a little cooler we were able to take on a new strategy to climb without the need for Duncan to bring several litres of water and a full change of clothes for the top. Miraculously, we were able to take shorter breaks to drink which cut about a minute off of our time. We’re thinking of wearing the LZR swimming suits that made such a huge splash in Beijing to cut down on wind resistance or perhaps shaving our head and limbs. This always reminds me of my brother Robin who competed at the University level in track and assured me that shaving his legs seriously cut down his time, regardless of the fact that he had a giant Afro! Upon arrival at the top, Jill and I decided to do one serious photo and one ridiculous photo though apparently we weren't on the same page...

Sponsorship Shoutout!

             Our Shoutout today goes to the great people who fed us over Turkey weekend, where any air that had been left out of the spare tire around my (Jill's) mid-section was promptly reinflated (just kidding, Duncan here). Our first dinner was at the Nanaimo Corbetts with Vaughan, Linda, Emma, Cleo and Casey where we had a fantastic feast and managed to finish our overflowing plates over laughs and stories. The only down side was when my family was lining up to take advantage of my poor cribbage streak, though I fully blame it on that sleepy Turkey ingredient Tryptophan. We awoke to a gorgeous Sunday morning and headed down to Shawnigan Lake to visit our friends Bryn and Ryah who had managed to find a great place on the Lake to stay for the winter. Though they had their thanksgiving dinner the day before they still had plenty of Turkey left as the bird they'd got was of epic proportions. I'm serious here folks, this drumstick was literally the size of my head. It was like a giant novelty trick drumstick that you buy at a joke store. I even had to ask Bryn: "Hey Bryn, is this giant novelty drumstick that you buy at a joke store?" Apparently it wasn't. We had another feast, another couple of beers and eventually passed out as the second wave of Tryphtophan kicked in. We took the ferry back to the mainland the next day and made it back just in time to arrive at Duncan's Mom's cousins Bill and Nancy and their wonderful family for our final night of Turkey feasting. They've always been extremely hospitable since we've moved out here and there's never a dull moment in conversation when we're altogether. Everyone who hosted us showed genuine interest in what we were doing and they all offered both emotional and charitable support. Thank you Vaughan, Linda, Cleo, Emma, Casey, Bryn, Ryah, Bill, Nancy, Tim, Steph, Jenny, Ross, Ryan the Pirate and little Julia for making us feel at home this Thanksgiving!

Grind #13 – Wednesday October 13th - Grinding out the Gobbler

Grind time – 44:14

   

            We were full of Turkey and hadn't grinded in 5 days so to be honest it was a bit of a crapshoot how today was going to go. We started strong and as we watched our splits we knew we were on pace for that elusive sub-45 minute grind. We reached the top and checked the timer on my phone to see that we'd just made it! It was a beautiful night and we had a great view to celebrate our achievement. We have cut over 13 minutes off of the first time we posted a dozen grinds ago and we're going to keep on pushing ourselves! Mehrdad was grinding that day too, who you may remember decided to cleverly sponsor us based on our time (at least it seemed clever at the time). Don't worry Mehrdad, you don't have to get used to this as that was as painful a grind we've done and we won't be doing that every time! After ingesting about 15 pounds of Tryptophan and posting a sub-45 minute Grind it was time for a nap...

So many people to thank! Starting with Jill's convenient head elevation...

DJ GRIND OUT!

Grinds #10 and #11 - Everest Unleashed!

Grind #10 – Monday Oct. 4th - Sounds like someone’s got a case of the Mondays!

              As you can probably imagine we’ve quickly come to realize that until they install an escalator our Grindings don’t vary a heck of a lot from day to day. We typically arrive at the Grind between 5 and 6 and get our stuff together in hopes that we can arrive at the top before dark. This time of the day at this time of the year there are few people on the Grind especially on dreary Monday’s like today. We were basically the only ones heading up and we could see why as Grouse was almost completely hidden by the time we got to the base of the Mountain. It was a little cooler and we were determined to make another record time though about half way up we were stopped dead in our tracks. Often I’m so focused on not losing Jill and making good time I can lose sight of what’s important (like breathing). We reached a lookout point and turned around to see the sun struggling to shine through the misty haze and trees, creating an incredible photo opportunity. Our camera’s primary function as of late had been simple; take a quick self-photo at the top to avoid any fake moon-landing like accusations about whether we were grinding or not and be on our way! Today we stopped for about a minute a few times as it was one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen. Here are a few we'd like to share:

            

Grind  #11 – Our First Everest!

