Seattle and More

My good buddy Ben, who also chairs the board for the Kyle Pease Foundation, asked me to go to Seattle and watch his team participate in an ultimate frisbee tournament.  This was also a good opportunity for me to see one of my aides, Carla, who I have not seen in nine months since she has been on rotation for her PT school there.  I was also able to reconnect with my friends, Noa and Julie, who I had not seen in over 11 years.  

I met Noa and Julie at a United Cerebral Palsy camp in Connecticut when I was 14.  This camp was one of the first times I was away from home, and Noa took me under his wing.  We developed an awesome friendship.  I went to their wedding and visited them a couple times in Boston when Noa was in med school.  

Back to Seattle...I was in my manuel wheelchair, so Noa had to transfer me quite a bit.  There was a lot of laughs and a lot of screeching the first couple times.  But by the end he was a pro's pro.  We saw some major attractions of Seattle such as the Space Needle, a tour of Safeco Field, and, of course, Gas Works, a beautiful public park.  It was so good to see everybody.  It was just like old times.  

This past weekend was also exciting for my Foundation as our Board of Directors got together for a weekend retreat.  We’ve made a lot of strides since our inception a year and a half ago and it’s been on display a lot over the past few months;  we’ve had a number of kids participating in various races locally under KPF and just last month sent Christina Young to the National Junior Disabilities Championships.  With our weekend retreat, we spent time getting to know each other better and worked with a third party facilitator to help us focus our efforts and make sure we’re operating in the most efficient way possible.  We’re already seeing some great results and are excited about the growth of the Foundation.  More to come soon!!

We are about to enter the fall portion of our season, which started this past Saturday with a nice little 4 miler.  I was actually second place male in the 25-29 category and 5th place overall!!! No wheelchair division needed!  After that, we will take some more time off while Brent does his Louisville Ironman.  Please wish him well as he has trained for this for almost a year.  I know he will do great.  I will be tweeting live from Louisville, so make sure you are following Walking With KPeasey on Twitter.  Thanks again for all of your support.  

-KPeasey

National Junior Disability Championships

Hello everyone! My name is Christina Young and I am one of the athletes that is a part of The Kyle Pease Foundation

Thank you, Kyle Pease Foundation, for being my first ever sponsor for such a great event! On Wednesday July 25th, I got the opportunity to travel to Mesa, Arizona for my last Track Junior Nationals (NJDC) thanks to The Kyle Pease Foundation. I traveled there with my team, the Georgia Blazers, a team with 5 other athletes and two coaches. My team and I went to compete in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 meter races as well as field events consisting of discus, javelin, and shot put.  We also had 6 swimmers there before us who competed and got firsts in 30 events out of 34. So already our team was doing great. 

The squad

 It was Arizona, so it was always hot, but so was the competition! I was kind of nervous at first, but I found out that I was still fast. I've been to about four NJDCs in my life and every year I would come in the top three. So this year I was nervous because the other girls in my events had faster times than me this year. 

The first events I did was field. I had to miss shot put because my coach misunderstood something. So I ended up only doing discus and javelin. Well after some issues with equipment, I got all firsts, but no personal records. But I was totally fine with it since field isn't my forte. What I was ready for, was track. 

Before the Javelin and rocking some KPeasey Blue of course!

The next day was the first day of track events. It was so hot in AZ that track was during the evening/night, so all day we hung out at the hotel and relaxed by the pool before the first and only event that day, my favorite event, the 100 meter dash.  When I got there I started getting nervous, but no one could tell. All the the other girls in that event thought they'd beat me with the times they had this year.  Well they sure were in for a shock, and so was I. I ended up getting first place and beating all the girls with a time of 19.54.  I was so shocked my self. I had no idea where it came from. 

Not slowing down for any camera's :)

The next day was the 200 and 800, the events that I did for my high school team in the spring. I ended up winning both of those out of all the girls in all the wheelchair heats. With times of 2:29 for the 800 and :35 seconds for the 200. Again, I was so shocked! It was so unbelievable. Then the next day we did our last track event, the 400, a one lap sprint. I ended up winning that as well and beating every one with the time of 1:10 seconds. 

All in all, I won every event as well as had all season bests. It was great. That week also helped me make a very important decision in my life that will effect my future. I chose to do track and racing in college. I already will be playing wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois on an athletic scholarship. So now I decided to do both sports and train as much as I can to hopefully make it to the Rio 2012 Paralympics. 

Was so surprised and happy to receive this!

The last night, we had a banquet where awards were given out. The Georgia Blazers won the third place for the large teams. This was one of our biggest awards. 

I really want to thank The Kyle Pease Foundation for sponsoring me on this trip. It was truly a life changing week that wouldn't have happened without the sponsorship. I also want to thank BlazeSports for all they have done for me in the past years. I am truly blessed. I really can't wait to see what other amazing things happen with Walking with KPeasy and the Foundation.

Rock The Band

Hi there, my name is Sam Harrison and I'm on the board of directors for the Kyle Pease Foundation. I'm also a worker, but most importantly, I'm a good friend to Kyle.  Recently I suggested to the board that we do a rock concert fundraiser to raise money for the foundation. This way I could combine two of my passions...rock n' roll and the Kyle Pease Foundation. 

Rainy night wasn't going to slow us down

 

I was pretty nervous going into the whole thing because I've never put on a full event on my own. There were so many different things I had to work out in order to make the night a success, but many late nights and emails later, the event came and went of without a hitch. We had 5 bands that volunteered their time for a great cause. A special thanks to those bands for sharing their music and time with us all!! 

I've known Kyle for almost four years, and as Kyle spoke he shared what friends, workers and supporters mean to him to help paint the bright picture of all our work.  

From photo left: Sam (me), Kyle, Ben Spears (Board Chair), Christina Young (KPF Athelte)

 

 One of the biggest parts of our night was the opportunity to introduce Christina Young, our newest athlete in person.  Christina who we introduced in our blog last week is quite the athlete and we are very proud to be a sponsor to her.

Christina chatting with Ben during the event

I cannot thank you all enough, our supporters, for coming out and helping make this event a success for KPF.  We look forward to seeing you all at our bowling event this fall and will be sure to keep you up to speed on new happenings for our foundation.

-Sam Harrison

Championship Athletes

The National Junior Disability Championships will take place from July 21-28, in Mesa, Arizona.  The Kyle Pease Foundation is pleased to sponsor Christina Young as she takes on the field in several events.  We recently sat down with Christina to ask her to discuss her upcoming competition.  Come out and meet Christina, at our event this Thursday, along with Kyle Pease and some great live music.

KPF Athlete Christina Young

KPF: What sports do you compete in? What event are you competing in as a KPF/Blaze athlete?

CY: I compete in wheelchair racing - road races as well as track and field. [I also] compete in wheelchair basketball.  I am competing in the National Junior Disability Championships where I will be competing in the track and field events including the 100, 200, 400, 800, shot put, javelin, and discus.

KPF: Wow! That's amazing!! Why did you start competing in sports?

CY: I started competing in sports at a very young age, after seeing my brothers play sports. I always wanted to play with them and beat them, so my family searched and found local wheelchair sports organizations. I always loved sports because of the enjoyment I get out of them, as well as all the new people I meet, and the pure feeling of competitiveness. But now that I am older, I also compete because of the health benefits of working out and playing sports. 

KPF: Being healthy is a great benefit and so is that thrill of competition. What/Who Motivates you?

CY: The fact that I love sports and will always love sports, as well as the competitiveness in me motivates me.  The strive to always be a healthy person also motivates me.   As well as the feeling when people who don't know about wheelchair sports realize what we can do.  

KPF: That is just awesome to see that inner drive.  We are so excited that you are racing under our banner as well as with your great team, Blaze Sports. What brought you to KPF/Walking?

CY: KPF came to a camp I was working at, Blaze Sports Camp, a camp for kids with disabilities. And when I heard Kyle's story, I knew that this was the kind of thing that is perfect for me to be a part of.   I knew it would be a better way for me to get out there and spread the word about what we can do, as well as I knew I could help spread the word about KPF around the country. 

Kyle speaking to Blaze Sports Camp

KPF: We appreciate that and hope that our future athletes have your same attitude and drive! What does KPF mean to you?

CY: It means that other people like me, with disabilities, have a chance to show the world we can compete in sports. [It means] that we can still run marathons, triathlons, and even a simple track meet. It means that If I want to do something, I should, and nothing should stop me or anyone else.

KPF: Well I wouldn't call a track meet simple :)  We are so proud to be behind you and along with all of our supporters, wish you nothing but the best.  We will be sure to post updates to facebook/twitter during your events and look forward to your race report after!

We hope to see many of you at our event this Thursday so we might continue to put more people like Christina Young into competition and share the thrill of the finish line.  We appreciate the opportunity to grow with you, our supporters, for it is you who make this all possible!

Best,

KPeasey

Hugs and Hand Pounds :)

Community

One of the first jobs I had was as Head Coach of the Riverside/North Harbor Swim Team.  I coached there for six great years and created some great memories.  During my time there, we used to hold a swim-a-thon to raise money for various causes in the community and it was always a great event for the kids.  After I left the team, all of the kids I worked with became the coaches and continued on with similar programs that we put in place during my time.  When I reached out to some of the team parents and coaches with the idea for a charity for their swim-a-thon, they jumped at the opportunity.

Kyle talking to the Riverside/North Harbor Swim Team

It was great to see the kids hanging onto every word Kyle said and the encouragement he sent to them to continue to provide for more kids.  It was very special to see the young kids that I had once coached speaking so highly of Kyle and turning their charity giving towards us.

Our first jumbo-sized check!!

The swim-a-thon was a tremendous success and the team raised more money than ever before!  We even had one of the former swim team moms jump in and raise over $1,500!  We cannot thank those in the community who help us continue to grow and reach our goals.  John Wooden said it best with his quote, "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

Thank you to all the coaches, swimmers and parents of The Riverside/North Harbor Swim Teams.

-Brent