Colin O'Brady

This Is My Art

By 29029 Everesting

August 20^th, 2019

Extraordinary community

I haven't met a single person who has participated in 29029 that hasn't absolutely loved it.

It is a meaningful, transformative event, and it has such an incredible impact on people. Even participants that were disappointed by not being able to finish their first time around are motivated to come back to reach 29029. The event itself is amazing in its simplicity, but really, it's the community that surrounds the entire event that makes it extraordinary. There's nothing like the bonding that is formed from a shared experience like 29029. I love being a part of a community that fosters that.

The ethos of the event is 'you versus you.'

To be able to participate in an event with other people and not feel like you have to look over your shoulder and have your game face on is amazing. There's a resonance of positive energy that uplifts everyone and helps push you to achieve your goal, as well as support and encourage others to reach their goals.

I am an artist

For many years I thought of myself as an athlete. Recently I've started to reframe that in my mind, and now I think of myself as an artist. My canvas just happens to be endurance sports. I believe we all have masterpieces inside of us and canvases that we want to paint on, be it in business, love, the fine arts, whatever that may be.

There are two types of comments and feedback that I receive from people. Firstly, things like 'you were the first person across Antarctica solo, unsupported and unassisted, you're such a badass.' Sure, that's nice. But when I get messages like, 'I watched your Antarctica project, and now I've put my running shoes on for the first time in five years. Or 'I've been talking about this business I want to start, but it's always been a pipe dream. Now I have a business plan, and I'm actually going to go after it.' That is much more meaningful to me.

I feel privileged to inspire people to take action and accountability in their own lives by witnessing me completing a project that was considered impossible. Personally, I have been inspired by many people in my own life, including people that reach out to me. It's a beautiful wheel of inspiration and positivity. When I see the incredible things that other people are doing, I become invested in their stories, and they inspire me. So, it's this reciprocal, symbiotic relationship that I really love.

This too, shall pass

Being alone for 54 days in the harshest and coldest environment on earth was both a physical and a mental challenge. The physical training and preparation were crucial to my success. My wife, Jenna and I titled my quest to cross Antarctica, 'The Impossible First.' It was a solo, unaided and unsupported expedition; meaning no resupplies of food and fuel or use of propulsion aids. On previous attempts, people had run out of food, run low on supplies, gotten sick, and unfortunately, one person actually died as a result. The crossing had never been completed before, and when I made it, it was a world first. To succeed, I had to get everything right.

I started the journey with a 375-pound sled carrying all my gear, food, and fuel. To pull that amount of weight, I knew I had to be in peak physical condition. I added about 15 pounds of muscles to account for the projected weight loss, and to have enough strength to pull the sled. Ultimately, it was a detailed math equation, to carry enough supplies, without having too much in a sled that I couldn't move. I was pretty close to my last bite of food when I crossed the continent, it really was down to a razor-thin margin of error.

That aside, if I neglected the mental training and preparation, then the physical training wouldn't have really mattered. The deep solitude and the risks involved meant I needed to stay focused the entire time. If not, it could have led to tragic consequences. I had to get my mind stronger and find a daily practice. For me, that was primarily meditation.

Long before I ever dreamed of Antarctica, I was introduced to Vipassana Meditation, which is a 10-day silent retreat that immerses you in the practice. At that point, I'd never meditated a moment in my life. It's completely silent, 24 hours a day, no reading, no writing, no eye contact, and 12 hours of meditation each day. It was a profound experience to look inward, to become more self-aware, and to acknowledge and overcome thoughts or doubts that I had on loop.

The practice was so crucial in Antarctica when I was facing challenging moments of pain, struggle, and hardship. I was able to realize that I could refocus my mind in a positive direction and use one of my mantras, like; "This too, shall pass." For me, that's a recognition that every moment is temporary. In difficult times, it's easy to tighten up and think 'this is terrible.' In those instances, I remind myself, 'it's not always going to be like this.' If you can keep putting one foot in front of the other, the moment passes and your mindset shifts.

"I strongly believe that we are the stories we tell ourselves, so why do we allow negative thoughts into our minds?"

The Red Bib

It's a special moment when you get to put the red bib on, to signify that you're on the final ascent of this epic challenge. It's 17 laps in Vermont and 13 in Utah, that's a lot of laps! For most of the time, people are wearing white bibs with their name on them. Then at around hour 20, you see the red bibs coming out, you notice the first person, and then you see more and more. Someone might be halfway up their lap, and you're coming down the gondola right above them. You can yell out the window 'you got it - half a lap left.' and it gives everyone a boost. You realize, at that moment, people are starting to achieve their goal.

Throughout the weekend, people are implicitly more exhausted, more sleep-deprived, and really at the edge. Those red bibs really lift the energy of the entire event.

What is your everest?

29029; those numbers add up to the vertical feet above sea level of Mt Everest. And so, they really are symbolic of the Everest summit. I've talked to people about summiting Everest, and there's a lot of intrigue and fascination about the mountain, the same intrigue that I had as a kid. But for many reasons, it's not accessible to everyone. Of course, it's time-consuming, it's expensive, and it can be dangerous. Many people at certain phases of their lives dreamed about summiting Everest. Unfortunately, for most, it's not going to happen. With that said, there's still a sense of excitement around it. I ask the question all the time, "What is your Everest?" 29029 is an experience where people can summit Everest in a sense. We bring the mountain to you.

It really is a personal challenge. You're lapping the course over and over again; you're hiking up, and you take the gondola down. Maybe you've never trained for an endurance event, and it's still accessible to you because all it requires is the commitment to start. It doesn't come easy, but when the doubt and fear arise, you just keep going one step at a time.

Everyone is there for their own reasons, and each person has an incredible story, and they are so inspiring to me. It's a community that I'm really proud to be a part of.