Dom Marini knows a 30-day hiking journey alone in the wilderness won’t be easy, but it’ll definitely be worth it.
The 29-year-old from Guelph is taking on a massive challenge on Monday where he will hike on the 900 km Bruce Trail that goes from Niagara to Tobermory and is also known as one of Canada oldest marked footpaths.
With the last nearly two years being particularly difficult on mental health for many, he said the event hopes to raise awareness and funds for mens' mental health in particular.
“I was never expected to do any of this and it made me kind of realize that doing a long distance hike of 900km is the same way you would approach mental health. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. It's a grind marathon,” said Marini.
“There's twists and turns along every part of it. You don't know what each of those days is going to look like, so I'm not going to focus on kilometre 822 Because today I'm on kilometre 49. And this is what's in front of me today. This is the challenge today.”
Marini said each day will bring unique challenges like weather, food, water, physical health and navigation.
“You have to kind of go out and solve those problems as they come up. But you have to be willing to try,” said Marini.
His GoFundMe page launched Aug. 22 already raised nearly $1,700 as of Friday afternoon. His fundraiser GOING THE DISTANCE FOR MEN'S MENTAL HEALTH hopes to raise $9,000 for the Canadian Men's Health Foundation.
Marini said after taking a break from school in his third year and returning the year after during the pandemic, he had a difficult time adjusting with school remotely, where he was studying engineering alone in his basement.
“Eight months from January to a couple of weeks ago, it was a grind. It was a really bad grind but it is what it is and if you break it down into a small enough invoice, you can get through that grind," said Marini.
He said many friends he hadn’t heard from for a long time reached out to him after he announced his hike and shared their own struggles, whether it's lost jobs or breakups.
“We were talking about it as we went on a hike, so we're still getting outside, we're getting the body moving, we're still going through the motions to do what is necessary to stay on top,” said Marini.
He said many have reached out to him relating to his decision to hike and thanking him for getting the message about mental health out there.
“Just by the level of engagement right off the bat, tells me that there's something a hell of a lot more to this than I even originally considered. So, it's been very interesting to watch this progress so far,” said Marini.
His campaign manager, James Prigione, will be handling all his communication and post regular photos of Marini’s progress on Instagram so Marini can stay away from social media and stay focused on his journey. Marini said he has a group of friends which will routinely check up on him so he is able to get help in case of an emergency.
“This isn't a one-man operation,” said Marini.
“You're not going to be able to do something as distant as this on your own, you have to include others around you and others around you will support you. You just have to try.”
Marini said going for a hike was always the answer for him when struggling with mental health which didn't solve the problem but definitely helped him dampen the particular situation he was facing while also putting him in a better position to face his problems.
Monday morning Marini’s friend will drop him on the Bruce Trail in Tobermory where he will be ready to begin his journey with his maps. He already packed food and made extra totes of food so his friends can resupply him when needed as they check up on him.
Marini said he’s nervous, scared and slightly even terrified for the hike coming up.
He said his hikes in the past have been four to five days long and anticipates his upcoming hike to take 30 days.
“That's a test on willpower and I'm starting five days in the rain. That's a test on logistics, that's a test on commitment. The further that that goalpost is moved down, the more you have to dig deep to get there and 30 days is good enough to really see what you're made out of,” said Marini.
