Golden Memories, Ironmen and Platinum Friendships

There are some things in life that, no matter how highly anticipated, end up far exceeding expectations. Such was the case of last weekend's Camp Wheel Away event held at Fort Yargo State Park in Windner GA. 

From the moment we wheeled onto the campgrounds to the second we hugged and said goodbye, the experience blew away all of my expectations. To be outside with my fellow wheel chair users enjoying the great outdoors in this beautiful part of Georgia was absolutely incredible. Camp Wheel Away allowed us to put the Kyle Pease Foundation front and center as we were able to sponsor eleven individuals at Camp Twin Lakes.  

My personal highlight was going airborne on the zip line as I screamed at the top of my lungs while hovering above the tree line. Rumor has it, that if you listen closely, you can still hear me screaming. We also swam and did arts and crafts, ate together in the mess hall and participated in assisted archery. 

Camp Wheel Away is absolutely something we will be doing annually moving forward. 

Brent and I are quickly approaching Ironman Panama

City. This will be our second Ironman event together and we look forward to soaking up the moment and relishing the atmosphere of competition. Brent and I are extremely close as brothers but we were never closer than while spending 15:09:24 together last year in Madison WI. We look forward to spending hopefully even less time bonding together this year in Panama City. 

We have been practicing, taking the bike out and physically and mentally preparing. Though we don't know the course yet we do have a better idea of what to expect having been through the experience once before. 

We want to thank our friends, families and sponsors who will be riding with us for all 140.6 miles of our second attempt at becoming Ironman. 

Following Ironman keep your calendars open for our big "Weekend with the Peases" which will take place the weekend of November 15th and 16th. The weekend will begin on November 15th at the Holcomb Bridge Hustle 5K. This is our biggest run of the year and we are looking for runners and volunteers. The race begins at 7:30 in Alpharetta. 

The following day we will knock 'em down at Stars & Strikes in Sandy Springs, GA at our annual bowling fundraiser event. We are really excited to be holding this event during the day this year so bowlers of all ages can join us. Stars and Strikes is located at 8767 Roswell Rd, Sandy Springs, GA 30350. 

The event will cost $35 per person with kids enjoying the afternoon free of charge. This includes a t-shirt, good times plus lots of raffle prizes! This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and allows us to fund many of our initiatives throughout the year. 

Rolling Up Countless Memories at Camp Wheel Away

Toasting marshmellows over a crackling fire... Making new friends while hiking in the Georgia hills... Crickets chirping you to sleep in the middle of the night... falling asleep under the bright autumn moonlight... watermelon dripping down my chin.... the laughter of new friends and old as we sit around the campfire as another day comes to an end...

These are but a few of the memories that await the campers as another year of Camp Wheel A Way quickly approaches. Camp Wheel A Way is only two weeks away and we are so excited to be able to bring endless memories to disabled campers from around Georgia.  The Kyle Pease Foundation is partnering with Camp Twin Lakes and Camp Will Away in Winder, Georgia to bring this unique and innovative camping experience to campers from ages 6-30. 

Camp will be held from October 10-12. If that isn't exciting enough, Kpeasey will be in the house for the weekend. I am really looking forward to hanging out, getting to meet new friends and participating in all types of fun camping activities. 

The camp staff is made up of volunteers and qualified nurses who will run the activities for people with Cerebral palsy. Activities include archery, arts and crafts, fishing, rock climbing, boating and much more. 

All cabins have heat and air conditioning and are ADA accessible. 

I urge anyone with a disability to join us as there is still availability to attend our one of a kind camping event. The attendance fees are sponsored by the Kyle Pease Foundation so short of being afraid of crickets there is no excuse not to attend.  

Email us at walkingwithkpeasey@gmail.com to get a camping application. 

The Gouteix Family Expresses Extreme Gratitude to the Bert Show and KPF

 

Julia and Pascal Gouteix competed in their first paired triathlon this weekend, and it was such an amazing experience. The journey this has taken Pascal on has been such a pleasure and an honor to witness up close.

As some of you may know, we first became connected to The Kyle Pease Foundation through The Bert Show as part of a Father’s Day surprise for Pascal. In conjunction with Fragile Kids Foundation, they provided him with a raft to pull Julia along on the swim, a bike trailer and extra supportive seating to keep Julia comfortable during the race. Pascal has always been active, and had completed several triathlons prior to Julia’s arrival and this became a great opportunity for them to find something fun to do together.

The equipment provided was the catalyst for Pascal to make this dream a reality, but the connections we've made as a result have been priceless. It's so hard to feel connected when you're a parent of a child with a disability, especially when connection often means being stuck in some dreary support group that can leave you feeling hopeless. I hate to generalize, but this seems especially true for fathers.

Since the show aired, Pascal has received so much support from a technical standpoint from Brent Pease at foundation, but also from an emotional standpoint as well. We've been put in touch with amazing families that are living parallel journeys to ours, and words really can't describe how good it feels to have those connections. As parents of a three-year-old with cerebral palsy, meeting athletes like Kyle, Marin Smith, Justin Knight and Kevin Enners give us so much hope for the future. Their parents and siblings aren’t too shabby either.

It's difficult to say that you won't let your family be defined in any way, shape, or form by the disability of your child, because it truly shakes your world in ways that you can't imagine. But I do believe that you can choose to be defined by your response to it. Our hope is that people can see that having a child with a disability is not a tragedy, it's not a burden. As corny and contrived as it may sound-it's a blessing in so many unexpected ways. We are so lucky to have found this amazing, supportive group of athletic families and we look forward to many, many more races in the near future!

