"I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous"
Vilhjálmsson started the hike with some friends that decided to walk with him the first part of the journey. Composite image
The hiker Bergur Vilhjálmsson began his hike into Hvalfjörður from Akranes with a sled loaded with 100 kg around 14 am today.
Vilhjálmsson walks to raise money for the Pieta organization and to honor the memory of his best friend’s mother. He recently learned that the sled he walks with is 110 kg, so he is actually walking with 210 kg.
Many people came together to show support for Vilhjálmsson's symbolic walk.
A journalist at mbl.is caught up with Vilhjálmsson, who was outside the Ultra-Form fitness center in Akranes, just before he started the hike.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” he said when asked about his feelings at the beginning of the walk. He said he was nevertheless ready to take it on.
“There is nothing else but to do it,” he adds with a chuckle.
Vilhjálmsson is walking to support the Pieta Organization and to honor the memory of his friend's mother.
Follow Vilhjálmsson for the first part of the route
Around 50 people gathered in front of Ultra-Form to encourage Vilhjálmsson and some of them followed him for the first part of the route, but Vilhjálmsson said people are welcome to come and go as they pleased if they wanted to walk with him part of the way.
It turned out that the intended weight of 100 kgs more than doubled when Vilhjálmsson realized that the sled weighted 110 kgs.
Vilhjálmsson will lose 10 kg for every 10 km, but each trail will be marked with words denoting mental difficulties. The hike is a kind of metaphor for mental difficulties that many people carry through their lives, and he will thus relieve the burden of mental difficulties both literally and symbolically. The
He estimates that the walk will take 48 hours, but he plans to finish at Ultraform in Grafarholt at 14.00 on Saturday.
You can follow Vilhjálmsson live here:
You can support Vilhjálmsson’s hike for the Pieta organization by paying into the following account:
Account number: 0301-26-041041
ID: 410416-0690.
The Directorate of Health points out that those who struggle with suicidal thoughts must tell others about their situation, whether it’s a family member or by contacting the Red Cross Helpline 1717, or via online chat at 1717.is, with a nurse in an online chat at heilsuvera.is or with a counselor at the phone of the Pieta organization, 552-2218. They also offer counseling and support for the family members of those who struggle with suicidal thoughts.
For those who have lost a loved one in suicide, the Directorate of Health points out grief support at the Grief Centre at 551-4141 and at the Pieta Organization at 552-2218.
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