GoodSports: 11-Year-Old Kid Climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro

 

Nico Saporito climbed Mount Kilimanjaro the other day. He's 11.

That's Africa's highest mountain. As in, 19,000 feet high. 

You can blame the two kids who hiked it a few years ago, when they were 12. Nico saw a special about them on the Discovery Channel a few years ago. 

"Nico got a bit obsessed after watching that," Nico's dad, Robert, told AOL news.

That's when Nico was 8. He wanted to go then, but couldn't. He was too young: The rules say you have to be 10. To, you know, climb the 19,000 foot high mountain. 

They live in Florida, which isn't exactly the highest area above sea level. So they trained by running three or four miles a day and used some altitude simulator device that manipulates the body's oxygen to levels found at high altitudes. Such as, say, 19,000 feet. 

They started the hike on March 12. Hiking the 46-mile Rongai route, they made it to the summit on March 16. Along the way, they hiked through three climate zones: tropical rain forest, alpine desert, and the arctic. 

And yeah, I feel good about jogging a mile or two every couple days. Man, time to get off this couch. 

Full story—about Nico, not me getting off the couch—here.