MyTeamTriumph

Friday night the hubby and I attended a Salsa Night at the Marriott downtown organized by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We had a blast learning to salsa and cha cha with the crowd.

Before the big event, we went to dinner with some people that the hubby knows through work. One of these people was Ronald Robb. At first, I was excited because I discovered that Ron is also a lover of biking, running and triathlon. We commiserated for a while about our chosen sports, shared race stories and otherwise yucked it up at our end of the table the way that people who share an obsession tend to do.

But I soon learned that Ron was more than just a fellow athlete. He is the Executive Director of MyTeamTriumph.

myTEAM TRIUMPH is an athletic ride-along program created for children, teens, adults and veterans with disabilities who would normally not be able to experience endurance events such as triathlons or road races.

The racer with the disability is the team “Captain” and the assisting swimmer/cyclist/runner is his or her “Angel.” How awesome is that.

The website, which you should check out (http://www.myteamtriumph.org/), has a very touching video showing the story of Dick Hoyt and his son Rick, who are the inspiration for MyTeamTriumph. Dick gave his wheelchair-bound son the opportunity to complete an Ironman by pulling him in a boat and pushing him on a special bike and running chair.

The video below is a story that Fox 17 News did on the organization after the 5/3 Riverbank Run last year.

Link to the video

It was an honor to meet Ron and to learn about the wonderful organization that he started here in West Michigan and in Wisconsin. If you're near either area, check out the chapter websites for a list of events that you can participate in. Or consider donating to this really cool cause that allows people who otherwise would not be able to complete athletic events to accomplish something truly awesome.

I am seriously thinking about becoming an Angel myself.