Owensboro native Brandon Cox was encouraged to be active growing up in the Bon Harbor area and found hiking as a source of pleasure.
“I grew up as a kid outside … back before phones. In the summertime, the sun would come up and parents would say, ‘Get outside and come home when the street lights come on …’,” the 36-year-old said. “(Back then), you could wander through the woods, … see deer, get to the river ….”
Cox would also explore the outdoors with his father during his deer hunting expeditions.
“I just enjoyed being in the woods,” he said.
Though Cox said going out in the wilderness diminished over time due to his busy schedule, he has since been able to find his way back.
“My career has afforded me the opportunity to live in a lot of cool places,” Cox said, who has worked in the newspaper industry for a number of years before becoming the client success manager at Fastek Services, LLC, “so I would go check out the places, the natural scenery around those areas and (it) just really rekindled that enjoyment of being outside.”
He’s even become more focused on his fitness and health taking up cycling about a decade ago, which Cox said those in that community helped him find his way “back on the trail.”
And now, Cox is looking to take his hobby to the next level by hiking the 19,341-foot Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain located in Tanzania — a bucket list item of his since he was working as a newspaper publisher in Bay City, Texas, and found out the company’s then-president, Dolph Tillotson, completed the climb.
“... That group of people that I worked with and for … traded a bunch of book recommendations around, and I think at one time he recommended ‘Into Thin Air’ by Jon Krakauer,” Cox said, “and I just asked him, ‘How did you get into mountains?’ (because) he lives in Galveston, Texas, which is literally sea level.”
Cox said Tillotson began to share background on his Kilimanjaro journey and even shared his blog journal that was published on the newspaper’s website he was overseeing at the time.
“I was reading through it and was like, ‘Man, this is really cool,’ ” Cox said. “... It’s always been at the back of my mind.”
His interest continued to pique when coming across a mountain climbing documentary on Netflix about three years ago, and finally decided to research, read books and watch videos online in order to prepare himself to make the trip himself.
And it seemed like Cox was about to make it a reality recently before the plans fell through.
“I started reaching out to outfitters, or mountain guides, to see what it all kind of entailed,” he said. “There was one guy that I spoke to specifically at-length and was almost ready to go last year, (but) we just couldn’t make the days and the logistics work ….”
Though Cox was content that it “maybe wasn’t the right time,” it was a Google search that led him to an advertisem*nt for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s partnership with Embark Exploration Co. for a fundraising opportunity to those willing to hike Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu as a St. Jude Hero.
Cox found the discovery as a “perfect” opportunity to not only achieve one of his life goals but to help others in need.
“I’m fortunate in that I didn’t experience childhood cancer in my own life and all of my kids are happy and healthy …, but I do know people who have faced that battle. I even have a good friend and somebody that I worked with who lost a child to cancer,” he said. “This is a great way to give back and do something … especially for people where I don’t expect anything in return.”
In preparation for the trek, which is scheduled to take place in mid-October, Cox has been keen on staying in shape.
Before even signing up at a St. Jude Hero, he completed the 75 Hard Challenge — a strict 75-day lifestyle program that includes exercising twice a day, following a rigid diet and reading and forgoing rest days, cheat days or substitutions, according to Cleveland Clinic — and lost 40 pounds before recently losing another 10.
Currently, Cox is in the gym four days a week, “spending a lot of time on the StairMaster” and has recently incorporated a 30-pound weighted vest.
He’s also kept up with cycling, peddling about 100 miles a week and attempts to hike around the county and nearby places every two-to-three weeks.
He’s even taking time this week while attending a conference in Colorado by hiking Mount Bierstadt on Wednesday morning.
As a St. Jude Hero and a registrant for the trip, Cox is required to raise $12,000 — half of which is to be raised by July 1. He said those funds all go to a good cause.
“St. Jude make sure that your child is facing cancer and you’re going through that battle, you’re not paying for food, and travel and accommodations and even treatment,” he said. “The family doesn’t get a bill for anything.
“... It all adds up and it makes a difference.”
Besides receiving funds via his St. Jude donation webpage, one of Cox’s former employers, Texas Roadhouse in Owensboro, will donate 10% of one’s food total upon presenting a specifically-made flyer in-person on June 18. Orders can be dine-in and take-out.
The funds will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through Cox’s trek to Kilimanjaro with the St. Jude Heroes program.
For more information about Cox’s trek and to locate the Texas Roadhouse flyer, visit brandoncox.co/kilimanjaro.
