“I don’t think I can do this.”

“I don’t think I can do this.”

Outside my tent, I could hear them — one voice after another — reaching loved ones from the

 single spot where a cell signal had finally appeared. After three days disconnected from the world below, our climbers were calling home as we made our way up Mount Kilimanjaro on the first-ever ZERO Peaks Challenge, sponsored by presenting sponsor Tolmar, this past September.

And one after another, these words echoed through the thin mountain air:

“This is so hard.”

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

Lying in my tent, listening, I was taken back to my previous Kilimanjaro climb 11 years earlier. I remembered the same mix of exhaustion, fear, determination — and realized just how much this journey mirrors life with cancer.

There are peaks and valleys. You prepare as best you can. And despite all the research and preparation, no matter how many videos you watch or websites you read, it’s harder than you ever imagined. Most of all: there’s no way you can do it alone.

Over eight days on the mountain, I watched an extraordinary group of people come together — patients at every stage of prostate cancer, survivors, doctors, care partners, and supporters. Each person had trained, fundraised, and left behind their families and routines to take on something bigger than themselves.

They were united by purpose — not just the climb, but the cause. Together, this first ZERO Peaks Challenge team raised more than half a million dollars to fuel our mission to ensure people with prostate cancer live longer, better lives.

But what struck me most wasn’t just their strength or fortitude, or even their beautiful vulnerability. It was our interdependence. When one person faltered, another offered a hand. When someone needed to cry or vent or rest, the group made space for it. That community — that willingness to lift one another up — is the same force that carries patients and families through the hardest days of a cancer journey.

When I first climbed Kilimanjaro eight years after my own cancer diagnosis, it was deeply personal. I wanted to test the limits of what my body — the same body that had once betrayed me — was still capable of. That climb taught me I could do hard things. I could face my deep fear of heights. That despite the treatment, hot flashes, weight gain, achy legs, and neuropathy-riddled feet, I still had control over something. 

If you were to ask my fellow hikers this September what they heard from me the most, it was some variation of this: We’re not afraid to do hard things. Or, We might be afraid, but we do it anyway.

This time, I was eager to see that transformation happen in others. And I wasn’t disappointed. As I stood at the summit, exhausted and emotional, I waited for each participant to reach the top. One by one, they did — some barely able to stand, some in tears, all of them changed. Their faces told the story: 

determination, pride, and a profound realization that they were more powerful than they had ever believed. 

Now that I’m home — back to running water, fast internet, and the comforts of daily life — I keep thinking about those moments on the mountain. About the laughter, the tears, and the blistered feet. The disappointments and the triumphs. I can’t stop thinking about my fellow hikers and how I watched their confidence grow before my eyes. How lives were changed, decisions were made, demons were slayed. 

The ZERO Peaks Challenge isn’t just an adventure or a fundraiser. It’s a living metaphor — for resilience, for community, for hope. It’s a chance to reclaim your strength and to do something hard, together.

Watching our climbers push past fear and fatigue reminded me why we do this work. It reminded me that, just like on the mountain, no one should face prostate cancer alone.

I will carry the stories, courage, and hearts of these climbers with me forever — and I’m deeply grateful that they trusted me, and ZERO, to climb beside them.

The summit may be thousands of miles away now, but its lessons stay close — urging us to keep climbing. Next year we’re returning to Kilimanjaro and adding a new trek to Machu Picchu, Peru. Visit zerocancer.org/zero-peaks-challenge to learn how you can take on your own mountain — and make a lasting impact in the mission to ensure that prostate cancer is detected early, support is unwavering, and quality care is accessible to all.

Courtney Bugler
President & CEO

P.S. The ZERO Peaks Challenge is the culmination of work that began last fiscal year — part of the many exciting new initiatives ZERO is driving forward. Check out our recently published annual report to learn about the impact and the groundwork fueling our success in 2026.