Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge Society releases 2025 fundraising totals, 2026 dates

(Update, July 2nd, 12:53 p.m.): This story has been updated to include further comment from event founder and society president Laurie Cardinal.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local endurance race organization has announced the final fundraising totals for its June events.

According to the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge Society’s founder and president Laurie Cardinal, $51,200 in total was raised by the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge and the Sadownik Miles for Smiles events.

Cardinal confirmed the details in a Facebook post on Tuesday, July 1st.

The society’s flagship event, which took place in the Beatton River Park near Cecil Lake on June 7th, raised $46,200 for School District 60 schools, giving each school in the district $2,100 in grocery gift cards for students and their families.

The Sadownik Miles for Smiles, a 24-hour trail race named after the late local endurance enthusiasts Steve and Nicole Sadownik, took place in the Fish Creek Community Forest on June 13th and 14th and raised $5,000.

Proceeds for the event will benefit chemotherapy patients at Fort St. John Hospital.

Cardinal told Energeticcity.ca she was “ecstatic” about the final numbers.

“We just can’t believe how much the community has supported us,” said Cardinal. “Especially a couple of the major sponsors, ConocoPhillips and Sage Creek [Oilfield Services]. We also had a big company, Optimal Trucking, which gave to both events.

“People just keep showing up and just embracing us for our cause. And it just warms our hearts so much, we raised over double what we projected we might raise this year.”

The post confirmed the dates for next year: the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge will take place on Saturday, June 6th and the Sadownik Miles for Smiles will take place on Friday, June 12th and Saturday June 13th.

More information is available at the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge Society’s Facebook page.