What's Happening in Cougar Country

One of the core values held closely by all Lake Catholic students and alumni is a Willingness to Serve.

So, when there’s someone in need, it doesn’t matter how difficult the task is.

For sophomore Nick Evangelista (St. Mary of the Assumption), putting his body through extreme conditions was no deterrent to raising money for children battling life-threatening illnesses. 
For 24 hours, from noon on Saturday, October 4, to noon on Sunday, October 5, Nick took part in the 24:in:24 presented by CleanEats at the SPIRE Academy. According to the 24:in:24 website, the event itself features challengers attempting to run one mile every hour, on the hour, for 24 consecutive hours.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Nick said. “I was still so sore for about four or five days afterward.”

After watching his aunt take part in the race a year ago, Nick, who is a member of the Lake Catholic track and field team, decided he wanted to give it a try.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, all the while raising money for a good cause,” he said.

By himself, he raised more than $1,100 for the cause. He said his mom’s employer, Jenniffer & Co., was the biggest donor, but he also had a lot of single contributors. Last year, the event brought in $565,000 for A Special Wish – Northeast Ohio Foundation.

Nick said he’s been running on his own since about fifth grade after having played basketball for a few years, but he’s never actually trained for something like this. And really, he didn’t train much for the 24:in:24 either. He said he trained for just one day to try to get his endurance up, but then just spent the entire day before the event resting and saving as much energy as he could.
He started off the 24 hours well, doing his one mile per hour in under 7 minutes.

“After each mile, you had to go up two flights of stairs to get back to where we had our camp set up. So, you think you have close to an hour in between each mile, but really it was just about 35 minutes.”

It did get to the point where his mom actually made him sleep for an hour to help his body recover. He slept from 2a-3a on Sunday, which caused him to miss miles 15 and 16.

“You are able to make up the miles you miss,” he said. “So, by mile 19 I was caught up.”

Some of the families and children who benefit from A Special Wish were on hand to cheer on all the runners, and as Nick said, they helped serve as extra motivation for those last few miles over those last few hours.

“The last lap was absolutely the hardest,” he said. “But when you are carrying that flag that you are on your last lap, and then when you cross that finish line, it’s the best feeling.”

After the grueling day, he said he slept until 10a Monday morning, waking up for just a couple of hours before that. Despite the challenge, he said he would do it again.

“Being a part of this school, a place that does stuff like this all the time for other people, is what made me want to do it,” he said. “And when it’s an event like this that helps so many people, anything I can do to help raise money, or just spread the word about it, it means so much regardless of what I have to go through.”