Lorenzo Rossaro
Member since
7/4/2009 1:58:14 PM |
 Why do I RAAM (Race Across America)?
7/5/2009 10:34:03 AM
Dear Jason:
Thank you for leading us every year to new challenges and lifting the bar higher.
All of us surely can think of many other groups of people that continue to contribute to our TDL cause: one of them is our SUPPORTERs that could not be with us during the journey, but had open their wallet or check book with generosity.
Their financial contribution had made possible to reach our targets and behond. This year again we will help donor organizations, research, education, or even a single family that does not have the means to go through the process of transplantation. The emotion of our supporters when they donated for our cause is similar to the emotion we all feel when we "give to others", the feeling of being there when someone else needs our help. Thank you to all, every dollar counts, thank you to all our friends or coallegues, thank you to the anonymous ones who may not receive our thank you card in the mail but they are and will be in the heart of the receivers for ever.
Lorenzo
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Dennis Spencer
Member since
7/4/2009 1:58:14 PM |
Why do I RAAM (Race Across America)?
7/5/2009 9:23:16 AM
Well said Jason, well said. Thank you once again for expending so much of your time and energy into providing a life-affirming experience for all concerned. I have memories to last a life time and a keen appreciation of the need for organ donation. Dennis
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Jason Weckworth
Member since
7/4/2009 1:58:14 PM |
Why do I RAAM (Race Across America)?
7/4/2009 2:03:11 PM
2009 was my 3rd RAAM… every two years. I’ve completed (2) 8-person teams and (1) 4-person team. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done in my life… so why do I do it? And why do I already start thinking of the next one within a week of being home?
It’s quite simple, really. It’s the people. The memories we cherish the most, whether good times that make us laugh and love life, or difficult times that make us cry and grow personally, are all about the people we spend our lives with.
There are three groups of people that I think of when it comes to RAAM.
First and foremost, are the patients we honor and race on behalf of… we seek media interviews across the country so we can share a message of hope for those often on the brink of death. Many have died waiting. Some are still with us because of an incredible gift from a selfless donor family or living donor. I think of my dad, Rodney Weckworth, who is still with us 6 years after receiving my kidney, and Staci Smith, who was once a stranger before receiving my wife, Kristen’s kidney last summer. I consider Terry Box, a TDL teammate and transplant surgeon who himself nearly died from liver failure but survived in the 11th hour from the gift of a donor family. I think of the literally hundreds of family members who have told us of their personal stories of transplant success, and I cry for those who have shared the loss of their best friends along the way. I know that hundreds or maybe thousands are added to the donor registry everyday. I believe that everyone should be in this registry. I believe that what we do matters… a whole lot. I believe that our efforts through RAAM will save someone’s life… if not today, then tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. And I will never stop for that reason. My greatest joy during RAAM is not the finish line… but rather a conversation and picture with a stranger along the way, who smiles and says “I’ve been tracking Team Donate Life, and I love your cause.” For it is in that magical moment when a stranger becomes a friend, that we know that our purpose has touched another life.
There is a 2nd group of people that I cherish in RAAM… my teammates. We start our base training about 9 months before RAAM. By January, we begin a serious training schedule that increases our weekly miles to over 400 miles per week by June. We ride every Saturday and Sunday together, often at 5:00 AM when we would rather be sleeping, and we sacrifice much of our family and work time throughout each week. This year was almost 5,000 training miles since January, probably 8,000 miles since September in order to be prepared for a competitive RAAM (over 20mph average). My teammates are like soldiers. We are brothers who tease (we have nicknames for everyone), challenge (King of the Mountain), and compete (someone will attack on any given day), but we love the thrill of training together (many Centuries & Double Centuries). We have developed friendships that matter… ones that will stay with us for a lifetime. And when RAAM starts, all the hard training work begins to pay off as we cross the Rockies at over 10,000’ with a 19 mph average. It is an incredible rush to feel the accomplishment of RAAM’s journey, but so much more when you are able to sprint 5 miles knowing that your teammate is waiting to pick up your pace and push every bit as hard… for 6 days straight, 24 hours per day!
The third group of people is perhaps what I love most about RAAM. They are the ones that make the critical difference. They are The RAAM Crew! They are the saints of RAAM. They usually have no idea what they are getting themselves into (even though we try to warn them with preparation). They drive… and drive… and drive. They get our bikes on and off the racks every 15 minutes for about 150 hours straight. They eat crap. They can’t sleep (we’re talking major sleep deprivation that you cannot imagine u
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