Sask. father embarks on marathon-run to fund a cure for diabetes
One Humboldt man had set a goal to complete a four-mile run, every four hours for 48 hours over the Saskatchewan Day long weekend.
Jason Holtvogt is raising awareness for Type One diabetes and the challenges families face when caring for a family member. His daughter Aubree, the youngest of four, faces these challenges daily.
“You're waking up every few hours to check on your daughter in this case, on her sugar levels, so you're waking up every few hours to check on the sugar levels just to make sure that she's not too high or too low,” Holtvogt said. “I thought (the run) really resembled what a parent of a diabetic goes through, and also a diabetic caregiver.”
On July 30 Holtvogt began the 4x4x48 challenge, a routine made popular by American marathon-runner David Goggins.
Holtvogt, 44, said he’s been training for months leading up to this challenge he’s called T1D (Type One diabetes) 4x4x48. With the help of local dieticians, trainers and chiropractors Holtvogt knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
He’s raising money for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation Canada (DRIFCan), a research group out of the University of Alberta.
“Dr. James Shapiro and his team at the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) are actively researching, collaborating and conducting ongoing clinical trials to accelerate the pace of diabetes research to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes,” Holtvogt said. “The goal of the run is to raise funds for a cure for T1D.”
During his run Holtvogt has crossed $12,000 but he hopes to get to $100,000 before the 48 hours is up.
“(Dr. Shapiro) needs $22 million to get this going and we really wanted to focus all our efforts on getting him his money so that he can do this stem cell research,” Holtvogt said. “With any possibility of our daughter not having to deal with diabetes at an older age.”
You can follow Holtvogt’s story on Facebook and donate to his cause.
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