Happy Friday everyone!
Today I have an awesome story to share with you all about a boy named Zach. Those of you who have seen our YouTube video or participated in our Middleton Tri back in August may remember Zach, one of our 375 kids who finished the triathlon! Zach has cerebral palsy, which (in my simple understanding) is a type of physical disability affecting the area of the brain responsible for motor skills. Zach does not let his CP affect the goals he sets for himself, and decided to participate in our triathlon! I am so thankful that Zach and his family decided to join the Tri 4 Schools family, and wanted to share with you Zach’s thoughts on the race:
Q: Why did you decide to participate in a triathlon?
A: Zach – I thought it would be fun. Jean (Zach’s mom) – he had been working on a number of things in his physical therapy, and we thought it would be a good way to show him the progress he’s made…which he did!
Q: How did you train for the race?
A: Jean – Zach practiced swimming, walking & biking several times a week. We tried to keep it as simple as possible and set goals for Zach (which he really likes to do) which would help him to meet the distances in the triathlon (such as how many strokes it took to cross the pool).
Q: What was your favorite part? What was the hardest part?
A: Zach – my favorite was biking, I really like to bike. Running was the hardest, it was a long distance for me.
Q: What would you tell other kids about doing a triathlon?
A: It’s COOL! You get to swim, bike & run and at the end you get a medal and there are several different age groups and you should give it a try.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. 🙂
Thanks so much to Zach and Jean for sharing with us, we are thrilled to announce that we will be offering adaptive divisions for all of our races next year to encourage more kids with Zach’s determination and spirit to participate! If you would like to get involved with this effort, please contact me at info@tri4schools.org.
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