Ask and You Shall Receive

Some of you may be expecting my Marble Falls race report and if you are, I apologize…it’s two paragraphs deep and really is not all that inspiring.  When I started this blog I promised to write when I had something to write about.  Sometimes I start writing and it’s just not there…like my Marble Falls race report.  I may, or may not, revisit it.  Aside from the four guys leap frogging me up every hill and “disc dude” that kept passing me on the out and back, a race report really won’t be all that exciting.  FYI boys, if you have the option of never being chicked or being chicked 5 times, I would suggest the never option.  By that, I mean, don’t pass me and then slow down so I have to pass you…over and over and over again…it’s frustrating to me and ego-deflating to you J If you pass me, please keep moving ahead.  Ok, that pretty much sums up Marble Falls. 

Now to the meat of this thing.

A couple of years ago a high school friend posted on Facebook about a group out of Redlands, CA (Exceeding Expectations) that introduced kids, who may otherwise not have the opportunity, to triathlon.  First thought to cross my mind?  I want to do that some day.  Fast forward to late 2012.  Brad Dodson attended one of the Mayor’s (Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price) “Rolling Town Hall” bike rides.  On this ride he met some students and teachers from Daggett Middle School.  From the meeting, and lots of work on Brad’s part, stemmed the Daggett Triathlon Club. 

Due to my commitment to Team In Training, I wasn’t initially able to volunteer much time to the program.  But come March 1^st, I promised myself that I would volunteer with the kids at least once per week.  The first couple trainings I attended were bike rides, until Brad mentioned to me that they really needed more instruction in the pool.  I transferred my volunteer days to Thursday and begin to attend swim trainings with the kids.  The first day I showed up I understood what he meant.  There were 12+ kids in the pool with one poor woman (AMAZING Cindy!) who volunteers her time with the kids.  How could one person teach 12 kids, with varying abilities, to swim?  I don’t know how, but she was doing a darn good job!  I made Thursday my routine volunteer day and plan to continue doing so going forward. 

The program was already off and running due to huge time commitments from the kids’ teachers and other FWISD staff – Mrs. Lopez, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Guevara, Mr. B, and Ms. Medina.  Who not only advocate on their behalf, volunteer their time to train with and teach the kids the sport of triathlon, but also pick the kids up and drop them off when they would otherwise not be able to attend training sessions, and ensure they get to Church on time, even after completing a triathlon.  Huge hearts, all of them.

Their first event was the Benbrook Sprint Triathlon on April 21.  About three weeks before the sprint I was standing at the pool’s edge trying to figure out how all 12 would complete the swim.  We have a couple of really strong swimmers, a couple of weaker swimmers, and a majority that fall in between.  The Thursday before the race, I was in the pool with one of the girls, teaching her to swim on her back when she got uncomfortable in the deep end.  Only issue was, she wouldn’t go in the deep end without me next to her.  I was nervous she would not complete the swim on her own.  As a USAT Certified Race Director (and a stickler for rules) I was racking my brain as to how to ensure she completed the swim on her own.  As it turns out, all she needed was will power.  Our other weakest swimmer had been mentally affected by the drowning of another student (not related to the triathlon club) about a week before.  He clung to the wall the Thursday before the race with more fear of swimming in his eyes than I think I have ever witnessed.  My heart hurt just thinking about them potentially not completing the swim.

 

Now, you can’t attend a triathlon (well you can, but we gotta look sharp) without a good looking kit.  Here is where the generosity of the members of the FWTri Club (Friends Who Tri) further expands.  I researched a few places to get kits made for the kids that had both the FWTri logo and “Daggett Tri Club” on them.  Our lucky day came when I found out, through Angi, that Pearl Izumi was offering a discount on full tri kits in the month of April.  I put an ask out on the FWTri Club Member’s Only Facebook page for 12 people to each sponsor a kit for the kids.  In less than 24 hours, I had 13 responses and the cost of the kits were covered. 

I wasn’t astonished, I don’t want to say I was surprised, the people that are a part of the endurance community are some of the most giving I have ever come into contact with and this just further proved that point to me.  I was elated and I was shocked.  Not at their generosity, I really don’t know at what, but I really just couldn’t believe it had come together.  The teachers measured the students and I went down to Pearl Izumi to get the kits ordered.  After being handed a kit I held it up and decided that a junior top and bottom would probably fit around my little finger…and looking at the kids we had, I just didn’t know if they would fit.  So I did what any intelligent adult would do and I tried the junior kit on…if it fit me, no problem it would fit the kids.  The top fit fine, little bit of a midriff, I won’t lie.  I got the bottoms on, but if I were to bend over they would have ripped…that being said, we got three of the boys men’s shorts.  I worked with Joe Brown at HF Custom Design on the decals and with a little hectic running around we had the kits done the Friday before their sprint.

