Mission: Raise money for a good cause by putting myself on the line to COMPLETE the Duke Blue Devil on October 16th 2004.



What does that really mean mate? Well, the DBD is an Ironman distance triathlon(Swim -2.4 miles / Bike - 112 miles/ Run - 26.2 miles).



Is this a challenge? I have had some experience with running the run distance. I have even biked the bike distance one, but the swim is a little up in the air right now! Before Feb 2002 I was in pretty good atheltic shape and read a book called 'Becoming a Trathlete'. That got me all reved up to do one, so I signed up for the Great Floridian. Up to this point I had been rather selfish and only done events for my own gain, never for others, very narrow minded of me.


Just as I started my first couple of months of training to perfect each skill I had a nasty little bump with a tree whilst sliding on my snowboard. Well, that newsflash put me on my back with a broken femur and broken wrists. I was told no running for a year, no snowboarding for 2 years AND your gonna be a slacker from now on, well, kind of. So, no money back on the 2002 Tri, or the Big Sur marathon for that matter. Two dreams shattered.



I was walking after 6 weeks, running pretty soon after that but only as a token effort. It has been 2 years now and it's time to set an impossible goal and get on the job. This time I am doing it for others, because when I was very badly broke it's others that kept me ticking.







Right now I am overweghit, under-fit but heavily motivated. So place your bets down for a good cause. Oh, the cause! Well, I am doing this for an Organization called Achilles Track Club. I quote from the website:


'The Achilles Track Club (ATC) was established by Dick Traum in 1983 to encourage disabled people to participate in long-distance running with the general public. Dick is its current President, an above the knee amputee marathoner. We are an international, nonprofit organization that provides support, training, and technical expertise to runners at all levels.'


There are various chapters around the world and one of my next goals will be to set one up in Breckenridge, but thats another story!




I feel drawm to Achilles because it's a group I belong to now. I am still partially paraluzed in me left leg, and training is a rod and screws in your hip can be a tad painful. The wrists don't like cold water swims. All of that is minor in comparisson to what many of these atheletes do and it takes guts to get there. It also take good people around you and funding is needed for that network. It also takes money for getting people to events. The nice thing about running is it is pretty cheap, so a little goes a long way. It gets more expensive when you need additional equpment to make the goal possible.




Please help. I will post relevant pictures and stories to keep you entertained.