Old Friends Tri to Rekindle at The Richard B. Russell

The Kyle Pease Foundation was in full force at the Richard B. Russell Triathlon in Elberton, GA two weeks ago. This day proved extra special to me as it marked the maiden voyage of fellow KPF Athlete and my dear friend, Curtis Ward, into the thrills of triathlon. 

Curtis and I played adaptive sports together when we were younger and to see him become a full-fledged triathlon junkie gives me a great personal thrill. 

From the ages of 11 to 18, Curtis and I would play wheelchair handball, track and field, and baseball at many camps around the city.  We lost touch for a while until last year when I saw him working at a local movie theater. He has been involved with the foundation now for about a year but this was his first attempt at completing a tri. 

With the help of five other KPF members, Curtis made it through the course in a very impressive time of 4:27:32. You can always recognize Curtis by the Kangol hat and the coffee in his right hand. Throughout the day he was also recognizable by the huge smile on his face. 

It was great to get the cobwebs off the boat and bike as we head into a busy fall highlighted by the Marine Corp Marathon in October and Ironman Florida in November. 

We will be doing a local triathlon during the first weekend in September with the Bert Show recipient. This is a very special event and another ground breaking effort for the Kyle Pease Foundation. 

We cannot say enough about the incredible work that Elsha is doing in Utah. She runs at least one race per week and is now raising money for KPF through her birthday wish fundraiser. What an incredible woman!!

We are going to cut this post short as the pictures seem to do a much better job at telling the story of the Richard Russell Tri than I do. Below is a wonderful video created by our dearest friend and KPF board member, John David, with many photos that capture the essence of our amazing race day.

Until next time, keep on wheelin'! 

Richard B. Russell Triathlon Photo Album

The Pease Brothers Prepare for Ironman While The Elshanator Takes on the Echo Triathalon

We are thrilled to have launched our mini-chapter out west and to have the ELSHAnator on our team is extremely exciting. So the start of this week's post will be written by me, while Elsha will bring us to the finish line. 

This fall is going to be a very exciting time for Brent and I as we are leading up to another Ironman in November in Panama City Florida. As many may recall, we completed our first Ironman last year in Madison, WI and are eager to improve upon our performance this year in Florida. This is an opportunity to bring a lot of positive attention to the  Foundation in addition to achieving some personal goals. 

On August 9th, we will be competing in the Richard B. Russell Tri

in Elberton, GA. This will be especially exciting for us as there will be three KPF boats in the water at the same time. It's a whole different ball game when you do a triathlon, especially for someone who has never been in the water before. For me personally, getting in the water is one of my favorite disciplines. I help Brent more than ever as he likes to swim crooked so I feel like the captain of the ship. I scream, "Right, right" or "left, left" whenever he comes up for air to keep him from hitting other swimmers or turning the swim even longer than it already seems. 

Justin Knight and Curtis Ward will be joining us and will be helped through the course by a team of volunteers. Justin has completed a triathlon before, but Curtis has not. Curtis and I grew up together playing adaptive sports and now having him as a member of Walking with KPeasey is especially gratifying. 

The race is only an hour trip from Atlanta so if any friends or fans want to help us enjoy the day, please join us and be sure to wear your KPeasey blue.  

In the end of October, Brent and I will be bringing ten KPF teams to compete in the Marine Corp Marathon, aka the People's Marathon. This will be a memorable event as we compete with teams from Team Hoyt Virginia Beach, Team Hoyt New England, Ainsley's Angels, Myteam Triumph and Push America. All of these are assisted athlete organizations with similar goals as we have at KPF. To run with them will be incredible. Brent and I will be making the trek but not competing since the Ironman is the following week and we need to keep our bodies fresh.  

Before I pass the baton to Elsha, I want to remind everyone that we are still searching for campers to attend Camp Wheel Away. We will be reaching out to various disabled agencies around Atlanta to make sure that these spots don't go unclaimed. The weekend camp 

will take place from October 10-12. And as I reach the half way point, I'm going to rehydrate and turn the wheels over to Elsha Stockseth. 

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“I am Ironman...”  Okay so my pusher James English is and I am at least a triathlete. This was a big challenge, but I was really excited to see what I could do. This was also my first time using the W.I.K.E. trailer that The Kyle Pease Foundation helped me get.

My parents and the other kids parents were really nervous, especially for the swimming part. I was more worried about the biking. There were 5 "Push to the Finish" kids including myself. We got to start 30 minutes before the other 500 racers which helped a lot.

First was the 750 meter swim. This actually turned out to be my favorite part because it was so smooth and easy. I just had to lay down in the raft as James pulled me behind. Everyone else worried about us tipping over or getting soaked, but it was just like riding It’s a Small World at Disneyland, very smooth and slow, just without the silly song.

There were about three people on kayaks watching us along with the patrol boat. When we reached the beach again it was very special because the other racers parted and cheered to welcome us.

After making it up the steep hill and dirt trail, we reached our bike trailers. They were already hooked to the bikes, so once James changed and I was buckled in, we were off. The 20k bike ride was really fun because we got to go so fast. My blanket holding my head started falling, so at the halfway point James was able to fix it. We reached the transition area and converted to the jogging version of the W.I.K.E. It was very simple and worked out great.

The 5k was my least favorite part because we had to run on a dirt trail with tons of weeds and small rocks. James did really well with me though because he would try to go around the bumps and divots. This was such a great adventure and I am really happy that I was able to finish without too many difficulties.

James said that it was one of his favorite races too which I love

because I know how much work it was for him while I just got to enjoy the ride. It is a testament to my mantra, “Don’t Stop Believin’!”