Among a group of local Jeep enthusiasts raising money to fight cancer, a Columbia man is set to push himself on a physically and emotionally straining hike up Mudlick Mountain in Missouri for the second time.

This year, he’s inviting folks in the community to participate and raise money in their own way.

The “Hike a Mile in Their Boots” Hike-A-Thon is set to take place this Saturday in Columbia’s Bolm-Schuhkraft Park, with folks gathering for a simple hike around the park.

The Hike-A-Thon will also feature food trucks, live music,  yoga, facepainting and other festivities.

This event is hosted by the NOFA Jeep Army, a local organization who has been organizing various fundraising events to combat cancer. Members of the group have also appeared in recent parades, their Jeeps sporting the motto of the group: “No One Fights Alone.”

As the latest addition to the organization’s collection of fundraisers, the Hike-A-Thon will take place in conjunction with the Ozark Mountain Challenge taking place at Mudlick Mountain.

NOFA’s Robert Fredrick has played a major role in getting the Columbia event going following his participation in the challenge last year.

Having always been a local – he graduated from Gibault – Fredrick said he’s long had a passion for Jeeps and an interest in NOFA, though he only felt cancer come into his family’s world somewhat recently.

“I’ve always been a Jeep lover, and I belong to the NOFA Jeep Army, which was created to help raise money for cancer locally,” Fredrick said. “We joined that before cancer affected us, but two years ago, my wife, her dad was diagnosed with brain cancer.”

He decided to pursue the Ozark Mountain Challenge to show his support for his father-in-law Rick Duncan,  and though Duncan passed a short time before the date of the challenge, Fredrick ultimately saw success in fundraising as he participated.

The challenge itself involves trekking 1.9 miles up Mudlick Mountain nine times over the course of 12 hours, getting shuttled down each time.

“I decided to raise money for NOFA by kind of challenging my friends and family to donate per ascent,” Fredrick said. “There were nine ascents. You go up nine times, and they bring you back down each time. I asked my friends and family members to donate $2 an ascent, so theoretically I would donate $200 if I completed the challenge. Well I ended up raising $2,200. That many people stepped up and donated, people donated a lot more than what they originally had planned on.”

Fredrick further spoke about his interest in undertaking the challenge, as he was, of course, primarily motivated to support Duncan.

He noted that he was also drawn to the challenge given how walking, specifically enjoying hikes in the area, became a major hobby for him as he lost a great deal of weight over the past few years.

Fredrick also spoke about his experience taking on the challenge for the first time, emphasizing just how grueling it became through the later treks.

“The day we did it, I damn near died,” Fredrick said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I cried tears of pain. It hurt so bad. The first five times up was no problem, number six I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not sure I can do this.’ Number seven, I was ready to give up.”

He recalled the support he received from his friend Renee Clarkston as well as his cousin, who urged him to continue on and see things through.

In the end, the struggle proved worth it, as he was able to raise well beyond what he had anticipated and was pleased to be able to present the check to NOFA President Bill Browne.

Still speaking on the experience, Fredrick placed great emphasis on the physical strain he had to push through in the latter half of the event.

In the vein of the event’s title, “Hike a Mile in Their Boots,” Fredrick spoke about how one of the main things pushing him up the mountain was the idea that he was simply walking a mile in his father-in-law’s shoes, temporarily taking on only some of the pain Duncan endured as he battled cancer.

“I felt that pain, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘People who deal with cancer deal with pain every single day? How can I cry from one day of pain when my father-in-law battled through brain cancer for a year?’” Fredrick said.

Heavily affected by his experience on the mountain, he worked with Browne and other NOFA members to organize the event in Columbia.

The planned Hike-A-Thon has received a respectable amount of support from local businesses and organizations, whether they’re directly supporting the event itself or serving as sponsors for Fredrick’s second Ozark Mountain Challenge, where he’ll be adding one more ascent up the mountain for good measure.

Fredrick particularly noted the support he’s received from Happy Hour Sports Bar and Willie’s West End in Waterloo along with local realtor Lisa Meegan – though he’s still interested in receiving additional sponsors.

When it comes to the Hike-A-Thon, he explained the idea is for folks to participate in a mile hike in Bolm-Schuhkraft Park this Saturday while also enjoying the event’s other offerings.

Participants have been encouraged, however, to join Fredrick on his challenge, in a sense, walking and hiking in the community for 19 miles, topping off their experience with the final mile this Saturday.

“Hopefully there’s people that are signed up that are out there hiking on a weekend, keeping track of their miles, and they’re gonna come do that last mile with us on the third,” Fredrick said.

Browne also offered his thoughts on the event, offering praise for Fredrick’s work and noting how NOFA has been interested in expanding its fundraising events having achieved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in the past year.

“There used to be, I think, an American Cancer Walk in Columbia, but we wanted to start something up again locally and kinda piggyback off of Robert’s challenge,” Browne said.

Browne further noted the event is meant to be for the community as a whole. While folks are certainly invited to participate in the walk, they are also welcome to enjoy the sort of festival that’s planned, donating to the cause as they can.

“If people don’t wanna hike, hopefully they’ll come out just to eat some food,” Browne said. “Other than the Hike-A-Thon, it’s just a family event. It’ll be a good time.”

Fredrick, too, emphasized his hopes for the event, also reiterating his reason for putting the Hike-A-Thon together and participating in the challenge once again.

“I’m doing this in memory of Rick Duncan,” Fredrick said.

The Hike-A-Thon will take place this Saturday in Bolm-Schuhkraft Park in Columbia from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration at 9 a.m.

Those wishing to donate to Fredrick or the other participating NOFA hikers can do so at nofajeeparmy.org/hike-a-thon/hikers.