Kids
triathlon program expands
February 18, 2002, Blue Jay,
California
Top U.S. age-grouper Cherie Gruenfeld is sharing her passion for triathlon
by helping train a group of low-income children.
It all started
when Gruenfeld, who
has won her age group multiple times at Ironman Hawaii and also holds
age-group titles at Ironman USA and Roth, spoke at a program called
Exceeding Expectations at Cypress Elementary School in Highland,
Calif.
She used her Ironman experience to help illustrate her
points about working to achieve goals. At the school, she spoke with some
of the teachers about the possibility of some of the students doing a
triathlon in a nearby town. Nearly 200 students showed up for tryouts, and
twelve 11- and 12-year-olds were chosen to be trained.
Now, the
program she began last year has expanded, and we asked her for an update.
In her own words:
"Thanks to two corporate grants and many, many
generous donations from 'Friends of Cypress,' we have been able to grow
the team and now have 30 kids racing triathlons. When we go to running
races, we're taking around 40 kids.
"[Over the weekend] the team
did the Redlands Tri. The race director is a real fan and supporter of the
team and would happily have 'comped' them all into the race, but we felt
that there was a better way, a way that would benefit everyone. We
solicited 'sponsors' for the kids. The responsibility of a sponsor was to
pay the entry fee for that athlete. People were wonderful and we quickly
had sponsors for each of the kids and many of the sponsors were able to
get more personally involved. One sponsor raced with her athlete. Several
others bought equipment for their kids and/or bonded over the months
before the race.
"Nearly half of the group was doing a triathlon
for the first time, but they were helped along in their pre-race
activities by those old veterans, and everyone made it to the start line
in plenty of time.
"One difference in this race from earlier races
is that we had eight families there watching their kids and two fathers
acting as mechanics, getting all the bikes in working order. A year ago we
had absolutely no parental involvement. In several cases the parents don't
speak English, but they understood the loud cheering from the crowd as
being for their child.
"We also had three Cypress teachers, along
with the two that run the program with me, there to support their students
and each of the three made a point of telling me about individual kids and
how their grades and behavior had changed since joining the team. It
doesn't get any better than this.
"They race in bright blue team
shirts which make them easily identifiable as Cypress Kids. Having raced
as a team for a year and with some very nice press they've received,
they've become local celebrities of sorts. So we've been working on social
skills that go along with that, such as writing thank-you letters, shaking
hands, looking folks in the eye and introducing themselves.
"Some
went home with medals for placing but all went home with a finisher's
medal and a huge sense on accomplishment. The big question being asked at
the end of the day was, 'When is the next race?'"
If you're
interested in helping Gruenfeld and the Cypress Kids, you can email
her at GruenfeldC@aol.com.
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Age-groupers battle in Kona: a look at the
results
The
Omaha, Neb. resident went on to finish second in her age group behind
perennial champion Cherie Gruenfeld of California. And this is what Phipps
has to say of Gruenfeld: "She’s not only my chief rival, but
she’s also one of my idols."
As for Gruenfeld, she notched another win as well—her
third in a row and fifth in Kona—in 12:46:29.
"The conditions were,
as we all know, quite tough," she said. "Although my bike was very long, I
felt that I rode strong the entire time. I am very fortunate in that I
have the desert nearby where I can train in heavy winds. When I train in
the desert, I tell myself, ‘I'm preparing for Kona,’ and when I race in
Kona, I tell myself, ‘I've done this in the desert.’"
Women 55-59
Defending champion Cherie Gruenfeld
of the U.S. is back to defend her
title for the third time. She owns the course record for this age-group,
11:58, which she set in 1999. She was also the first woman over 50 to go
under 12 hours when she set that record. And she's not done setting
records-she set a course record at Ironman Lake Placid for her age group
this year.
Wildflower
Past
champion Cherie
Gruenfeld captured the women’s 55-59 in 5:56, punctuating the victory with a 1:56
half-marathon. And her time would have made her the winner in the women’s
50-54 age group, too. Harriet Anderson, in the women’s 65-69, took victory
with a 7:53. Both are regular age-group winners at the Hawaii
Ironman.
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Gruenfeld
exceeds expectations
April 30, 2001, Highland, California (www.triathlonlive.com):
Top
age-grouper Cherie
Gruenfeld has found a new way to share her passion for triathlon—by
helping train a group of low-income children for their first race.
Gruenfeld, who has won her
age group multiple times at Ironman Hawaii and also holds age-group titles
at Ironman USA and Roth, spoke in December at a program called Exceeding
Expectations at Cypress Elementary School in Highland, Calif.
