CAF Celebration of Heroes, Heart and Hope
Wednesday night Elizabeth and I went to the Challenged Athletes Foundation’s Celebration of Heroes, Hearts and Hope. The event is CAF’s annual fundraising gala and fortunately for us takes place right here in Manhattan. Last year we couldn’t go because it was right before the Ironman and we were already up in Lake Placid. We were both really excited for the event, even though we didn’t really know what to expect.
Simply put, it was a blast! It was inspirational, informative, exciting and best of all, really fun. There were a ton of well-known challenged athletes at the event, including CAF spokespeople Sarah Reinertsen (who I randomly met in New York in January), 
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah (from the movie “Emmanuel’s Gift” and pictured on the right), Carlos Moleda and Rudy Garcia-Tolson (pictured below with Jake Frank), and some relative newcomers to the CAF team: Scout Bassett, Evan Morgan, Jake Frank and April Coughlin. Rick and Dick Hoyt were there as well. There were a few grantees (including Evan Morgan) who were injured in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Elizabeth and I spoke with Sarah for a little bit and she remembered meeting me, which was fun. I also had a brief conversation with Emmanuel, who is actually running for parliament in Ghana (the election’s in December). We met two of the founders of CAF, who were both so nice and happy to speak with us.
Six-time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott and two-time Ironman world champion Scott Tinley were there too. Florida Marlin’s president David Samson is a big supporter of CAF and was in attendance. Finally, tons of people from the local triathlon community, including athletes, coaches, race organizers, and Lee Silverman, the owner of Jackrabbit Sports. It was great to see friends from around town and meet some new like-minded triathletes.
Since the event is a big fundraiser, there were plenty of opportunities for CAF to raise money. During the cocktail hour, there was a big silent auction with tons of triathlon and general-sports related items (including race entries to sold out races, signed sports memorabilia, golf trips, tickets to a Las Vegas heavyweight fight and a Guru Crono). After cocktails, the event moved into a massive ballroom where they showed inspirational videos about the featured athletes, they gave out a couple awards and held the live auctions. The biggest prize (and the last item auctioned) at the live auction was an entry to the 2008 or 2009 Ironman World Championship in Kona. Seeing as how this is a nearly impossible achievement for most of the world, it’s a huge prize. The bidding started at $20,000 and closed – moments later – at $45,000! Most of the other live auction items were sold for $1-5,000. They included cool trips to places like a Land Rover driving school and a new resort in the Caribbean, two tickets to each 2008 World Series game, and a trip to LA to go backstage at the taping of Fox NFL Sunday, meet the Fox team and watch all the games. We bought the last item – and we’re both really excited for it: flights to LA, hotel room and the day at the studio. I think it will be great fun, and Elizabeth is totally into it too!
It was an excellent evening. It seemed like CAF raised a ton of money from some very generous people and it was great to feel like we were doing our part. Seeing the athlete’s stories and getting the chance to meet some of them and speak with the people who run CAF reinforced our interest in supporting and being a part of this wonderful organization.
Run #1 – June 19 (8:15am)
Distance: 12.25 miles
Time: 1:35
Average heart rate: 147
Course: West Side Highway (north-bound)
Conditions: Beautiful, mostly sunny, mid-60’s
Run #2 – June 19 (5:15pm)
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:11
Average heart rate: 139
Course: Around lower Manhattan
Conditions: Some sun, mid-60’s
Swim – June 20
Distance: 1,700 yards
Time: 30 minutes