Author: Frank Matys

Six thousand ambitious souls recently scaled the 1,776 stairs that link the top of Toronto’s CN Tower with its base.

Oro-Medonte’s Matt Druken left them all in his dust.

The 13-year-old athlete completed the challenge in little more than 11 minutes, a personal record and the best overall time in an annual fundraising event supporting the World Wildlife Fund.

 “You never know when you are going to get to the top,” the area youth said of the grueling April 19 climb.  “It is just stairs and stairs and stairs. (By the end) it’s like someone sucked all the energy out of your legs.”

Druken, a three-time participant in the event, began this year’s climb at about 5 a.m.

Eleven minutes and 27 seconds later, he arrived – exhausted and elated – at the top of the iconic tower to throngs of cheering volunteers.

Shortly after, accompanied by his parents and a friend, an understandably famished Druken would tuck into a celebratory omelet at a downtown diner.

“It feels cool,” he said of the accomplishment. “I knew I beat 30 year olds and people who were way older than me.”

The majority of participants take between 25 and 40 minutes to reach the top, according to organizers.

In 2006, Druken completed the climb in slightly more than 15 minutes, and managed to shave about three minutes off his time the following year.

Proceeds from the annual event go to tackle climate change.

“It is important,” he added of the cause.

A member of the South Simcoe Dufferin Track and Field Club for the past four years, the area teen also swims with the Barrie Dolphins.

He is currently training with the provincial triathlon team at the University of Guelph in the hope of competing at the Canada Summer Games.

Druken’s mother Kellie attested to her son’s tenacity and unrelenting drive.

“The dedication he has at 13 for his sports, I don’t know anybody ever who has been that way,” she said.

His exercise regimen includes 14 weekly workouts and 40- kilometer bicycle rides.

When the television is on, “he is either doing push-ups or sit-ups or something,” Kellie added. “I can count on one hand the number of times he has been on the computer.”

Druken plans to climb the tower again later this year, this time on behalf of the United Way.