Deadlifts for Dreams organizers staying strong

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This article was published 26/03/2020 (2228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to unfold, the people behind Deadlifts for Dreams decided to play it safe and postpone their upcoming charity powerlifting competitions, which were originally scheduled to take place in Winnipeg on March 28 and in Brandon on April 5.

Last week, Brandon organizer Quentin Derhak told the Sun that both events will be delayed until at least sometime in May, although nailing down a specific date will be a challenge given the constantly changing nature of this global pandemic.  

However, Derhak wanted to ensure Westman residents that he and members of the sister event in Winnipeg remain dedicated to raising money for two Manitoba youths who are currently locked in a battle with cancer.

“I’ll tell you, the people in the cities have been super, super generous,” Derhak said on March 16. “We’ve raised, collectively, over $25,000.”

At least half of this money will be earmarked for Logan Kilburn, a seven-year-old from Neepawa who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoblastic lymphoma in November 2017. After enduring years of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and various other health complications, Derhak said the least they could do is give Logan’s family some money to enjoy a trip to Disney World.

Plus, Derhak wants to invite the Kilburn family to attend Brandon’s Deadlifts for Dreams competition in person. This means that they have to be extra careful about when/where this event is taking place, since Logan’s current condition definitely leaves him in a vulnerable state if infected.

“So what works for us isn’t our concern,” he said. “What works for them is what we’re concentrating on because the last thing we want to do is bring a kid with a weakened immune system to an (unsafe) event.”

In terms of participants, Derhak said they’ve managed to recruit 17 lifters so far, and he is expecting more given the decent turnout at a recent powerlifting workshop at Anytime Fitness in Brandon.

This March 15 workshop was led by Midtown Barbell owner Dave Beakley, who travelled all the way from Winnipeg to demonstrate how accessible this activity can be for people who have will to compete.

“There was a girl there who never deadlifted before, ever,” Derhak said. “She did a two-hour lesson and she had perfect form the first shot.”

Even in the worst-case scenario that the event is cancelled outright, Derhak says they’ve already surpassed their fundraising goal, which will give Logan and his family some recreation money to play around with no matter what.

But Derhak is still holding out hope that Deadlifts for Dreams will finally make its debut in Brandon at least sometime this year.

“There’s a lot of negative happening in the world right now, and if we can have a little glimmer of something positive around here that would be good,” he said

Anyone who is interested in taking part in Deadlifts for Dreams can register through visiting thedreamfactory.ca.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson