Why are four sweaty guys taking over a Richmond living room...?

He’s commandeering his living room for two full days and nights to accommodate at least four sweaty guys.

But that’s OK, claims Richmond’s Martin Hauck, as it’s all for a “higher cause,” namely raising thousands of dollars for the BC Cancer Foundation for the third year in a row.

To be clear, the reason for the partial “sleepover” is to give Hauck and his three fellow runners a comfortable place to rest, recover and rejuvenate their bodies during the gruelling 4x4x48 Challenge – running four miles on the four-hour mark for 48 hours.

Beginning Friday, March 3 at 8 p.m., Hauck, along with Jeff Kirkeby, Mike Benedetto and Chris Segers, will once again pound the West Dike Trail, Garry Point Park and west Richmond to raise money and awareness for the cancer charity.

It’s never easy, admits Hauck – but that’s just the way he and his friends like it. Well, sort of.

“We’re going to transform my house into a little staging area for four guys. No backyard this time,” Hauck told the Richmond News of his plans for the two days.

“We want to suffer, but we want to keep it manageable. I’m going to pull all the mattresses out of the tent trailer and lay them all out on the floor.

“It’s not going to be easy, but that’s OK…life is full of suck, (in our preparation) we’re just trying to do one thing that sucks each day in the run-up to it..so to try to control (the pain) a bit more.

“It always hurts. But it pales in comparison to what people are going through with chemo, for example.”

Lots of water during the rest periods is a given, said Hauck, but also protein and fat-heavy foods, small meals and a massage gun.

“There will be lots of movies and enjoying ourselves,” he added.

As for an ice bath to reduce inflammation in the joints and muscles, it’s not something Hauck considered.

“I guess we could set up a tub in the backyard. We need all the help we can get.”

Hauck and Kirkeby raised in the region of $6,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation last year and the four participants this year will be hoping to burst through that figure this time around.

To donate to their cause, go to

https://tourdecure.ca/donate/participant/1842031/4014/Martin+Hauck/

Five years ago, Hauck began participating in the Tour de Cure - a 200+km cycling event to raise money for cancer research.

While he was proud to be riding and soliciting donations for such a worthy cause, he didn't see the physical challenge as demanding enough and wanted a bigger challenge.

That’s when he came across the 4x4x48 challenge, started by Navy Seal David Goggins.