Bikes and goggles were purchased, thanks to the drive of Ms. Medina, helmets were donated thanks to Matt Dufrene’s workings, Annual USAT Memberships were covered thanks to Mark Castro and his crew at Lift-Master, Rick from Colonel's Bike's takes care of keeping the bikes working properly, race entries were comped thanks Trident who put on the race, race belts were donated by the Cowtown Marathon, and many other donations and gifts were made to help get the kids to the start line.

Race morning started with a bit of a flurry.  We got the kids dressed in their kits, transition set up, and them into the pool for some warm up laps.  We reviewed the snake swim with them and before we knew it, race time was here.  Off they went into the pool one by one.  Our last two to enter the water were Eric and Roxan.  As Eric was about to enter his goggles broke.  Previously I mentioned the student that had been deeply affected by the drowning of another student.  My heart dropped.  Of all the kids this could happen to, please not him.  As adults we make excuses to back out of things.  We use the smallest “issue” as a reason to not complete a daunting task.  Would he do this?  I walked down the line of triathletes waiting to enter the water after the kids.  The first person I spotted was Joe May.  Now, I don’t really remember if I politely asked for or just requested Joe’s goggles, but I do know that he handed them right over to me.  I then looked at where he was in line and decided he was too close behind the kids and Eric may not be done before I could get his goggles back to him.  I handed them back and walked further down the line.  All this time (which was probably less than a minute, but seemed like FOREVER to me) Eric was waiting patiently to cross the timing mat and begin his swim.  The next person I spotted was Toby Poore.  If you want to find yourself a good person, go introduce yourself to Toby.  He is fantastic.  Same issue here, I don’t know if I asked Toby or simply told him the use of his goggles was required, but he handed them right over (I later found out someone in that line mentioned he was rather trusting to let me just take his goggles right before a race, but as I mentioned, Toby is a great person…he knew he’d get them back).  I briskly walked back down the line towards Eric.  I was fiddling with his goggles and just about got them fixed before I got back to him.  The guy doing the timing tied Eric’s goggles up, we got them on him and he started his race.  Stoic.  I returned Toby’s goggles and begin to cheer for the rest of the kids in the water.  For those of you who have done a pool swim, you know the other athletes cheer as your swimming.  Well, I have never heard cheering like this.  Everyone on the pool deck was cheering for the kids and the applause and hollers would resound with each kid as they exited the water.  I watched as Roxan walked half the pool, then flipped on her back and swam over the deep end and back, with no assistance at all.  I was so proud.



After the last one exited the water we made our way out to transition.  As the last of the Daggett Tri Club left on their bikes Brad Dodson and I gave each other the greatest high five, with the biggest smiles on our faces.  They had all conquered the swim.  There were still 15+ miles of biking and running ahead of them, but the toughest part was over.




All 12 of the Daggett kids finished the race that day.  All thanks to their hard work and the dedication and time volunteered by those who believe in the program.  Strangers, who noticed the bikes the kids were riding ($50 Walmart bikes), approached us after the triathlon asking if they could help raise funds to purchase new bikes for the kids.  Someone I had met a mere two days earlier mentioned the same thing to me. 

 

Daggett Tri Club after completing their first sprint!

A few days later I received a text from that person that read “you will have 5 bikes in a week.”  My jaw dropped.  Fast forward to about a week later and I sent that same person a text asking him if his friend would possibly match that donation.  A little back story here – I began this whole endurance adventure with Team In Training.  After an hour of listening to a few Team In Training staff and volunteers talk about how great their program was, I committed myself to doing two of the hardest things I had ever done at that point of my life, run a marathon and raise over $4,000.  From this, though, I learned to ask for support.  Yes, in a sense it was to support me, but the money I asked for was not for me, it was for a cause.  I am still not very good at asking for help or support, but in some situations I have learned that the worst someone can say, simply is “no”.  So I asked…after I asked I stuck my phone in my jersey and headed out with Mayor Betsy Price for her Rolling Town Hall.  About halfway through, during a stop, I checked my phone and here is what I read:  Text 1)  I’ll find some support somewhere.  Text 2) You’ll have 10 bikes in about a week.  Sound good?  Text 3) He came through!  After reading these, I squealed, literally.  Ask Steve and Brad.  I just shoved my phone in Brad’s face to read the texts and he gave me a blank stare for a moment, I think frightened by the strange squealing noises I was making.  So for those of you wondering what my post about my heart being so happy was yesterday, it is in reference to that text.  Because there are some really freaking (shout out, Bob Kilinski) amazing people out there, whose support is going to leave an ever lasting impact on some kids lives.

Daggett Tri Club meeting Mayor Betsy Price

 

Research is being done, but at this moment, it looks like this is the only triathlon club in a public school in Texas.  Big things are coming, y’all.  I hope you’ll join us and help these kids grow in the sport.