He’s slept on a roof for five wintery nights, and he’s climbed a mountain 100 times in 100 days.
Now, Kyle Hislop is planning his next big challenge to himself. He will walk for 24 hours straight.
“I’ve never walked before for this long so it should be interesting,” he says. “I don’t know why I do these things.”
But in reality, he does know. Every time he sets out on one of these adventures, he is doing it to raise money for the Ann Davis Transition Society. He’s even dubbed the walk 24/4 Shelter Donations.
This year’s event will have him walking up and down the Vedder and Yale corridor, from the Vedder Bridge to Hope River Road and back again. He’ll travel that route, back and forth, for the entire 24 hours. He’ll begin at noon on May 8, and end at noon on May 9.
He is hoping this challenge will be more out in the open to the public, and cause people to think more about people in local shelters.
“Normally I like to hike and do hiking things,” he says, but acknowledged that his actions were not as visible to the public that way.
“I thought ‘I’ll just walk through town,’” he says. “People can drive by and walk by. I’m kind of hoping people will stop and think.”
He hasn’t prepared too much, other than setting up a support vehicle to follow him at night, and making sure he has the right footwear in case it rains.
“My wife is pretty adamant about having someone with me at night,” he says. “So I have a car that will drive with me, but for the most part I’ll be alone.”
This 24-hour walk is just the first leg of a larger journey, Hislop says.
He will be traveling to Iceland with a group of fellow Royal LePage agents from across Canada. They’ll trek for six days, and their goal is to raise $500,000 for local shelters in their hometowns. The hikers are each paying their own expenses, with all donations going to charity.
To go on the Iceland trek, he needs to raise a minimum of $5,000, with 80 per cent going to Ann Davis and 20 per cent going to the national shelter program through Royal LePage.
He is going to be doing live video feeds while he walks, and is even hoping to hold live auctions of donated items, all while walking up and down Chilliwack.
To learn more about the 24-hour walk, and the upcoming trek to Iceland, and to donate visit him online at www.kylehislop.com. Donations are also being accepted at the Royal Lepage Wheeler Cheam office at 8337 Young Road.