In the history of triathlon teams, I would venture to guess that ours would be up-there in terms of ridiculousness. Just when we thought things couldn't get any stranger or more complicated, they always seemed to. For all of us, it was our first triathlon, however we weren't doing it under typical circumstances.
Vicky was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2008 and had spend the past year in treatment. She was the mastermind behind the tri, after setting it as a personal goal upon finishing one of the roughest years of her life. She managed to rope Mike and I into joining her in the summer of 2008 as we all lounged around a lake in Quebec with our freshly bald heads.
You know my story. I had broken my ankle in the fall and was limping my way to recovery. Triathlons were actually a smart idea for me since swimming & cycling were much lower impact on my ankle than continuing my usual distance running. Unfortunately, the week prior to the triathlon, my racing bike was stolen, making life a touch complicated.
Mike had possibly the most recent, and therefore most ridiculous story. The day before the race, we intended to head into London and spend some time with friends, however only a few hours before our train I received a message from Mike which read, "Off to the hospital, need stitches." Mike had played Rugby that morning, and had a bit of a clash involving his head. While we were an hour late getting into London, Mike snuck his way out of the hospital and even got clearance to do the triathlon. The catch was, he would do the race with five metal staples in his head.
After a wonderful evening with our friends Dave & Andrea, we woke and set off to Crystal Palace, hoping that we had endured enough ridiculousness for one event. The event was a pool triathlon, so we at least figured no one would drown. This also meant that we would have staggered starting times and that the three of us were in for a long day.
Generally, the course was a lot of fun. The 50m pool was a nice change over the 25m we had been training in. I found it a bit easier to get into a steady rhythm, and was actually surprised at how quickly the swim portion was over. The cycle and run followed nearly the same path which was unfortunate since there was a roughly 30 degree slope upwards at the start of each lap. We would grow to hate that hill, however our butts couldn't ask for a better work out.
What mattered though is that, in the end, we all crossed the finish.
Our final results were:
Vicky David + 1 year breast cancer treatment = 1h53m21s
Michal Wozny + 5 stainless steel staples in the scalp = 1h33m52s
Shane Saunderson + 2 titanium ankle pins - 1 racing bike = 1h30m27s
We owe a big thanks to Dave & Andrea for putting us up for the night, and I have to give a thanks to Mike as well for letting me use his mountain bike, even if I did curse it the entire 20kms around the track.
My good friend Jenn is currently teaching english to kids in Taiwan. When she heard about my campaign, she was inspired and decided that she wanted to find a way to help out. What she did reminded me of the wealth of human kindness, regardless of age, location or culture.
