Dean Kerry Mummery tries to best Brian Maraj in Wednesday's "Maraj-athon"
What do you do to let someone know you really care?
Well, if you're Brian Maraj, you get on the squash court for eight hours, take on roughly 40 opponents in10 minute matches (80 games in total), and don't come off till you've raised a good chunk of money for a very worthy cause.
The "Squash-Maraj-athon" arranged by professor Brian Maraj, was all in the name of undergraduate student Terry Tenove who suffered a spinal cord injury during a routine hockey drill on October 7.
Tenove had been in Maraj's class on skill acquisition and performance several years before while doing his combined physical education/education degree, and Maraj remembers him as "one of the spunkiest, enthusiastic go-getters I ever met." And, understanding that the road ahead for Tenove would be challenging as he came to grips with losing the use of his legs, Maraj decided to do something to keep his hopes up and his spirits buoyed.
"I wanted to honour Terry's fighting spirit," says Maraj, "to do something to show him we're thinking of him and continue to offer him moral support. I wanted to do something I love for someone we love."
So Maraj rallied friends, co-workers and students to play him in a marathon squash "Maraj-athon" for eight hours on December 8.
Tenove was excited too, when he heard and asked for any money raised during the squash marathon to be donated to the Free2BMe physical activity programs for kids and teens with disabilities, run out of The Steadward Centre.
So here's the thing, for Maraj, a squash fanatic and very competitive player - and this is putting it mildly indeed - he'd never actually participated in an endurance event. "The most I'd done was participated in a 4K run," says Maraj with a grin.
Figuring he'd better seek out some advice if was to go the full eight hours without crashing, he sought out exercise physiologist Gordon Bell, to figure out how to pace himself and fuel his body for endurance. "I had a misguided notion of what I would be eating and drinking," he says, "but Gordon told me what to eat and when - tips about which foods were high-glycemic and low-glycemic and how I could structure them during the course of the day."
Properly fuelled, Maraj took on his opponents with enthusiasm, taking breaks on the hour and a short respite at lunch when Education dean Fern Snart presented Maraj with a generous contribution to the cause.
With an hour to go, Maraj played Peter Tenove, Terry's brother, a BSc. Kinesiology student, currently in Maraj's class, to a very enthusiastic crowd of supporters.
And at the end of the eight hours? "I was not tired. I didn't collapse. I didn't even feel like collapsing," he says. "I played every game hard. I had the most exhilarating feeling all day, as though I was on a wave of euphoria, and never felt exhausted; I guess a labour of love can do that.
"Many people helped. This is such a collegial faculty. I am very grateful for PERCS (student undergraduate association) for helping to recruit and schedule the players, The Steadward Centre's Free2BMe students and staff for collecting the donations, Sobeys for donating food and drink for the players; friends, neighbours, family and colleagues here and elsewhere on campus who offered help and support in many ways. This was very much a team effort. I couldn't have done it without them," says Maraj.
With almost $3000 raised and pledges still rolling in, Maraj is clear it's not so much about the money as it is about caring and showing it. "This is for Terry. I want him to know that we care and that we think about him every day."
Link to the album online or view the slide show below.