Grind time - 46:53

BOOM! One Everest done! It’s funny how as a kid Mt. Everest always seemed like a ridiculous, unachievable goal that only hardcore mountaineers, celebrities, and pretty much any Nepalese person could summit. Yet here we are, on top the world, having arrived without the aid of Sherpas, oxygen, cold-weather gear or even taken any regard to the need for acclimatization. But seriously, we did the math repeatedly to ensure that 11 Grinds is actually the equivalent ascension from sea level to the top of the world. Now that we’ve done it though we’re really not that surprised as the last few weeks has been hot, freezing, fun, painful, stressful, relaxing, tough, easy, energizing, exhausting… all in all a roller coaster of emotions. Above all else though it’s been an experience that has dominated our lives and we’ve enjoyed immensely.

                We’ve been asked a number of times as to what sparked our decision to do this and it started with my folks asking if we had any interest in going to Africa in January for a medical mission. This quickly snowballed into something that just had to be done and now we just had to figure out how it would work. Jill would likely be fine with taking a couple weeks away from her Masters and Duncan’s work would hopefully contribute a bit of time and the rest would be made up with overtime and vacation. Recently they agreed to generously donate a week of my work time and I would make up the remaining week or two myself, finally making the mission a reality. I guess that’s more about the how than the why. The reason why stems from the fact that working in a city like Vancouver for a few years where even a professional can find it hard to make it financially, you can become pretty focused on yourself. My last volunteer experience had been about 8 years ago at St. Mary’s of the Lake and now that I was established here I realized there was a void. We felt as though our greatest assets were our knowledge, experience and time and our knack to spontaneously dive into a huge commitment such as a bi-daily ascension of the Grouse Grind. Anyways, Jill and I are proud of what we`re doing although we realize it`s a drop in the bucket and that you guys are the real heroes as you`re making this possible. Thank you all!!
                We were originally slated to complete our first Everest on the Wednesday though Duncan got a late invite to a thank you event for contributors on a project he worked on in Victoria. If you ever get a chance to go and check it out it's called "The Atrium Building" located at Yates and Blanchard and you can access the main Atrium from street level. Duncan worked with the Design-Build firm StructureCraft to help design and detail the 60 foot span skylight trusses which are made from pine-beetle-kill 2x dimensional lumber and steel. Here are a few shots of Yates including the inaugural truss being lifted into place about a year ago and some shots from Wednesday night of the final product:

Inaugural Truss being Lifted into Place

Full Shot of the Atrium

               

              Now for our Grind! We arrived at about 6 o’clock and knew it would be another race against time to make it to the top before dark. When we arrived we were surprised by what we saw: over 50 people standing around in the parking lot looking like they were just about ready to head up the Grind. We weren’t really interested in being in the middle of such a huge group so we jumped out of the car and just as they were beginning we grabbed our stuff and scrambled up around them to get ahead. We made it in front of them though then we realized they looked pretty hard core and thought about how demoralizing it would be of being passed by 50 people. They were on our heels for the first few hundred meters and then thankfully diverted off the main path to take an alternate route. We passed a volunteer for the North Shore Search and Rescue Team who was doing the daily sweep of the Grind and politely gave us a little spiel about hours and daylight. We name-dropped my cousin Don who was a senior North Shore Search and Rescue member and assured him we were all good. In the end, it was a burst of a start, then a steady push up the mountain to shave seconds off our record.

Grinds #8 and #9 - Sustainable Motivation

Sponsorship Shoutout!

We'd like to make a big shoutout to the biggest littlest donors on our list: Zoe, Sacha, Eli and Ana...and of course their wonderful parents Mike and Beth!! A wonderful family of 6, they have been very close to the Quirt-Mackillops for a very long time. I (Jill) remember meeting Mike for the first time. He was the strange literally green sick man lying on my couch, which at the time I could barely see over (and no it wasn't last year). Since then Mike and Beth became a twosome..and now have four of the most wonderful and gorgeous kids! Look out parents, these will be heartbreakers! Over the past few years we've had some wonderful giggles, dance parties together and turning the carpet into butter (aka..running around Jill in circles while holding her arms and spinning her). All of which I've missed very much since moving across the country. Duncan finally met the whole gang while home over Christmas last year. He still quote's Sacha every dinner time "But Jill, I want some CHHORIIIIZZZOOOO", and chuckling about the tears literally over spilled milk. Zoe, Sacha, Eli and Ana are simply the cutest and coolest kids! So we'd like to thank this wonderful amazing family for covering our fridge with art (for all those visitors who thought it was Duncan's..well his was almost good enough) and their generous donation to our cause! Thank you and we miss you but we'll see you at Christmas!! xo

Grind #8 - Friday October 1st - Top ten reasons to keep motivated!
Grind Time: 47:12 (New Record)

Grouse above downtown Vancouver

          Today was another record day and a great way to start off our weekend. Duncan had to work a little late so by the time we would arrive it would be 6:20, leaving us only half an hour before dark! But, we knew we had to stay the course and could do it blindfolded at this point anyways (and yes we bring headlamps, Mom) so in the spirit of the release of critically acclaimed and Oscar shoe-in FUBAR 2, we decided to just Give'r. We've had a blast so far with our Grinding experience though some have wondered how we can keep motivated so we tried to come up with as many reasons as possible to keep us going. So, without further adieu here are the top ten ways that we stay motivated through our Grinding:



#10 - Guy in front of us bathed in Axe Cologne (contrary to common belief, this is not a shower replacement guys)

#9 - People playing their screechy techno music aloud from their phones while heading up the Grind (We wish they'd invent something that allows someone to listen to their music without us having to hear it... maybe a little cord that runs from your phone to your ears? Someone get on that invention...)

#8 - Mehrdad and Gerry's money (They're getting nervous, we can tell)

#7 - Can't See Jill anymore (Seriously, where the hell did she go?)

#6 - It's Getting Dark (Gotta make it before we lose the sun!)

#5 - It's Dark (Lost the Sun, headlamps on)

#4 - Wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if someone in jeans drinking a latte passed us, again.

#3 - Can't check Fantasy Football til the top (how else would Duncan know how badly he's losing?)

#2 - Less time on the Grind (The quicker we're up, the sooner we're not in pain)

#1 - Your support for our chance to volunteer in Tanzania (had to end cheesy right? We're doing this thanks to you!)

         We did make it to the top before it became too dark though the sun was nowhere to be found as we were in the clouds. Another motivating factor should be: being able to finally stop sweating and put on a t-shirt. Though today it was so hot Duncan began the Grind shirtless and didn't realize until the top that he hadn't forgotten it in the car. Jill wasn't crazy about him buying a shirt at the gift-shop that read "I'm single and I like to Grind" so we decided to just head to the Tram. "Um, sir.", the Tram driver said in his Aussie accent (Fun fact: Australians are the only qualified nationality to drive Trams on Grouse) "have you got a shirt?". "No, sorry, I seemed to have forgotten it in the car". "Oh", he replies, "we kind of need it for the comfort of the other passengers". "Yeah, I know, I just forgot it...so...". He reluctantly let us on and although the tram was full, some sort of invisible buffer space immediately appeared around us! It was if Duncan's sweat created some sort of incredible Jedi-like force field. Maybe this stuff is worth selling after all...

