Tri4Joe

Well it’s a week today since the Ironman.  It already seems like an age ago.  I’ve recovered surprisingly quickly except for my back which is still quite sore (although I made it worse by riding my bike to and from work on Thursday!  Silly impatient me!).

Joseph has been on egg-shells all week - we think the trip unsettled him quite a bit and has made him very tired and a bit irritable.  Even so, he still has time for lots of very infectious smiles.  What’s more Daddy and Joseph got to spend some quality time together today watching the Tour de France on television (actually Joseph fell asleep in my arms so I couldn’t do anything constructive!).

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be collecting up all of the money that we’ve raised so far and sending it off to the ELA and the Myelin Project UK.  When we have a grand total we’ll post it on the blog.  We’re amazed at how successful Tri4Joe has been: not just the money that has been raised, but also - and perhaps more importantly - how much awareness of Leukodystrophy has been spread.  And this brings us on to the question: what next?

We’ve had huge amounts of positive feedback on the blog both directly through comments, but also indirectly via friends and family saying how people they know like it and, in some cases, have even become addicted!  Regardless of whether these rumors are true or not, this has got to be a Good Thing™, since it means that people are learning of the existence of Leukodystrophy and may even consider supporting the ELA or Myelin Project UK or other related charities in their own charity fundraising events.

In fact, several people have already started to organize their own fundraising events on behalf of the ELA or the Myelin Project.  We’ve already had a tea and cake afternoon and a charity ride around County Louth in Ireland organized by the Cuchulainn Cycling Club, and it looks like there’s going to be more.  For example:

• On August 3rd the SEEDS cycling club in association with the White Oak Triathlon Club are organizing a charity ride, aptly named Ride4Joe.  Colette and I used to be members of the White Oak Triathlon Club 8 years ago and we still have very many happy and enduring memories (in fact Colette and I first met on a club bike ride!)
• In September, our friend Mark Kennedy who lives in County Cork, Ireland, is planning to ride his bike from his local community center to the bottom of Ireland’s highest mountain, Carrauntoohil.  From there, he is then planning to run up and down it, before riding his bike back home (where home is about 50km away).  This is no mean feat considering that Mark had a back operation last year.  And I thought an Ironman was a challenge!
• On the 25th October, our friends Alex Tyrrell and Steve Blackmore are planning to participate in the Beachy Head Marathon in the UK.  This is a very tough cross country marathon that climbs every hill on the south coast.  They are going to publicize their challenge within British Telecom for whom they both work (British Telecom is quite a big company so I’d imagine this will gain quite an audience).

We’ll keep you updated on the progress of these events on this blog.  Meanwhile, if you have any fundraising ideas of your own then feel free to post a comment and let us know what you’re planning to do.

In the meantime, Colette, Joseph, and I are going to spend some quality time together over the next couple of summer months and make up for all the hours spent apart recently as a result of triathlon training…

One thing’s for sure: we’ll keep this blog going.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.