THERE IS AN UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page for National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.!
Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.
Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!
I want to take the opportunity here to explain what exactly I am doing and why. In April of 2010, my wife Maria (pictured here with our two children) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was only 40 years old at the time. This was an enormous blow to us but something we knew we had to face. During the spring, summer, and fall of 2010, Maria did whatever she needed to do to fight the disease. She had tremendous support from her family and friends during this time. She has completed her treatments which included two surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation. She is now cancer free but remains aware and alert of the disease and is doing what she can to prevent a recurrence. Maria is just one example of thousands of women who battle this disease daily. In the midst of all of this, I wanted to do something big to aid in finding a cure. I felt helpless and almost desperate watching the love of my life go through something so nasty, wishing there was something I could do to help.
I have an extensive background in the sport of swimming. I also have many swimming friends and a brother who have done triathlons over the years. Before the summer of 2011, I had never done a triathlon. But this summer, I did two triathlons. Both were short distances. These people, especially my wife, have given me the inspiration to do a half ironman triathlon, which is a total distance of 70.3 miles. I decided in August 2010 that I wanted to do a triathlon to honor my wife and to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. A foot injury prevented me from completing my goal in 2011 so I pushed it to 2012. I am being backed by the National Breast Cancer Foundation and have been training since August 2010.
This disease had devastated my wife and I but we in turn are not going to let it get the best of us. The statistics say that 1 in 8 women will contract breast cancer in their lifetime! I think with those odds, we need to do our part to help raise money to find a cure because this disease will eventually affect every one of us. Please show your support and make a donation. Anything that you can give will help tremendously. Even if it is only $10! If I can get 500 people to donate $10, that would allow me to reach my goal of $5000 which would all go to the NBCF! Obviously, the more you are willing to donate, the better.
UPDATE As of December 22, 2011: I have picked a date and a venue for my half ironman. Saturday June 23rd, 2012 at Lake Almaden Park in San Jose. Start time is 7:00 a.m. and the race will run between 6 and 7 hours. Maria would love to have some fans out there for support. Its a nice park with a kids play area, a beach, a swim area, and there will be a party with food, drink, music, and beer while I am racing. Come support us, have a fun day, and check out the sport of triathlon. Its amazing! Here is the link to the website for the race. http://www.usaproductions.org/events/triathlon-series/tri-svlc. Donations to this page will be accepted through October 2012.
I am humbled and amazed as to how many of you have given so generously to this cause. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We love you.