Anyone keeping an eye on Nick Brindisi’s Facebook page over the past few months is bound to feel a little lacking in the fitness department – status update after status update, after all, detail things like back-to-back 23-kilometre runs and 40-kilometre runs followed up by 8-kilometre kayak trips out on Georgian Bay.
Always one to push himself physically, Brindisi has been on an absolute tear this year, training for what he figures will be his ultimate running achievement. On Saturday, September 29, he plans to run 100 kilometres in an attempt to raise as much money as he can for the General and Marine Hospital Foundation, a cause dear to his heart.
It’s not the first time he’s done something along these lines. Some Echo readers might remember that Brindisi, who lives in Collingwood and works in Creemore at the design firm Inzane Planet, completed a 75-kilometre run last fall with donations benefiting the hospital. This December, Brindisi will turn 50, so what better excuse than to run two kilometres for every year of his life?
“It felt pretty good, despite the wind and the rain,” said Brindisi of last year’s run, which he did alongside his friend and professional triathlete, Nottawa’s Claudia Johnston. This year, Johnston is injured, so Brindisi will be joined by members of the Georgian Triangle Running Club, which he and a fellow runner from Collingwood recently created. The runners will do the distance as a relay, passing off to someone else every 10 kilometres. Brindisi, on the other hand, will run from start to finish.
“We’re actually going to pass the hospital at about the 97th kilometre,” he said. “My tongue should be dragging by that point.”
A Collingwood native, Brindisi has a soft spot for the hospital. It’s where his mother worked as a nurse and where his father received dialysis and treatments for complications of his diabetes for a number of years. It’s also where Brindisi himself spent 15 days in 2001, recovering from a ruptured appendix and massive abdominal infection.
“Without that hospital I would not be around today,” he said.
Brindisi hopes to raise $10,000 with his run, which will go towards the G&M Hospital Foundation’s current fundraising drive. “People don’t realize it,” he said, “but every piece of capital equipment in that hospital has to be bought with funds raised from the community. So if I can help out just a little bit, I’m happy to.”
Those wishing to donate to Brindisi’s effort can do so by clicking here. They can also find out more about the run on Facebook by searching for “100 km run for the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.” Brindisi can also be reached by calling 705-520-0110.