A local couple is heading to the jungle to race against cancer.
North Vancouver resident Shannon Penway and boyfriend Joel Payeur will be flying down to Costa Rica on Jan. 30 for the Coastal Challenge, a five-day, approximately 130-kilometre race through challenging terrain. Their goal is to raise money for cancer research.
The couple was inspired by tragic circumstances. Payeur's mother was diagnosed with colon cancer a few years ago.
"It's tough," Payeur says. "I didn't know how to deal with it. I was mad at the world."
His mom is now in remission, and the couple wants to raise money to help find a cure, Penway says.
They first got the idea when they heard about the race through their friends. "Neither of us have been to Costa Rica or tried to run for five days in a row," Penway says. "We thought we'd give it a shot."
They've been training all summer to be in peak form by the time they arrive in Costa Rica, she says.
Although they're both used to racing - they've participated in several half-marathons, and Penway is a member of the national team for mountain running - this is unlike anything they've ever done, Penway says.
"We want to push our bodies to see how far we can go," she says.
The couple first met after a local race, when Penway had chased Payeur to the finish line for the last kilometre. They finished first and second.
"My first thought was I couldn't let a girl win," says Payeur.
His second thought was that at least he'd still be the first male if she did beat him, he says.
They high-fived at the end of the race, and they've been running together ever since.
"Before we met, I didn't have the confidence to run for longer distances," Payeur says. "But when we started running together, it was easier to go for longer and longer."
Training for the race has been intense, says Penway. "We're in the gym at five in the morning almost every day and running every weekend," she says.
The couple doesn't know how many hours they'll be on the trails each day, but they expect it to be gruelling. "It's going to be up and down," says Penway.
Payeur finds the idea of the race nerve-racking. "It's the unknown," he says. "You don't want to let people down, but it might happen that you have a bad day sometimes."
He's just trying to visualize crossing the finish line.
"The race will be tough because it's not just a physical challenge in the heat, it's mental too," he says. "It's your mind that's telling your body what to do."
Support staff will transport their overnight gear to the next camp while they're splashing
through rivers and running up and down mountain trails.
"There's nothing like being out there," Penway says. "Each time you get out, you become a bigger person."
Everything that the couple raises is going to the B.C. Cancer Foundation. More than $1,600 has been raised so far.
More information can be found at donate. bccancerfoundation.com/goto/Running4aCause.
