Cottage CEO wakes to hiking challenge

THE chief executive officer of a prominent Queenscliff charity has said he was “pushed to his limits” on an ice hike adventure through Swedish Lapland.

Cottage by the Sea’s Adam Wake recently competed the Beyond the Ultimate 230km Ice Ultra marathon to raise funds for the charity’s snow program.

Battling temperatures of below -15 degrees Celsius, Mr Wake said he was pushed to the edge in both mind and body.

“It’s very difficult to sum up. It was amazing and almost breaking.

“The race was challenging. I found I could dig just deep enough to finish it. I got to a point where I thought I was done, but I kept going.”

Mr Wake said his poor intake of almost cost him finishing the race.

“I made a gross error not taking food on board at the start of day two when I was capable of stomaching food. Unfortunately, I crashed and burned.

“I was at the top of a mountain, it was minus 18 degrees Celsius, there was a 30kmh wind blowing in my face, and my stomach was rejecting liquid and any attempt to put food into it.

“I had to push to get to the next check point. It took three hours. It was so tough to keep pushing.

“The medics were incredible; they held me back for an hour. My body started to gain strength and I went again. It was a big high to get through that.”

He said thinking of the children at Cottage who go out of their comfort zone every day helped get him through these tough moments.

“They’ve been through some huge hardships. They drive strength from their own life story.

“If you’ve never seen the ocean, imagine how scary that can be; kids having a stingray, dolphin or fur seal swim beside them.

“We at Cottage believe if you challenge yourself for a short period of time, you grow. I took a bit strength in that because we ask the kids to do it all the time.”

The $11,000 raised from his journey will help offset the costs of sending the next intake of Cottage participants to Mount Buller this winter.

“We expect significant outcomes in terms of their own personal development,” Mr Wake said.

“We will leverage off the race to get more funding. Some corporate partners are planning on jumping on board too.”