SURREY — John Burns says he’s pretty sore today after golfing 100 holes to support a local charity.
Running with his clubs from hole to hole, the Surrey pastor began golfing at the Peace Portal course Sunday at 8 p.m. and finished at around 5 a.m. Monday.
“Right now I’m just in pain, everything hurts, but I kind of expected that,” Burns told the Now-Leader on Monday morning.
“I tried (sleeping) this morning but there’s no position that is not in pain, so I can’t sleep right now. I’m gonna get a massage and that should hurt – I mean, that should help,” he added with a laugh.
READ MORE: Surrey pastor to golf 100 holes for charity – while running with his clubs through the night, from Aug. 16
Burns, 64, pastor at Relate Church on 152nd Street in Surrey, does his yearly “PJ’s 100 Hole Golf-A-Thon” in support of Mercy Canada, a Surrey-based organization that aims to help young women who are going through tough times.
“It took me nine hours, which is a pretty good time for me – I’ve never done it that fast before,” said Burns, who began doing his annual golf marathon in 2009.
“After about 60 holes, the only thing you can do is keep moving. As soon as you stop, everything just seizes up and it’s worse, so I just kept moving.”
Through the night, he wore a headlamp and used a glow-in-the-dark golf ball.
“It was a dark, dark night,” Burns said. “If you turned off all the headlamps and everything, you could not see your hand in front of your face, just total black. But you could see the stars out really well.”
“I didn’t lose many balls,” he added. “They light up so you can see them, but I did lose a couple in the water, that’s all.”
Burns estimated he raised around $100,000 for the charity – “but I’m not sure, I’m hoping it’s more,” he said.
Burns insisted this will be the final time he does his marathon golf round for charity – or so he says.
“I’ve said it three times, this is my last time, so yeah, I’ll say it again. This is my last time.”