As you may recall from this story, my most excellent Ironman Madison Sherpa Scott Fliegelman of Fast Forward sports raced the 24-Hours of Triathlon to raise money for the SAME Cafe.
The idea of the SAME cafe is simple. You have lunch or dinner and you pay what you can. In other words, you can donate a dollar or you can donate . It's up to you.
From the SAME cafe's web site:
"Hunger is a Problem
And we want to help find a solution in our own small way. So All May Eat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in April, 2006 to help eliminate the ever growing problem of hunger in today's society.
The SAME Cafe is unique in the lack of a set menu as well as set prices. Daily selections are made using fresh, organic ingredients, and funded by the donations of patrons. Instead of a cash register, a donation box is available for one to pay what they felt their meal was worth, or to leave a little more and help out someone less fortunate. If a diner does not have sufficient money to leave, they are encouraged to exchange an hour of service in our restaurant for a full meal voucher."
Scott rocked the 24-hours of triathlon coming in 4th overall and raising an incredible amount of money to the tune of 4,500 USD for this great charity. I could not make the official donation ceremony but here's the video that will make you feel like you were there yourself.
BTW: During the 24-hours of triathlon Scott swam, biked, and ran at least a double Ironman distance so it was pretty hard for me to pull any sob stories after the race. The man had just done double my IM the week before. I was amazed to see him all over the course cheering, and video taping the race on the swim, bike, and run.
Now that's an Ironman!
I also want to thank my buddy Steve who came up from Chicago to support me during the race. A guy could not ask for a better buddy.
Steve was there for me for the entire race, and he cheered me on as I stumbled through the run, and was with me from the stands as I took my last step across the finish line.
More importantly, he hung with me as I sat on the bench and almost puked my guts out after the race, and he stayed with me until the very end as we cheered the last racers across the line.
For me the entire race was about bring out the best in people.
I was so lucky to have:
- The best friends
- The best volunteers
- The best readers ;-)
- The best weather
- The best family
- The best sponsors
- The best day
I don't think I'll write a typical race report from the IM as it would be soooo boring. Plus, I'm not one for really getting into the minutia of my day like describing what I ate or how it came out. Nothing really went wrong, and that makes for a short report. You know something like this:
I woke up!
I put on tons of suntan lotion and body glide.
I swam, I biked, and I ran a hell of a long way.
I saw lots of great friends and incredible scenery.
Sometimes it was sunny, and sometimes it was cloudy.
Sometimes I was hot, and sometimes I was cold.
Sometimes I felt great, and sometimes I felt cruddy...but mostly I felt happy to be alive and racing.
A few times people were cruddy, but most of the time they were great.
I ate and drank a whole bunch of silly stuff that somehow stayed down.
I crossed the finish line and tried to eat like a horse, but I couldn't.
I met my goal and still somehow manged the same run time, as not meeting my goal.
After the race I felt sick and cold, but better after I drank a coke.
I got tons of great congrats calls from my family and friends who wanted to know more details than I could process at the time.
I walked backwards up stairs and took a long...long...long...hot shower.
I cheered and cried as the last finishers crossed the line.
I slept very hard.
I woke up and felt really sore and really content.
I took another long....long...long hot shower and ate a huge breakfast, after which I ate another huge breakfast, after which I ate lunch.
And that's about all folks!