Grind #9 - Mzungu Days
Grind Time: 54:24

            Before heading off on our Grind today we decided we'd get a little more insight into what we should expect in Tanzania. As we mentioned earlier, Greg John, an engineer, volunteered for CACHA in Tanzania a couple of years ago and made a documentary about his experience. Previous to this particular mission he had spent 2 years in Tanzania working to build a hospital with CACHA. This time around Greg decided to use Imani Vocational Training Centre as the subject of his documentary. This, along with a conversation with him after (and more in the future I'm sure), will prove to be a valuable asset to ensuring that we are as prepared as possible before diving head first into the project.
          The documentary turned out to be incredibly interesting and focused on self-sustainability; a concept that seems to often elude foreign aid organizations and missions. The idea that a people  in need  must be given the proper tools and resources to provide for themselves is not a new one, though it takes ingenuity, innovation and patience. Imani teaches skills and knowledge that allow students to become self-sustainable in their communities and offers hope for a decent life. The $400 per year tuition is unaffordable for most of the students so they generate income through products from the programs that they offer there: carpentry, welding, catering, electrical, brickmaking, pig-farming, knitting, tailoring, etc. This allows the students to not only learn a trade but also subsidize some of the cost of their training which would otherwise be unattainable. The school also has an extensive garden which is outfitted with a fairly simple drip irrigation system that deposits water directly at the base of the plants to ensure it's used efficiently. Two fish-ponds were also built to provide a self-replenishing source of meat for the students.
          Probably the coolest thing about it all is that all processes at Imani complement each other and almost nothing is wasted. A perfect example that Greg gave was a piece of timber. The wood is milled in their carpentry shop where the chips go as fuel for cooking and to heat the brick kiln.The ash is then used as a strengthening agent in the bricks and also as fertilizer. Fish bones and food scraps from the kitchen get feed to the pigs, who in turn make their own special brand of fertilizer, which can also be used to help spread the growth of algae in the fish pond. The symbiotic relationship of these ecosystems epitomizes why Imani is an incredible example of how self-sustainability can thrive and be successful in any environment. A third of Imani's students are also either physically or mentally disabled and are able to attend for free. They're taught skills that cater to their disabilities such as knitting for someone without the use of their legs.

          Another part of the documentary featured the building of a carpentry shop which shed some light on construction processes and obstacles for projects like the Prevention Through Empowerment women's centre we'll be building in Tanzania. The carpentry shop is constructed with bricks fabricated at Imani, furnished by their carpentry program, outfitted with iron security gates by Imani welders and (shockingly) the electrical system installed by the electrical students! Duncan spoke with Greg after and he was happy to offer any information to us that could help give more Tanzanians the resources to empower themselves and become self-sustainable. We found Greg's work enlightening and we would definitely recommend this documentary to anyone who found Imani's story as interesting as we did.
       

Sunday night's sunset

        Today's Grind was fairly painful after a long week but we reached the top at the perfect time for another amazing sunset that silhouetted Vancouver Islands mountainous landscape. We headed down the tram, Duncan with his shirt on this time; it was a good end to a successful week.

DJ GRIND OUT!

Grinds 6 and 7 - Mountains beyond Mountains

Sponsorship Shoutout!

             
              This entry’s sponsorship shoutout goes to Duncan’s coworkers who have been very supportive and strongly believe in the cause (if not necessarily in Duncan’s borderline medical overheating condition). We had overwhelming support from his work. I think it's because they got to witness his suffering up front, sometimes they'd even bring Popcorn. They seem to set the athletic bar high for the office and is probably why we decided to ascend over 17km to raise money rather than the typical horizontal 5km run (thanks a lot, guys). Christian recently competed in the GranFondo bike race from Vancouver to Whistler and completed it in an insane 3 hours and 48 minutes. Andrew Wight is a successful Half-Ironman triathlete and Alcatraz Escapee who posted a ridiculous 38 minute time on the grind and will likely be the death of me. Ian Boyle is the orchestrator of the weekly Wednesday Grind for the Fast + Epp office and last year decided that the climb wasn’t challenging enough so he impressively loaded his bag up with Bocci balls (nice, Ian, real nice). Andrew Chad biked to conquer cancer this past summer with his father (two bikes) and impressively raised over $8500. Mehrdad is a weekly Grinder as well and as mentioned encourages our conditioning by pro-rating his contribution based on our time that day. Also a huge thanks to Gerry, Jerome, Lawrence, Duane and Natalie who've generously donated to the cause and to all of those that have offered words of support and encouragement!

