We’ve all gotten into “those ruts” in our training. You know, these are those days when you can’t get out of bed in the morning to find motivation and think “I’ll just skip this one workout the race is X months away.” I’ve recently been invited to race for a cause. I’ll be upfront here and humbly ask for a donation of any amount as you’ll soon realize it isn’t about me, my training, or my racing. You have the opportunity to directly impact the life of a family through an organization that makes dreams possible for those with serious illnesses.

The Cause

Simply put, the cause is Maddie Carlson. Maddie is now a 17 year-old teenager who lives in New Hampshire. A while back, I read an article about a local teenager who was diagnosed with a very rare form of bone cancer (Ewing Sarcoma). I do not know the Carlson family nor have I met any of them, but I do know several members of the Northeast Multisport Triathlon team who are connected.

This past week, I was asked by a fellow teammate if I wanted to be a part of their Team Maddie Strong Reach the Beach team. Reach the Beach is one of my favorite endurance events. This would make my fifth Reach the Beach and thought, sure, why not join a different team than I’ve been on in the past? But then I also learned some of my good Northeast Multisport friends (who are also racing Ironman Timberman 70.3) are on a fundraising team for Maddie through Make-A-Wish. These teammates are all racing and raising money for the same cause for the same person…Maddie Carlson. Following the steps of a good friend of our family, I plan on donating my Reach the Beach medal and T-shirt to Maddie.

I simply cannot pass up an opportunity to join my friends and raise money for a local teenager and family. As athletes and individuals, we are privileged to be able to do what we do during training. It’s an even greater privilege to have the ability to be able to make a difference, no matter how small.

More Inspiration

Andy Potts is one of the world’s best pro triathletes. He won Ironman Timberman 70.3 last year among other victories. Aside from being an incredible athlete, he is also involved with the Make-A-Wish foundation. He’s also an incredibly humble and motivating individual. He takes time out of his pre and post race activities to give back to the Make-A-Wish foundation and participants. Make-A-Wish has a significant presence at Timberman and found it awesome Andy got involved. I noticed their giant presence during last year’s race.

Just watch Andy in action in the below clip from the 2015 Ironman Coeur d’Alene Ironman awards speech. It was incredibly hot on race day where many athletes were not able to finish. This clip has been one of my favorites since I saw it. It takes on an increased meaning not just for racing as athletes, but what Maddie has and is going through as a cancer patient and the struggle between hope and doubt.

Maddie’s official song is “This is Your Fight Song” by Rachel Platten. I’d like to link to a cover of this by The Piano guys…also one of my favorites.

How You Can Help

My friends and I need your help to hit our goal, but more importantly, we want to support Maddie. We hope we’ve convinced you that this is a worthy cause, and humbly ask you to support us as we swim 1.2 miles, ride 56 miles, and run 13.1 at Timberman 70.3 and run over 200 miles collectively as a team at Reach the Beach. You can donate to our team fundraising by clicking on the button below. Thank you in advance for your generosity.