{"id":363730,"date":"2026-06-17T03:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/363730\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T03:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:00:32","slug":"oakland-county-man-tackles-320-mile-ultraman-to-honor-mother-support-hope-shelters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/363730\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland County man tackles 320-mile Ultraman to honor mother, support HOPE shelters"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 An Oakland County man is preparing to tackle his first self-supported Ultraman<\/a>, using the three-day endurance event to raise money for HOPE Shelters in memory of his mother.<\/p>\n

Ryan Walker of West Bloomfield said he has been running for as long as he can remember, starting with 5K races as a child alongside his grandfather.<\/p>\n

In 2018, while recovering from a broken leg, Walker set a goal of running six miles a week\u2014a routine that helped him rebuild his fitness and eventually led to longer distances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI set a goal of running just six miles a week, and I was like, if I can be consistent and run \u2014 just do six miles a week \u2014 that\u2019ll be 300 by the end of the year, and I ran my first half marathon that year,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Half marathons turned into triathlons and eventually into an Ironman.<\/p>\n

Walker said he decided to run for a cause tied to his mother, Lori Picard, who died in 2008 at age 44. <\/p>\n

He said she was known for her willingness to stop and help people.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would always be willing to stop and talk to anybody. If someone needed something, she would literally want to give them the shirt off her back, not just hand over a dollar and keep walking, but like sit down with us, have a meal, and that was very consistent,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Walker said his mother struggled with addiction and bipolar disorder, but he remembers her as someone who tried to support others in need.<\/p>\n

He said he discovered HOPE Shelters three years ago and felt the organization\u2019s mission aligned with how his mother lived.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came to know Ryan about three years ago, and he came to us, and he had this passion, and he wanted to do this in memory of his mom, so now this is the third year, and we are so grateful,\u201d said HOPE Shelters Executive Director Katonya Jones. <\/p>\n

Walker has raised more than $30,000 for the organization through previous fundraising challenges, including a 100-mile run, a bike ride, and swim around Mackinac Island.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s preparing for an Ultraman \u2014 a grueling, three-day, 320-mile event that combines swimming, biking, and running. Walker is doing the race self-supported, with up to 12 hours per day.<\/p>\n

He launched a GoFundMe<\/a> that has already raised more than $13,000, with proceeds benefiting HOPE Shelters.<\/p>\n

HOPE Shelters helps an average of over 500 people a year, working to help them find stability and permanent housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe rescue them, we restore them, and we give them stability with housing, to put them back out in the market and help them find jobs,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Walker said he\u2019ll have a support system along the route.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people that are planning to meet me along the way, whether it\u2019s to run a few miles or ride their bike for a little bit \u2014 and that\u2019s the part I really want to be present and take it all in,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Walker will complete the Ultraman from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Each day, he plans to divert from his route to pass HOPE Shelters\u2019 location on Baldwin Avenue, where staff members said they will be cheering him on.<\/p>\n

You can make a donation here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 An Oakland County man is preparing to tackle his first self-supported Ultraman, using the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,904,145,144,7910],"class_list":["post-363730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-west-bloomfield"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}