Yana Hempler was looking forward to a refreshing craft beer as part of her relaxation Sunday after running the last of 30 marathons in 30 days to raise money for charity.
“I haven’t had a drink for the whole month,” said Hempler, 31. The beverage of choice was Saanichton brewery’s Category 12 Hazy IPA. “I have never tried this one yet, but my friends brought it, my friends who ran with me.”
Hempler finished her epic journey — raising about $85,000 for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation — with friends and fans running with her and cheering her on to the finish line just after 10 a.m.
“It really amped me up and it was absolutely fantastic,” said Hempler.
Hempler completed 30 marathons — 26.2 miles or 42 kilometres each day — only taking walk breaks at about the halfway mark for water and nutrition supplements. Most of her routes included laps of the Galloping Goose and Lochside Trail. One loop from Tillicum Road to Saanich Road, for instance, is four kilometres and a marathon is just over 10 laps.
On Sunday, Hempler, who works in supply chain for Viking Air, said she was teeming with energy but recalled how on Day 4, with 26 marathons or about 1,092 kilometres to go, she was stiff and sore and moving on all fours to ascend and descend stairs at her home.
“The first four days were quite difficult, and the recovery was difficult,” said Hempler, who immigrated from Russia when she was 11 years old. “I couldn’t walk up and down the stairs properly.” Mentally she had to grapple with the idea she had 26 marathons to go.
Her recovery rate gradually improved “and then things felt really awesome, up until day 27” when she was struck by leg cramps. “I finished very slow but I still finished,” said Hempler, who views a five-and-a-half hour marathon at Day 27 as slow.
While there weren’t many, there were dreary days and hours when Hempler ran alone. Day eight was one of those days Hempler found “quite difficult.”
“I thought about, you know, Dennis Hoy and many of the people who are not able to run, and people in hospitals who are suffering,” she said.
Hoy contributed $25,000 to her 12 marathons in 12 days last year but died before she could thank him.
Hempler set a bigger goal this year: to honour Hoy’s generous donation, to recognize a friend admitted to Royal Jubilee Hospital’s intensive care unit with a rare blood disorder and “is now alive and well” because of the health care he received, and to acknowledge health-care workers who were on their feet 12 hours a day in personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
“I thought if they’re on their feet all day for 12 hours, I can do four or five hours,” said Hempler.
The marathoner also thought her campaign might inspire and lift the spirits of others amid the pandemic to set their own meaningful goals.
Hempler said some days when she was hurting she relied on the simple rationalization “that if I keep moving my legs then eventually I’m going to finish.” On other days she used the time to devise creative solutions to problems and projects she was working on.
Hempler said she was not a runner as a child. She didn’t like the sport and would get a cramp when she tried shorter runs. She recalled how her fellow students would laugh at her. Hempler was so slow she was at risk of failing physical education in elementary school in Russia, unable to finish within required times. She said there was no such pressure in Canadian schools and she was encouraged to run.
Hempler had to restart her running following an injury after high school and another in 2016.
She began combining her love of philanthropy and running in 2013 with she ran to Victoria from Port Hardy for three charities over about 21 days.
Avery Brohman, executive director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, said on Sunday the organization is inspired by Hempler’s support for local care teams and hospitals “and I can assure you, our care teams can feel her unwavering support and appreciate the recognition she is offering.”
Hempler’s donation helps health care providers access priority equipment — innovative tools and technology — faster to help produce the greatest outcomes for patients, said Brohman.
Local philanthropy makes up for 4o per cent of the equipment at hospitals, said Brohman. COVID-19 “intensified the need to get priority equipment into the hands of our care teams,” she said. “Our foundation is seeing an increase of equipment needs across many areas of care including mental health, cardiac, imaging, and surgical services.”
> Victoria Hospitals Foundation is online at victoriahf.ca
