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First Inuk to climb Mt. Everest?

Half-marathon takes runner from Kuujjuaq to Nepal

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

Lisa Koperqualuk crossed three herds of caribou while running 21 kilometres in last week's half-marathon in Kuujjuaq. She is pictured here with scriptwriter Jobie Weetaluktuk and boyfriend Yvan Pouliot. (PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA KOPERQUALUK)

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Lisa Koperqualuk, originally from Puvirnituq, is heading to the legendary base camp of Mt. Everest in Nepal to climb to heights that she believes no Inuk has ever seen.

Koperqualuk, 42, won a half-marathon race in Kuujjuaq on Oct. 2, beating three other Inuit runners hoping to win a spot on a spring expedition to the Himalayas.

At first, Koperqualuk said she doubted she would be able to jog for more than two hours. But six months of training paid off.

"I'm not a jogger," she said with a laugh from her office in Montreal, where she works in communications for Makivik Corporation.

"Running didn't interest me as a sport. I found I was bored placing my one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again."

But Koperqualuk said her keen interest in seeing a new country motivated her to lace up her sneakers and run.

The trip is part of a University of Ottawa research project to see how climbers prepare mentally and physically to climb to high altitudes.

Prof. Sean Egan, who is coordinating the trip, reserved a spot on the expedition team for an Inuk, after Makivik Corp. agreed to provide $10,000 in sponsorship money. Koperqualuk had to beat four other applicants for the spot including Shirley Dupuis, of Kuujjuaq; Patrick Ekomiak, of Kuujjuaraapik, and Jeannie May, of Kuujjuaq.

Egan, who spent 15 years teaching health in Nunavut communities, said he wanted an Inuk to come on the trip because he felt it would provide a role model for younger Inuit.

"One of the things I have noticed in any aboriginal society, is they look up to the white man," he said in a recent interview. "On a symbolic level, Mt. Everest is one of the white man's accomplishments.

"[This expedition] says 'you guys can do it as well as we do'."

Koperqualuk said, as part of her mission to represent Inuit, she will likely bring sealskin mittens to give to the sherpas who help her along the way.

The expedition, which covers about seven kilometres, is expected to take up to 10 days.

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