Monday, August 18, 2008

Super Simon

Instead of putting on a cape, Whitfield takes off his visor with less than a kilometer to go and fires it into the crowd. He then runs down a gap between himself and 3 of the top triathlon runners in the sport, hammers right through them and grabs the race by the throat. With absolutely nothing in the tank he holds onto silver for the gutsiest live sports performance I have ever seen.

The gold medal winning men's 8-rowing team had a great quote: "The medals are awarded in the summer but earned in the winter." Some of the training Whitfield & Co. do is all about that: http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/

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THE CAUSE

Regardless of what brought you to our site, we welcome you. Simply put, Racing for SickKids – Ironman Florida 2008 exists for a sole purpose: to raise as much money as we can to support Cardiac Care at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

The division of Cardiology at SickKids was established over 60 years ago and is now one of the largest and most successful of its kind. Like many of the Hospitals’ departments and programs they are world-class innovators, teachers and caregivers. But the real reason SickKids and the Cardiology group is so important to me among the many, many other causes and charities is what they did for my friend, Jonathan Holiday.


I am using the platform of training for and racing in an Ironman Triathlon to share his story. The physical challenges are quantifiable: I will swim 3.9km, cycle 180km and run 42km – consecutively. I will be racing 226km (140 miles) or approximately the distance from Toronto to Parry Sound in a single day. While daunting, I find the mental obstacles far more intimidating, notably having the discipline to fit 15 to 20+ hours of training a week into “life” while avoiding injuries and too many trips to the buffet table. While there is certainly a degree of physical and emotional pain in all of this, it pales in comparison to what the kids and their families are forced to endure every day at SickKids.


Jon was one of these kids. To me he was friend, student, and partner-in-crime. To others he was son, brother, grandson, nephew, classmate, teammate, boy friend. To most, he was better known as “Lawnboy”. For all, he was a special person who, at only 17 years old, left us far too early.

100% of the money we raise will support the Jonathan Holiday Fund to support Cardiology at SickKids. Please follow the link at the top right of the page or click HERE to make a secure online donation.