By JAYSON DIMAANO
Imagine running the hills of the Beach, up and down every road between Queen Street East and Kingston Road twice, for a total of 111 kilometres. Then imagine saying you are going to do it all in under 12 hours.
That is exactly what Ethan Peters is planning for Sunday, Feb. 28.
Peters let Beach Metro News know about his plans for the run to raise funds for Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation (CAMH), earlier this month.
He’s calling the event Hills for Health.
“In the beginning it was just family and friends I reached out to. I was worried it was going to stay with family and friends. When (Beach Metro News) reached out to me, I said maybe this is expanding more than just family and friends. I want to impact more people,” said Peters. “I want to do something crazy that is going to knock some socks off and hopefully people can see the issue I’m tackling and people can donate (to the issue, which is on mental health).”
Peters lives on Hambly Avenue. He attended Williamson Road Elementary School, Glen Ames Senior Public School and Malvern Collegiate. He is a recent graduate of Queen’s University in Computer Science in Mathematics.
When he is not working at home, he is out running, either by himself or with his dog.
Peters said the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even harder for people with mental health issues, especially those who live alone, and that is why he wants to raise funds for and awareness of CAMH.
“It’s facilities like Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health where people can find the help they need. They provide a diverse network of clinical care support programs with the goal of effective personalized treatment. This run is a way to raise funds in support of CAMH and their cause to help overcome mental health problems,” he explained.
Peters chose to run the hills of his neighbourhood because he wanted to do something different; something that will catch people’s attention.
“I run all the hills, but I thought that was not enough, so I went back down. I start at Queen Street and Kingston Road all the way to the end of Queen Street and I run all the way back. With a loop and some extra stuff, the route comes to about 111 kilometres,” he said.
With some of the hills extremely steep, Peters will be dealing with a total elevation gain of 1,381 metres during the run.
He has marathon experience under his belt, as he ran two ultra marathons which are more than100 kilometres long, a 100 mile (160 kilometre race), and another 125 kilometre trail race.
Readers may be wondering with of the local streets he considers hardest hill to run on, and he has three in mind.
“It really depends on the day, but Willow is one of my favourite and most challenging hills to run on. I like it for its length and slope. The second one is either Pine Crescent and Glen Manor, which are longer than Willow.”
Peters is set to run on Sunday, Feb. 28.
To make donations to his campaign, please go to www.gofundme.com/f/hills-for-health
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