Kimo Quance

For My Dad

By 29029 Everesting

April 15^th, 2022

In 2019, my Dad - my best friend - passed away at the age of 64 years young.

He didn’t take care of himself as well as he could have, and for a few months prior to his passing, he battled through multiple heart attacks.

Maybe it was naivety, but I thought he would be fine. Every time he had another heart attack, they’d treat him, and every time, I thought that would be it - I thought he would get better.

I spent a month and a half with him while he was in and out of the hospital. One day, during another long conversation in the hospital, he turned to me and said, “Kimo, I want you to promise me that you’ll take better care of yourself than I took care of myself.”

A few days after I flew back home, my Dad suffered another heart attack and passed away.

I had never worried too much about my health. Growing up, I’d always been skinny and never had to think much of it. But when I had kids, I started putting on weight. I actually gained more weight than my wife!

After our second child, I was on the wrong side of 300 pounds - and it was a new thing for me. Up until then, I’d always been able to eat whatever I wanted, do whatever I wanted, and still stay skinny.

Three of my grandparents also had heart issues. Now that my Dad had passed away from a heart attack too, it was a real wake-up call.

I kept thinking back to what he made me promise him: the promise to take care of myself.

I had kids - something to live longer for - and I didn’t want them to go through what I went through with my Dad.

Less than a month after my Dad passed, I hired a personal trainer. I was going to make good on my promise!

I won’t lie to you - I didn’t like it. Working out for the sake of working out wasn’t enjoyable to me, so I started to look for some goals to set that would help me along the way.

I started with a 5k. It was okay, but I wanted something bigger. I did a 10 mile obstacle course race. But I still felt like I needed to do something even bigger.

I heard about this event called 29029, and when I started looking into it, I knew I had to do it. This was the something bigger that I was looking for!

The first ascent in Vermont felt easy, but that ease was short-lived. The mountain shows you pretty quickly what it’s made of, and you have to push back and prove yourself.

I kept going, and after each ascent, I told myself, “just one more to go.” I was only going to focus on what was immediately in front of me.

The first 8 ascents weren’t too bad. Of course they weren’t easy, but they were nowhere near as challenging as what was coming next.

Around 9 pm, the weather started to turn. There was wind. There was rain. There was mud. And I was ready for a break!

But my goal was to get 10 on the first day, so I forced myself to push on. It didn’t matter that the weather was miserable. It didn’t matter that my body was aching. It didn’t matter that I was tired. I was going to get to 10 before going to bed.

Near midnight, I finished my 10th, and immediately went to my tent for a break.

Even though I was exhausted, I had a hard time falling asleep. I layed in my tent for almost an hour before dozing off, and then restlessly awoke again at 3 am. 2 hours of sleep would have to do: I cleaned up, got my gear back on, and hit the slope again.

My body was tired. Everything hurt. I had no idea how I was going to finish. But I knew I had to. I kept focusing on the next one - just one more.

With only a few ascents to go, my right knee started having some problems. I went to the trainers at the bottom for some treatment, and as I sat there, I started doing the math. I was running out of time!

I thought about how I could speed things up. I was taking 5 or 10 minutes at each aid station to refuel and recharge, and I immediately realized that would have to stop. I’d have to grab some food and go - replenishing while continuing to move forward.

I accepted that I was tight for time. I accepted that there was a chance I might not finish. But what I couldn’t accept was quitting, so I made a deal with myself that no matter what, I wasn’t going to stop until I either achieved my goal, or hit the time limit in trying to get there. I’d go the full 36 hours if I had to!

After all, this was all for my Dad. I had a picture of him with me, and I knew if he was there, he wouldn’t have wanted me to quit. I didn’t have a choice. Stopping - quitting - was not an option that was available to me.

With only two ascents to go, it became clear I had enough time to achieve my goal. My legs were done. They wanted me to stop. My body was done. It wanted me to stop. But my mind was not done. I was not going to quit until I pulled on that Red Hat.

Those final two ascents took what felt like forever. I was climbing at a turtle’s pace, but I knew I could make it. I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

And that’s what I did. I hiked that picture of my Dad up the mountain 17 times. He was with me when I pulled on that Red Hat.

I finished 29029 for me. I used 29029 to fuel the improvement in my physical health, using it as a goal to help keep my motivation alive as I continued to improve myself.

But I also finished 29029 for my kids - finished it not only to prove to them that hard things are possible, but also to help keep me healthy so they don’t lose their Dad too early.