Literal and metaphorical mountains, Kent Ohori is climbing and conquering them both.

Read his inspirational lived experience and how his upcoming ‘Everesting’ (yes, we had to look it up too) fundraising event is helping to smash the stigma of mental health.

Hi, my name is Kent Ohori and I am half Australian and Japanese born on the Gold Coast. I’m 30 years of age and currently residing in Brisbane. I have lived most of my childhood in Australia but have had stints living in Japan. I currently work very casually at a restaurant in Brisbane while I work on setting up my new business promoting exercise for better health – Rebound Club.

I recently sold out of a successful restaurant group in Brisbane to pursue my newfound mission of giving back to others through the new business and to continue to challenge myself to these crazy exercise challenges in the hope of raising awareness for better mental health.

The East Coast Everesting tour is a week-long trip where I will be challenging myself to completing an Everesting cycling challenge in every state and territory along the East Coast in a seven-day period. Starting in Hobart and making my way up to Brisbane. Basically five 12-14hr climbing challenges in seven days.

If you don’t know what an Everesting challenge is, you can do it either on bike or run, but you have to pick a hill climb of your choosing that is a segment on Strava and do as many repeats as required to reach the same elevation of Mt. Everest – 8848m / 29,032ft. The entire week will entail 1,100kms riding in 70 hours of approximated time and climbing over 44,000m of elevation.

My first charity event involved an Everesting challenge on a popular mountain climb in Brisbane called Mt. Coot-tha (backside climb) where I rode on a 28kg Brisbane City cycle bike in under 24hours and since then, I have always had a love (and definitely hate) relationship with climbing. I thought this type of challenge that takes me along the East Coast of Australia would be a great way to spread awareness of my cause not only in QLD but throughout Australia. No one else has ever done something like this so it’s also a massive challenge that will definitely come with its own bunch of unexpected setbacks. I look forward to seeing what unfolds!

I initially wanted to do something Australia-wide but the uncertainty of travel restrictions due to Covid prevented me from going ahead with another idea. I decided to choose LIVIN as the charity to support because of their community-focused approach to their mission of breaking the stigma that surrounds mental health.. I’ve experienced firsthand how important it is to speak up about your mental health problems before it’s too late and therefore I would love nothing more than to support Livin in their mission to spread the words “IT AIN’T WEAK TO SPEAK” throughout the community.

I’ve personally gone through some hardship with my mental health and I know how important it is to find help and support as early as possible before it becomes even more dangerous. I’ve also seen what benefits exercise can have with managing poor mental health and I hope that my story can inspire the greater public to use exercise in the same manner.

I’d just like to say that no matter how isolated or different you may feel as you experience your own mental health struggles, there are many others that go through similar setbacks. You are not alone and there are so many people out there who are willing to support you or even just to hear you out.

There are so many amazing charity organisations such as LIVIN that are available to help you through your struggles. I am also a massive advocate for getting out to exercise and soak in some high-quality natural vitamin D. Nothing helps relieve stress than going out for a sweat session. I also found that challenging yourself to a difficult exercise goals such as a half marathon, marathon, or a triathlon, etc can be really helpful to find that confidence, self-worth, and confidence in yourself.

I really just urge you to be honest with yourself and be open about your problems because that’s the only way to really address the issue. You’ll realise how much relief you will feel after opening up for the first time.

You can support and follow Kent along his journey through the Rebound Club Instagram page and also his personal one – @kent.ohori / @reboundclub

You can also support Kent through sharing his journey with your own circles and donating via his personal fundraising page made through LIVIN. All donations and support will be greatly appreciated.

DONATE HERE: https://www.mycause.com.au/p/274677/east-coast-everesting-challenge-riding-for-mental-health-awareness