All for One, One for All - Three Brothers Prepare for a Unique Personal Adventure at St. Anthony's Triathlon
When Brent Pease crossed the finish line of the 2010 Ironman Louisville race, he inspired his two younger twin brothers, Evan and Kyle, to vow to finish a triathlon together in 2011. Sounds like a familiar inspirational story, right? A lot of families have become addicted to triathlon when one member breaks the first tape. However, this is a very different tale. Kyle was born with cerebral palsy.
Originally told he might only live to age seven, Kyle today at age 25 works at a grocery store and a local hospital. He also gives motivational speeches to various groups in the city. One of those talks gave some very young triathletes the inspiration they needed to finish a race.
Brent actively volunteers for Tri-Kids, an organization in the Atlanta area that helps inner city kids participate in local triathlons. The non-profit organization provides training, equipment and financial support to those youths who do not have the financial resources available to compete by themselves.
Two years ago, Brent coached a group of Tri-Kids learning how to swim. To provide added inspiration, he brought Kyle in to talk one day about the challenges he has faced and overcome. The kids loved the message so much that they all finished their first triathlon with Kyle's initials written on their arms.
In 2010, it was Kyle's turn to ask for the chance to cross the finish line. Brent and Evan vowed they would make his dream come true in 2011, this year. They decided to complete two events this year as a trio. The first event would be the Publix Georgia Half Marathon on March 20th. The second event would be the Olympic distance St. Anthony's Triathlon on May 1st.
To complete both events, the brothers needed a team behind them. It didn't take long to build one. Tri-Kids quickly joined as the title sponsor to return the favor for Kyle. Freedom Concepts, a company that provides devices to give mobility to individuals with disabilities gave them a bike. Matthew Rose at Dynamo Multisport has donated hours of coaching to prepare the three brothers for the unique event. The Virginia Beach Chapter of Team Hoyt bought the jogger for the run. Witzlib Studio Fitness put Brent on a concentrated strength training program to get ready to pull Kyle in the water. All3Sports outfitted Kyle with running and swimming gear. GU Energy gave them nutrition supplies. And a local startup, Albopads, simply thought this was a great endeavor and provided them with extra funding.
I caught up with Brent for an interview as they quickly approach the starting line for the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Paul Tyler: When Kyle asked you if he could do an Ironman as well, did you ever have a moment of doubt that he could?
Brent Pease: Not at all. The only question was a matter off how we went about doing it. When we signed up for our first race we had none of the necessary equipment to compete.
PT: How have you and your brother changed your training routines to prepare for assisting Kyle?
BP: Not much has changed in terms of actual working out, but we have added more volume quicker and done more functional strength to help prepare.
PT: How did you pick St. Anthony's as the triathlon to enter?
BP: The race organizers have been great to deal with for one. It was a flat early season race that felt right timing and travel wise.
PT: How do you think finishing this race will impact Kyle?
BP: In the same way that first race impacted all of us that are still racing. After completing 1 10k and one 13.1 already Kyle is as hungry as your normal triathlete looking for more races.
PT: How will the race impact both you and Evan?
BP: Hard to tell until we cross that finish line but I certainly believe that it will only help make us stronger together and drive us towards bigger goals together.
PT: How can people best support your cause through donations?
BP: At this point awareness is our goal. Kyle is in the process of forming a 501(c)3 to help better the lives of physically challenged persons but at this time we just want to make people aware and get them to start following us on our journey. If people would like, they can donate to our title sponsor, Tri-Kids in Kyle's name or directly to Kyle, although we are not sure of tax write offs until we get word from the IRS.
PT: How can people support people with disabilities participate in sports in their local communities?
BP: By recognizing that they want a lot of the same things we all want. By volunteering with local hospitals and organizations that are out there who try to give back and get people active just like Kyle. Anyone in the Atlanta area can contact us if they wish to find out more in our area specifically.
PT: Will the three of you stop here? What is next in your plans?
BP: There's NO way will we stop here. We are doing at least one more 13.1 this year and as for triathlons...well Kyle is already asking which 140.6 races are the best...
TRIJUICE wishes them all the luck in the world this May and wherever their next race takes them. We encourage all those racing St. Anthony's to cheer them on out on the course or those not racing to wish them well on their challenge. You can follow their progress on their website at www.race.kylepease.org, on Facebook at "Walking with KPeasey" or on Twitter @WalkingwithKP. We will work on getting a post race report from them after their quest.
This story idea came NBC affiliate 11Alive News (WXIA-TV) in Atlanta who did a feature story on the Pease brothers, including this video. Meet Kyle and see what they had to say about their triathlon quest.
Author: Paul Tyler
Paul Tyler is the founder of Triessential.com and a contributor here at TRIJUICE. Triessential offers an iPhone application that provides training tips and motivation every day throughout the entire year.
www.triessential.com
