Thursday, November 6, 2008

The 10th Annual Florida Ironman

My day was more perfect than I hoped it to be: I finished; I was able to ‘race’ the whole race; I beat my goal time by 15 minutes.

Everything went to plan and the result reflected the process. We raised $40,000 to help kids born with bad hearts. You can’t ask for more. If you want to receive a copy of the race report, please let me know.

THANK YOU!

Time: 10:15:39
Finisher 243 of 2270 overall
Finisher 46 of 236 males 30-34

Swim 2.4 mile (3.8km): 1:10:23
Bike 112 mile (180km): 5:16:52
Run 26.2 mile (42.2km): 3:40:48

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.