Local youth pastor completes 50 km birthday run for Bible camp

By the time he finished running 50 kilometres on Sunday -- five hours, four minutes and 40 seconds after he started -- Andre Vanderstoep had more than earned his traditional post-race meal.

"I absolutely devoured that pizza, like absolutely ripped it to shreds," Vanderstoep says with a laugh. "Every meat that they had and spicy peppers, that's my go-to."

Andre Vanderstoep ran further than the length of a marathon on his 27th birthday this past weekend, raising almost $3,000 for Camp Arnes.

"It would have been worth it without the pizza but the pizza made it better," Vanderstoep says.

After COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation or virtualization of many running events in Manitoba over the past six months, Vanderstoep decided to organize his own run in honour of his birthday to raise funds for a local ministry that has also been impacted by the virus.

The money raised by the Soul Sanctuary youth pastor -- a total of $2,810 -- will go towards the renovation of Camp Arnes' Lighthouse (formerly known by camp-goers as "the wigwam").

"That's the space where the kids gather every evening in a normal summer. They hear the message presented by the speaker for the week, they sing worship songs, and it's a space where a lot of kids make first-time decisions to dedicate their lives to Christ," Vanderstoep explained.

Vanderstoep, who has been a speaker in the past at the camp, says he was thrilled to hear he would be able to support the renovation.

"It's certainly an important space for Camp Arnes ... When I learned [the funds I raised] were going to a specific project and a specific project as important as the Lighthouse, I was pretty pumped about that."

The run itself was a challenge Vanderstoep was excited to take on. It was the longest distance he had completed in a single run.

Starting bright and early at 7:00 a.m. on Sept. 27, Vanderstoep says his run started fairly well with a little bit of rain before the sun finally broke through.

"Towards the end of the first lap, I had a friend join me and he stayed with me for most of the second lap," he says. "It was just a nice distraction."

Around the third lap was when Vanderstoep began to anticipate the mental wall of his run.

"Around kilometres 25 maybe, halfway, I guess, that was when the trouble started to settle in ... It was hard," says Vanderstoep.

His time dropped and Vanderstoep says he began to feel quite sore and lost some motivation.

"Then, I turned a corner and there was a vehicle parked and the vehicle rolled down the windows and started honking and it was some good friends from church in there and they were yelling and screaming and encouraging me," Vanderstoep recalls.

The family drove with the youth pastor to end his third lap.

"It was just the perfect timing for it," Vanderstoep says.

Vanderstoep says a number of people, including five friends during the final 10 kilometre stretch, joined him throughout the run to encourage him, participate, and help him stay hydrated.

"(They) ran and biked alongside me on the last lap and they played an integral part in getting me across that final 10 kilometres," Vanderstoep says.

The final lap was the hardest for the youth pastor.

"That entire fifth lap I knew I couldn't quit because the five people that were with me were not going to let me quit. I knew I was going to cross the finish line (but) I didn't know what shape I was going to be in when I crossed the finish line."

It took one last push of encouragement and grit for Vanderstoep to finish his race strong.

"In the last mile, my wife put on some of my go-to jams and it just shot our group with some adrenaline and we hustled it for that last 10 minutes and it was quite the feeling of euphoria to cross the line."

When Vanderstoep finally finished the run, he kept walking for a few moments as friend and supporters cheered and clapped.

A future-oriented person, Vanderstoep says he had anticipated the run itself for months, but hadn't given too much thought to crossing the finish line.

"I think that was why I was so calm afterward," Vanderstoep reflects.

"I hadn't stopped moving for about five hours so there was a little bit of pain but mostly excitement," he says, "and then just turning around and seeing the group of people who had come out to support me.

Vanderstoep was able to see the grand total of his fundraising efforts, final times, and even received a homemade medal from his wife to commemorate the experience.

"(They) gave me my moment to kind of revel in the accomplishment but also were super pumped about the funds that were raised, it was just a general feeling of excitement, I think, from everyone, and a sense of accomplishment."