Adventurer

In fulfilling my mission to help beneficiaries and inspire others, I began completing endurance events as a way to raise funds to help improve the lives of children with pediatric cancer.

Since I set out to run my first marathon as a fundraiser, it has evovled into something I never imagined. I have completed multiple Ultraman and Ironman triathlons, cycled across the USA self-supported (backpack only!), ran the Sahara Desert’s notorious Marathon des Sables Ultramarathon, climbed a few of the Seven Summits, and even grinded out a 24-hour time trial, and in 2020 I am taking on the EPIC5 Challenge.

Now, if you assume that I am a natural endurance athlete, that would be the furthest from the truth. Just back in 2005, the farthest I’ve ever run (and “run” probably is an exaggeration) was 5 miles. Thoughts of a marathon or Ironman would have been absurd. I didn’t even know what an Ultraman was until I was invited to do one. The fact of the matter is: I dislike running, I don’t go distance swimming and distance cycling for personal enjoyment, and aside from the challenge, there is not much I like about these events other than finishing them.

But what I do love is having an unrelenting purpose and doing something well out of my comfort zone that can help change someone’s life, inspire people, or give a child hope that he or she can overcome a difficult battle with cancer. While I do not know what it’s like to go through round after round of chemo, I imagine that the mental and physical anguish I experience in a long-distance event can only be a small fraction of what these children must endure. That is my higher purpose. It is what pushes me when I feel like I can’t go on. It is why I believe everyone’s possibilities are endless; why our limits begin where our vision ends.