March 26, 2011

Racing Alcatraz for TeamCindy

Last week I discovered an opportunity to participate in some pretty coveted races through a charity team called TeamCindy. TeamCindy was founded to raise money and awareness for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation and honor the life of triathlete Cynthia Sherwin, who unexpectedly and tragically suffered a fatal brain aneurysm while training for Ironman Lake Placid in 2007. Her story and the cause caught my attention and though I've never raced for charity - and quite honestly have been a little intimidated by it - I wanted to do it. A friend had just shared a deeply personal story about losing her mother to a brain aneurysm and a young friend of mine survived one 10 years ago. Reading about Cindy's life made me think she could be any one of us, it just felt right.

My first instinct was to add Ironman Lake Placid to my roster that already includes two Ironmans, but my coach said that would be "crazy" so I reconsidered and decided on Escape From Alcatraz. Last fall, blogger friend Jon did a bucket list post and an amazing number of people have Alcatraz on their list. I followed up with a similar post and did not include this race. Why? Not because I wasn't interested, I honestly didn't know much about it beyond the fact that the swim is brutal and it's even more brutal to get into.

Now I'm in and I'm incredibly excited, both for the race and the challenge of fundraising. Just think how much more rewarding it will be to toe the line on June 5 knowing I contributed to something important in my own, small way. Here is my fundraising page, please feel free to share with anyone who may also feel this is a cause worth supporting.

I guess I better get back to the pool now!

4 comments:

  1. Very cool! Totally a bucket list race. Yes! Time to get back into the pool for sure!

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  2. wow that sounds like a wonderful organization to be part of! i did my first marathon as part of a charity team and it was an amazing experience. and so cool that you get to do such an exclusive race! on my bucket list, too.

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  3. Way cool! I've heard great things about the Escape from Alcatraz race.

    This means you are making another trip to California doesn't it???? At this rate, you should look into buying a place out there. haha :)

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  4. I will see you at Alcatraz! It seems like a wonderful event. It wasn't really at the top of my list either but when I qualified through the Westchester Olympic Tri I couldn't turn down the opportunity!

    And I agree - we need to spend the next two months in the water to prepare for that swim!

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