March 29, 2017
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
photo by
J enniFer w iLLis
Michael McCastle, a Portland Community College student,
Navy Veteran and world record endurance holder, pulls a
truck last May in the desert of Death Valley, Calif. to raise
awareness and donations for veteran’s organizations working
on suicide prevention. His next feat to further the cause will
be a run of 20 miles a day for 100 days.
Endurance Champ Helps Veterans
Uses strength to
raise donations for
suicide prevention
C hrista m C i ntyre
t he p ortLand o bserver
Michael McCastle, a retired Navy of-
ficer, four-time world record endurance
holder and a Portland Community College
student, has set a date for his sixth physi-
cal challenge to raise money for veterans
groups working to prevent suicide.
McCastle is the founder of the 12 La-
bors Project, his Vancouver-based or-
ganization which raises donations for a
variety of causes, a name inspired by the
ancient Greek mythological hero Hercu-
by
les and his 12 miraculous physical feats.
Performing superhuman tests of physi-
cal endurance to inspire and help the com-
munity by raising money for non profits,
McCastle has found there is no strength
greater than the strength found in service
to those in need.
Beginning on April 11, he will attempt
to run 20 miles every day for 100 days in a
row to raise awareness of the high veteran
suicide rate in the United States, currently
around 20 lives lost each day.
He says no American has attempted
such a running record.
Part of the donations raised will go
towards two veteran non-profits, Opera-
tion Enduring Warrior and the National
Alliance to End Veteran Suicide, and to
a veterans retreat where former soldiers
struggling with combat-related Post Trau-
matic Stress Syndrome (PSTD) can work
in a safe environment with a dedicated
trained staff to reconnect mind, body and
spirit with equine therapy, yoga, medita-
tion, mental strength seminars and out-
door therapies.
McCastle’s previous endurance feats
have raised $30,000 for charity and
earned him several records. He wore a
40 pound vest for a 50K run to bene-
fit Children’s Cancer Research in 2013;
won his first World Record in a benefit
for wounded veterans in 2014 when he
flipped a 250-pound tire for a distance
of over 13 miles and over 10 grueling
hours.
In 2015, McCastle rope-climbed a
height equal to Mount Everest, a full
29,029 feet in just under 27 hours to raise
donations for Parkinson’s research in hon-
or of his father, who lost his life to the
disease. He also shattered the Guinness
World Record for the most pull-ups in 24
hours, 5,804 pull-ups while wearing a 30
pound pack.
Last May, McCastle pulled a 2016
Ford F-150 pickup truck for 22 miles in
19 hours across California’s Death Valley
to raise awareness for veteran suicides, a
cause he took up after the loss of a friend’s
brother to suicide.
You can visit McCastle’s website to
learn more about him and his 12 Labors
Project at twelvelaborsproject.com. To
donate to his 6th challenge you can visit
his crowd funding site at gofundme.com/
veteran-suicide-retreat-fund.