Guess my time and place in Kona to win a prize and help me support the Challenged Athletes Foundation
CAF raises money to help people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics. CAF’s mission is clear: give those with the desire to live active, competitive lifestyles every opportunity to compete in the sports they love. By making a donation towards my fundraising goal you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.
If you are interested in hearing why I want to help CAF, please scroll down and read that section. For those of you that just want to play the game, I’ll include the instructions next.
How this works:
For each $10 donation you can send me one guess at what you think my exact time (hh:mm:ss) and OVERALL place will be in the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI on October 9th, 2010. The more you donate the more chances you have to win.
To help out all of you that are not triathletes, I finished Ironman Wisconsin in 9:49:30 and 29th Place overall. Kona is actually considered to be a slightly easier course, but the heat, humidity and wind can make it slower. Also, Kona is a world championship and there will be much more competition. You can see past results at http://www.ironman.com to help you guess.
I will post the name, time and place for each person that donates on this website. The person that is the closest to my actual time wins.
The prize will be based on how much I raise for CAF. The more I raise the more you can win!
| If I Raise: | I pay the winner: |
| $500 | $25 |
| $1000 | $50 |
| $1500 | $75 |
| $2000 | $100 |
| Over $2500 | $100 + other prizes |
What you have to do:
1. Visit my CAF Race for a Reason Page: http://raceforareason.kintera.org/mancona
2. Donate any amount you would like. But remember you must donate at least $10 to make a guess, and for each additional $10 donation you can have another guess. The more you donate the more chances you have to win.
3. Send an email to ironmancona@gmail.com with the amount you donated and your guesses (time and overall place). I will update this page to list all guesses.
4. Track my race on http://www.ironmanlive.com/ on October 9th 2010 to see what my time is.
5. During the week after the race I will check all of the guesses and the person closest to my time wins. If there is a tie, the person closest to my overall place will win. If there is somehow still a tie, the person that donated first wins.
Please realize that this is primarily a fundraising effort and guessing my time for a prize is intended to add a little extra fun. All donations are going directly to CAF and I reserve the right to alter the rules if this gets out of hand.
Why I want to help CAF:
I have been inspired by challenged athletes from the very first race I did, the 2004 Chicago Marathon. I was suffering around mile 20 and didn't want to go any farther when I was passed by a man on a prosthetic leg. He was smiling ear to ear and just happy he was able to be running. Meanwhile I was a healthy able-bodied individual feeling sorry for myself. He gave me the motivation to get my act together and finish.
That December I watched Sarah Reinertsen attempt to complete the ironman and miss the cut off time. After just finishing my first marathon, the ironman looked like an awesome challenge and I wanted to do it. In 2005 I did my first triathlon and then watched ironmanlive.com all day to see Sarah return to Kona and finish 2 hours under the cut off. That was when I knew I was going to race Kona.
I completed Ironman Wisconsin in 2007 and was 76th in my age group, missing a Kona slot by 72 places and over 2 hours. I then returned in 2009 to win my age group and get my Kona slot. I have received a lot of attention since winning my age group in Wisconsin and I want to use that attention to benefit others but I wasn't sure how.
At a wedding this March, Theresa and I were having dinner and as usual someone asked about the ironman and so once again I told my story. A man with the nickname Shorty simply asked me to please think about him when I race in Kona as he always wanted to be a Triathlete. Of course said I would and then we talked a little more. Shorty was an avid marathon runner that wanted to get into triathlons, but was in a car accident, had a stroke and lost control of half his body. He told me that there is not a single day that goes by that he doesn’t miss running.
Triathlon has become a very important part of my life. It has given me self confidence, helped me to return to a healthy lifestyle, provided a great hobby, and introduced Theresa and I too many great new friends. I couldn’t image my life without it now and I want to help others have the option to participate in sports.
| Name: | Finish Time: | Overall Place: |
| Brett T | XXX | XXX |
| Brett T | XXX | XXX |
| Mike A | XXX | XXX |
| Mike A | XXX | XXX |
| Jamey M | XXX | XXX |
To be fair, I will hide actual guesses until October 1st. Remember the tie breaker is the date you donated, so guess early for an advantage.
