“I was always athletic when I was growing up, but I’d never done anything like this,” Laura explained. “I did some sprint triathlons a few years back and started training for a half-Ironman. Then I crashed my bike pretty badly, which derailed me more than I’d like to admit.”

Now we were getting somewhere on the why.

“Looking back, I was actually stuck and scared after that, and trust me, that’s not a good place to be.” 

For Laura, 29029 was a way to try to break free. She’s not stuck anymore.

“It wasn’t until about halfway into my training for the 2020 event that I felt alive again! The routine of life was finally broken, and after focusing solely on everything and everyone else, I finally felt like I was doing something for me.” 

And then the world flipped upside down. Cities shut down. Events the world over were cancelled. Uncertainty was abound, and the last thing on most people’s minds was competition. 

“I really needed to climb that mountain. When I found out 2020 was going virtual, I have to admit I had a 5-minute pity party. I did every training workout. Every. Single. One. I made the time, put in the work… and now what?” 

But Laura’s pity party was short-lived. She continued training, even while having to stay local in her Chicago suburb. When the event went virtual, she tackled it in the most Chicago way possible - Laura and her sister did 1000 flights of stairs in a parking garage. That’s right - 1000 flights of stairs! 

I asked her how she passed the time. 10 hours in a parking garage is a long time! 

“Me and my sister talked. About nothing. About everything. It was great to have her alongside me!”

To finish things off, they hiked another 10 hours to complete the goal elevation. A sense of relief washed over Laura as finished what she had worked so hard to achieve.

Not only had she finished such an amazing accomplishment, proving that she was capable, but the rest of her life she worked hard to build was still there. Even if it was just for a short period of time, it was an escape. That time in the parking garage was all about Laura. No emails to answer. No business to run. No kids. No staff. Nothing, except climbing the vertical of Everest; all 29,029 feet of it. 

So, what now? For many of us, 10 hours of the same staircase in a parking garage would kill the spirit, so I asked Laura how she kept her training going after that: how did her motivation evolve after completing a virtual 29029? 

“I didn’t really miss a beat with training. Not long after the virtual event, I was back out there,” Laura explained. “It was an escape from COVID. Something positive to focus on!”