"The
general theme of my talk to the kids was about setting goals and working
to achieve these goals," Gruenfeld
said. "Of course, I used my Ironman
experience as the background for doing this. To conclude the talk I showed
them a short video of me doing Kona."
Gruenfeld said when she went to the school to
speak, she met with the teachers to talk about the possibility of some of
the kids doing a little triathlon in a nearby town. The teachers liked the
idea and arranged tryouts for the next week. Nearly 200 kids showed up,
with twelve 11- and 12-year-olds chosen to be trained.
"Every
Saturday the teachers and one fantastic teacher's aide got in a van and
drove around gathering the kids up,"
Gruenfeld said. "Those that lived nearby just
showed up at the appointed time. We started weekly bike and run training
with them and entered them in a local 5K for a training
run."
Gruenfeld
said she realized quickly that they
needed money to get the program going and to keep it afloat, and the
fundraising began. "The kids didn't have running shoes, biking equipment
and certainly no means of paying entry fees," she said. "I wrote a letter
and sent it out or handed it out to whomever I could find. People were
wonderful and responded with cash. Race directors were happy to comp the
kids into their races. We have now gone through three rounds of funding,
and it will be an ongoing process."
The children were a big hit
with the crowd at their first 5K, Gruenfeld
said, and "they all ran a tough course
beautifully." They even had enough energy to run with Gruenfeld
as she wrapped up
the last quarter-mile of a half-marathon she was running at the same
race.
They completed their first triathlon in February as members of
relay teams using swimmers Gruenfeld
helped recruit—among them publisher
and triathlon legend Bob Babbitt. "None of these kids have spent any time
in a pool and several, although living an hour from the ocean, have never
seen the ocean," she said.
Their next adventure came at the Desert
Tri, where race director Greg Klein offered to comp five teams into the
race. This meant an overnight stay for the kids and some more hunting for
swimmers who could do the open-water swim.
"One of the teachers has
a son who is on a high school swim team,"
Gruenfeld said. "He got four of his swim-mates
to join him and the five of them joined the teams. Three of our kids did
both the bike and the run. It was a real adventure and the kids did
fantastic, again thrilling the crowd with their grit and
determination."
Now the children are enrolled in a local YMCA for
swimming lessons and plan on doing a short race with a pool swim in
June—and they'll do the entire race solo. "One little guy has proclaimed
that he intends to do an Ironman when he's 18, and he will," Gruenfeld
said.
Gruenfeld
said that while
she provides the motivation and inspiration, "the real force that makes
this all possible is the teachers. These folks will do anything for these
kids." Gruenfeld
plans the training, works with the kids on the weekends, organizes the
fundraising and communicates with race directors. "But without the
teachers what I do would go nowhere," she said.
Earlier this month
she had to tell the kids that start of her competitive season was coming
and that she wouldn't be able to spend as much time training them for a
while. But a young man Gruenfeld
has been helping prepare for
Wildflower has joined her in training the kids, and he's planning to
assume more of the training duties from May to October.
"I'm nuts
about these kids," Gruenfeld
said. "I love seeing their eyes light
up when they accomplish a goal." She admits she's also shameless in asking
for money for the cause. If you're interested in helping, you can mail a
check to: Cypress Elementary School, c/o Ms. Jacque Irons, 26825 Cypress
Street, Highland, CA 92346.
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Roeckert, Gruenfeld, take top IM age-group honors in La
Jolla
February 14, 2001, La Jolla, California
(www.triathlonlive.com):
Kai-Michael Roeckert was honored this past
weekend at the Competitor Sports Awards as the Ironman Age-group
Competitor of the year. The Tubingen-based teacher crossed the line in
Kona in 9:01, first place in the 30-34 age group, ahead of countryman
Alexander Lang. Roeckert was the 25-29 category winner last year in
Kona.
He and his wife are expecting a child, and he therefore has
an opportunity to take as much as two years off from his teaching job––but
without pay. That allows him the time to train as a pro––should he decide
to go in that direction––but not the finances. He'd have to secure
sponsors first.
After spending a week in San Diego prior to the
awards ceremony, Roeckert says he now understands why German stars like
Jurgen Zack and Normann Stadler like to train here.
Cherie
Gruenfeld rules
the lava fields like few others (Missy LeStrange, in the audience to watch
Gruenfeld
win her
honor, is one of the few who have a more impressive Kona record). Gruenfeld
has won her
age-group in Kona four times in the past six years. Pretty good,
considering she only started triathlons in 1991.
Gruenfeld
gave perhaps the
most eloquent speech on a night replete with endurance stars like Khalid
Kannouchi, Pablo Morales, and Scott Tinley. She won the Ironman Competitor
Award for women.
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