From bars to marathons, radio host makes major lifestyle adjustment

For years Brent Hawley was the guy at the bar, a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other.

Those days are long gone.

Within the next week Hawley, the morning show host on The Thunder country music radio station, plans to race a marathon in Rome, hop on a plane for Africa and begin an eight-day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro.

If that’s not enough, he’ll follow that up by competing in an iron man competition in South Africa.

It’s all in support of a worthy cause, Hawley said, as he attempts to raise $20,000 for Team Diabetes.


It’s certainly not what he expected to be doing with his life five years ago, but circumstances led him down this path, Hawley said.

“The whole reason I started getting active was I had a small motorcycle accident, banged up my foot pretty good and had circulation issues. I said, you know what, this isn’t good. I was six months in a cast, it wasn’t healing well.”

Hawley’s doctor told him the more active he got, the quicker his body would respond.

“I quit smoking, changed my diet around and started working out. One thing led to another and I started working out more and more and more. That’s when I started running.”

For years, he joked, he looked at runners he’d see out and about in Thunder Bay like they were crazy. Now he’s one of them, spending three to four hours working up a serious sweat each day in pursuit of his goal.

“Now I’m kind of taking it to the extreme,” he said. “My diet is super clean, I’ve hired a coach, Jon Balabuk, who’s a phenomenal athlete. Every day I get emails from him telling me what I should be working on. “

Hawley’s first involvement with Team Diabetes began in 2009, when he decided to take on a marathon in Hawaii.

A year later he did it again, bettering his time and raising enough to send him to Rome.
It’s a cause that plays close to his heart. Hawley’s father was diagnosed with diabetes, giving him extra incentive to help find a cure.


Hawley, whose journeys in the past, have taken him to exotic locales like Thailand and the Galapagos Islands , said the travel is just icing on the cake.

“Now I can raise money for a great cause, I can see the world and I can do something that not only promotes a healthy lifestyle, but it’s probably going to help me live a lot longer as well,” he said.

To donate, visit www.teamdiabetes.ca and click on the pledge button.

“If you type in my name you can pledge me. I’m still raising money. I’m not quite at my goal yet. I’m probably about 65 per cent of my way to $20,000. So I’ve still got some work ahead of me,” he said.