Triabetes 2008-Ironman Wisconsin

Ok, it has been a while. Before starting classes in the San Diego community college system, I calculated that I had been away from my San Diego home for 8 of the previous 10 weekends, it was so awesome.

One major event shouldn't go another day without being recognized.

I was in Canada with my family when I got a text:
"Blair. Want to go to Wisconsin in September. On us?"
It was Peter Nerothin. I was being invited by Insulindependence to go to Madison Wisconsin for the Triabetes team's Ironman race. 12 Type 1s, Triathlon. Heck Yes.

I am rarely around people with diabetes, and actually rarely talk about the daily routine of it, and usually like it that way, but the weekend was good for me to sort of "speak the diabetes language" with other people, and see how much sameness there is in what we all do. There are more people than I thought in-the-know as Anne says.

I met some incredible people, the IronkIDs and their families, and of course athletes themselves. It was so clear that they were not racing so much, if at all, for themselves, but were racing, as said so well by John Moore, to use what they were doing to help make the lives of people with diabetes better. They appeared an incredibly cohesive, driven group of people with the vision of "changing the way people approach diabetes." They are the subjects of a documentary coming out soon, that will be able to reach those who were not as lucky as I was to be there to see them in action, and of course will include the science behind the project. By STARTING - because who are we kidding, like Steve Chop said, the story is in getting to the race- by starting, that race they will have succeeded in changing the way many think about diabetes.

I am not as eloquent as Peter and therefore, have not been capable of expressing in words what I did, heard and witnessed that weekend. Not to mention describe the scope of the whole project. I don't think we know yet how far it will reach. I am constantly hearing and reading more examples of people being touched and motivated by what Triabetes did that day and continues to do.

Please check out the blogs of the athletes who are capable of expressing what it meant to them. (And a few of my photos as well!)
www.Triabetes.org


The rest of my photos from the event are on my website at the events page: www.BlairRyan.com