If you noticed a man running down the highway shirtless on Saturday morning when it was still quite brisk out, there was good reason behind what he was doing.
Thirty-six-year-old André Belibi-Eloumou is an extreme athlete, trainer and mindset coach from Switzerland who ran 120 kilometres from Calgary to the Icefields Parkway all in an effort to raise awareness and funds for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Eloumou's 11-year-old daughter Kira has ASD.
He ran through Cochrane on his two-day journey and Eloumou said "I was looking for different ways to train my mind and my body. It is to help me to get ready to break a world record."
Eloumou, who is from Geneva, Switzerland is training to break a Guinness World record for the longest ice-bath immersion later this year. In order to do that, he will need to stay immersed in ice-cold water for more than three hours and 28 seconds.
"Of course the weather won't be -40 anymore. I'm going to do it shirtless, so my body can be exposed to the elements. It's going to be extreme, it's going to be intense but the cause is going to help me do it all."
Eloumou is hoping to raise $500,000 with half of that going towards building a sustainable housing complex for people with disabilities. The other half would go to helping his training towards reaching the world record. The total goal is to raise $8 million to build the complex.
You can follow Eloumou and his journey online on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok via @andrebelibi.
More information about Team Mason 2021 Foundation can be found on his Facebook page or at teammason2021foundation.org.
Thu, Apr 25, 10:15 AM
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