Along The Way

It’s often said that life’s a journey, not a destination and this event has proven to be no different. The first year I was able to offer my time and services through my company, 10Count, but the last two years have brought me something I hadn’t considered, which are new friends. I have made some great professional contacts and more importantly I have forged new friendships as well as strengthened existing ones. We all come together to share a common goal and we all have our parts to play.

The white collar fighters are executives and entrepreneurs who take on this challenge and even though they initially face a rude awakening when they find out how hard this sport truly is, they stay. They get in the ring and they fight. Each one of them has their own reason for participating and every one of them challenges themselves to see how far their body will take them which is usually much further than they would have guessed. I’ve gotten to train with them, yell at them to finish their circuits and I’ve even gotten in the ring and pushed them as far as they can be pushed. Some are too shy to hit me, others not shy enough (Jim!). I love to see them realize that they are much stronger and more in shape than they thought they were. They walk, or mildly limp, away from the work out dripping in sweat, maybe a little blood, with a private accomplished smile on their face. I’m honoured to know these individuals who push themselves, even if it means putting themselves in harm’s way, for the memory of loved one or a chance at saving a stranger. Either way I am tremendously lucky to know them and luckier still to call them my friends.

Last year in the midst of a global recession, we weren’t sure we could pull the event off. We had no sponsorship and it seemed it might have to wait another year. A member of the Fight For the Cure committee, and long-time friend, Trevor McDougall, mentioned that the legendary Heart & Crown were interested in helping. We had a meeting and the rest is history. The Heart & Crown Irish Pubs have a history of generous and thoughtful philanthropy in our community. They are dedicated partners in our event and are truly appreciated for their active involvement with us and their many philanthropic initiatives. Also, it’s the HEART & CROWN!!! ...which is pretty much the best pub in the city!

I have met some incredible people at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. It’s amazing to me to see that it’s more than just a job to them and I have made and I continue to make some great friends with many of them. They get sincerely excited for each event. They work tirelessly alongside us to help make our event a success. Thank you guys! You are all amazing!

Out of the three of us, I would have to say that Matt Whitteker is the champion of this event. I do my part in trying to arrange sponsorships and selling tables and Eric Belanger has more than his hands full in developing our Final Round competitive team which has yielded several national level caliber fighters, two of them Canadian Champions, since we started only 3 years ago. Matt takes it upon himself to train all the white collar fighters. While this may be fun, it is hundreds of hours of his time leading up to the event. He is on the committee and when a fight fell through at the last second on fight night in year one Matt changed in to his gear, got in the ring and fought despite trying to run the show. I thought I’d take this opportunity to acknowledge the fact that he’s done a tremendous job on both Final Round and Fight for the Cure. I’ve also partnered with Matt on a few successful business endeavors and he shows great ambition. One more thing, he’s only 26.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading!