My name is Syd Gravel. In 2019, at the age of 67, I was training to reach the Nationals in the Canadian Powerlifting Union. My spouse Judy had already qualified for the competitions in Ottawa. As fate would have it though, our family doctor wisely decided that an MRI was in order due to my family history. 

 

An aneurysm was discovered on my upper aortic artery of sufficient size to cause concern and my powerlifting efforts were shut down immediately. In a bit of humour here, there is a BIG difference when telling a powerlifter not to lift heavy weights compared to what ordinary non powerlifters will lift so it's a good idea to spell it out. I thought light weights meant between 135- 200 pounds, they meant 10-20 pounds. LOL!

 

On December 27th, 2019 I attended under the care of Dr. Munir Boodhwani and after several hours was now the recipient of a carbon fiber upper aortic artery and arch. And I was able to return to powerlifting. It's been a journey...I lift again but I have had to change my powerlifting techniques. I can no longer use the Valsalva breathing technique when lifting and I watch my blood pressure regularly. I had to start lifting right from scratch to "feel" the weights as I progress and I chose to drop from 265 pounds to 220 pounds in body weight. 

 

To thank the Heart Institute and Dr. Boodhwani for their support and work, I chose to offer to do something that I am good at and that is powerlifting. In March of 2021, I trialed a marathon of powerlifting over a 7.5 hour period and lifted 82,480 pounds. So I know I can do that much in 7.5 hours, the question now is what can I lift in a 10 hour marathon of bench press, squats and deadlifts? And what if we had a team of people all doing the same thing as me during this 10 hour marathon of weight lifting? 

 

So, on November 13, 2021, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, we are raising money in support of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation by participating in a Powerlifting Marathon, which will consist of 10 hours of bench pressing, deadlifts and squats, which we are calling "Pennies for Pounds".