Half Ironman Joy Town Support Raising and Race

I am completely blown away.  My entire Half Ironman experience has been an incredible journey. I am humbled by first of all, God's dream that he gave me to compete and support raise for something that I am so passionate about. And secondly, I am humbled by the support and encouragement of my friends and family.

6 months ago when I landed back in the US from my time in Kenya I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me. I knew I was moving to CO to start my PT job in Ft Collins but I didn’t know how my life in Kenya could ever relate to my life in the US. The worlds felt like polar opposites and it seemed like there were no similiatires between the two. I remember talking to both friends and family about how I could possibly connect the two worlds. What was I supposed to do about the poverty and despair I saw in Kenya? How was I supposed to live changed in the USA when we live in a society that takes almost everything for granted? I started praying that there would be some connection between the two extremes- the life full of hope and new beginnings in CO and the life full of poverty and brokenness in Kenya. 

Exactly 4 months ago I heard of the organization Athletes in Tandem and I was overcome with excitement! I was able to put all of my passions together: both love for individuals wth disabilities and love for the outdoors/exercise. While I was online signing up for one of the many races I've done with them this summer I saw a fundraising tab on the race website. At that moment God put the idea into my head of competing in an event where I could raise support for the kids that I worked with in Kenya at Joy Town, a school/orphanage for kids with disabilities. I am still amazed to this day of how God just gave me a lightbulb moment and told me what I should do. Since then there has only been four blog posts/emails sent out to family and friends. Through those I have been able to raise awareness of the conditions of Joy Town and raise exactly $3,000.00!!!! I personally think that is a lot of money here in the US but it is WAY more money in Kenya.  I emailed the lady who is in charge of the support raising for Bethany Kids (which is in charge of the therapy for the kids at Joy Town) and she was so excited by the donations. I can't wait to hear about (and someday see in person when I return to Kenya) the changes that they are able to make at Joy Town with these donations.

I want to thank all of you for playing a role in supporting me but most importantly for supporting these precious Kenyan kids!  Also, I want to thank everyone for encouraging me and cheering me on with my training and race. The process of training was difficult with being new at all 3 sports, moving to a new city and starting a new job, lots of traveling and some bouts of sickness, but it was an incredible experience to train for something way beyond myself. 

For those of you who are curious about the race...it went well! I feel like it's just an extra bonus on top of the support raising that I was able to compete well. I was able to place 3rd for my age group and top 10 out of 156 total females with a time of 5:35 mins (25 mins faster than my goal time!) It was a pretty tough and long competition. All 3 events were difficult- since I'm not experienced in any of the 3 events all of them had there difficult aspects. One of the toughest parts was especially the bike ride with the last 20 miles being against 20 mph headwind with lots of hill climbing. But the most difficult part was the half marathon run after the bike- every step of the 13.1 miles felt like an eternity in the hot blazing sun! I am so very thankful for my mom, aunt, cousin and 7 Ft Collins friends who traveled far distances with their neon clothing and posters to come cheer me on!

 

 I wanted to share the finish line photo below (taken when I was just getting off the slip n slide at the race finish) and I'm posing next to the poster that says "running, biking, swimming for JOY TOWN" If I look tired in this picture it's because I was ; )

Thanks again to everyone, both near and far. My encouragement to you all is to never doubt the surprises that God has in store for you. I guarantee that He has things planned for you that will completely blow you away.