Grind #6 - Our First Back-to-Back

Our sixth Grind was the first one where we completed back-to-back climbs and it definitely felt like it. It reminds one of those bouncy clown punching bags that would bounce back up after you hit them; except for instead of getting to play with that thing you go and climb up a frickin mountain two days in a row. We had just sent out our final group e-mail thanking everyone for their support and since we’d had such great feedback and more donations we were determined to earn our (your?) money! Approaching the mountain from the Lions Gate bridge Grouse was hiding itself amidst the thick clouds as it had taken to doing as of late. This makes for a darker ascent, but a refreshing one, as the crisp mist helps cool us off. We posted a time of 50:13, just out of the sub-50 zone, but were happy that we’d pushed ourselves through the pain and were glad that we were finally posting consistently decent times.
Our semi-milestone was that in the last 9 days we had ascended over 5km and broke the half-Everest point of our goal! For those of you who are nervously wondering if we’ll run away with it and Grind every single day; do not fret, this will not be a common occurrence .We’ve come a long way since the beginning of our first grind which coincidentally was turned into a short animated film by FOX studios. We're still insulted that they portrayed Duncan as bald, added 200lbs (okay 100 lbs) and threw in some kids for a good storyline.

 

Grind #7 - Mountains Beyond Mountains

Stuck in our head band - The Arcade Fire

 Grind 7 was one that we both feared and were excited about for many reasons. We knew that after this Grind we would be at the 1/3 point of our initial goal and have successfully ascended 5921m achieving our first Kilimanjaro!! Rarely do we bust out the double exclamation mark but this called for it. The reason why we feared this Grind was because two months ago a band known as The Arcade Fire announced that they were going to play a Vancouver show on Tuesday, September 28^th and we knew we had to go. Arguably one of the best bands in the world right now, The Arcade Fire had just released they’re 3^rd album and were touring across the country blowing fans away with their rock symphony. There’s one song on this album that we’d decided was the best song released this year and was adopted as the theme song of our cause: Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains). The first time I (Duncan) had listened to it an almost painfully large smile had just formed upon my face seemingly without reason and I knew this song was going to be huge. It’s a later track on the album so it still hasn’t been totally discovered as the gem it is but anyone I’ve talked to has agreed that this is their favourite. For those of you who haven’t heard, or heard of, The Arcade Fire I recommend buying any of their albums as they appeal to all ages and genre-lovers.

Click here to Listen to Sprawl 2: Mountains Beyond Mountains (you'll be glad you did)

Needless to say they put on an unbelievable show and the most amazing part was that they all seemed to be able to play about five instruments which is how they’re able to create such creative and incredible sounds. It was like they were playing ‘musical chairs’ with their instruments! It was like they were playing ‘musical instruments’. They would switch almost every song including guitar, drums, bass, piano, violin, viola, cello, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy. For those simple music folk out there who don't know what a hurdy-gurdy is; you should probably look it up because we have no idea. Their final song was wake-up, also the theme song for the movie “Where the Wild Things Are”, when  10,000 fans were singing in chorus creating that incredible feeling that seems to send a warm electric current through one’s veins. As a bonus the band donates $1 from every ticket sold on their tour to Haiti relief, which with our Fund Raiser made us feel in tune with them. Still feeling their music, we ventured out for a couple of late Guinness to marvel in what we’d just experienced.

You've probably figured out that these Guinness were the source of our apprehension about today’s Grind and although we’ve been hydrating 24-7 we knew that we wouldn’t be 100%. However, we knew we had to reach our first Kilimanjaro mark with a bang so we gave’er while the Arcade Fires “Mountains Beyond Mountains” gloriously replayed in our heads. We posted a record 47:27 and were rewarded as the sun set over Vancouver Island on the first clear night we’d had in a long time.

DJ GRIND OUT