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$1,800 raised for hospice

73-year-old tackles cross-fit obstacle course
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Liz Dilasser, 73, with event co-organizer and 360Strong owner Chris Galbraith. (Contributed photo)

While some 73-year-olds might resist the call to participate in a high-intensity fitness challenge, Liz Dilasser didn’t hesitate.

Dilasser was one of 43 participants in the first-ever 360Strong Fitness Challenge, a cross-fit family-event that served as a fundraiser for the Peace Arch Hospice held Aug. 20 in Centennial Park.

Participants, aged five to 73, had to complete a series of obstacles, including flipping a five-foot-tall tractor tire, throwing a medicine ball over a high bar, and various strength and cardiovascular activities.

“I’ve never done anything like that, I’ve seen it, watched it, and thought, ‘wow.’ But I never thought I had the chance to play around with it,” Dilasser told Peace Arch News last week.

Dilasser – an active runner – said she wasn’t even tired by the end of the 10-stage obstacle course.

“No, not really, because you’re so hyped up. Of course my favourite, because I’m a runner, you have to run the track at the end. I could have just kept going, I was so pumped up,” she said

Dilasser learned about the fundraiser after meeting event co-organizer Karen Klein, who had a table set up in the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre.

“I was walking through the mall and Karen was sitting there, I said ‘Oh, what’s this about.’

“The minute she mentioned fundraiser for the hospice, it was a no-brainer. Of course you’re going to help. That’s how it all happened.”

The event, which raised $1,800, was organized by Klein and her husband, Chris Galbraith, who is a personal trainer and owner of Galbraith Training Systems.

Klein said the couple decided to create a fundraiser in memory of her father, who died in 2014.

“He was diagnosed with cancer the year prior and he rapidly began to decline. He spent just two days in the Peace Arch Hospice Society, and the experience is one the family will never forget,” said a statement on the 360Strong CanadaHelps.org fundraising page.

Klein now volunteers for the hospice by bringing her her 11-year-old whippet, which acts as a therapy dog for patients.



About the Author: Aaron Hinks

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