A 363-metre elevation change in a 33.2 km charity run being undertaken by two men has given rise to the name "Rockies Challenge."

On Tuesday morning, Major Russ Bailey of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps and commanding officer of the British Army's Trail's End Camp, and Major (retd) Warren Hartwell will be departing from Coffee Traders to support two admirable causes.

Hartwell is running in support of Make-A-Wish and representatives of the charity are expected to be on hand when they depart.

The Retired Major was still with the British military when he started to consider the challenging run some eight years ago and with a number of marathons under his belt felt now was the time to do it. He says he casually mentioned it to Bailey and the two decided to do the run for charity.

It's Hartwell's first run for charity and he believed Make-A-Wish was an ideal choice. To him, a little slogan brings home the point of how powerful a wish can be.

"A wish is treatment medicine can't give, and that's so true."

"I've gotten to 52 years of age, I'm fit and healthy and I look at some of these kids who aren't going to reach the age 20 or 30 or 40 and I thought if I could do something whilst I have a fit and healthy body and raise them a bit of cash that will give them a wish that they will remember then it's all going to be worth it. The pain I'll go through won't be anything near what these kids have faced at their young tender age."

He quickly smashed his $1,000 target and then doubled it to $2,000. As of Sept. 2, he was just $280 short of his goal and is confident he will reach it.

While this is Hartwell's first charity run, Bailey has done several over his 30-year career with the British Army and has good reason to support the Prince of Wales Hospice (PWH) whenever possible. His brother was sadly struck down in his prime by cancer but prior to his final departure, the PWH made him comfortable.

As of Sept. 2, he had raised 89 per cent of his £3,000 goal.

From downtown Cochrane, the pair will be heading west on Hwy. 1A to Jamieson Rd. It's from there the elevation change kicks in.

"We're going to be running for the best part of two hours to get to Jamieson Rd. and then we have the hills to negotiate, so it's going to be quite a tough run."

He's coined the phrase "It's nine km short of a marathon but its 10 times harder" to promote the run.

Here are the links for those interested in lending their support.

Make-A-Wish

https://makeawishsa.ca/campaign/rockies-challenge

Prince of Wales Hospice:

https://www.pwh.org.uk/support-us/other-ways-to-help/fundraising/view-fundraising-pages/rockies-challenge