Rachel Cosgrove

Bob Babbitt in his speech at the start of my race this weekend said,

“I believe that sport makes you whole.”

I never really thought about it but it is so true. If I didn't have sports, fitness, athletics, a way to move my body and do something or achieve something I would feel incomplete. This organization that I was racing to raise money for, Challenged Athletes Foundation, gives people who have had sports taken away from them by having no legs or missing an arm or being paraplegic or quadriplegic or in my niece's case having cerebral palsy and not being able to participate in sport or fitness as most people do, the very thing that makes many of us whole.

When someone has one of these disabilities insurance companies will pay for walking prosthetic legs but will not pay for running legs or a bicycle. Insurance companies consider sport such as being able to run or ride a bike a luxury. A luxury? I think it is more of a necessity.

This organization gets these individuals what they need to compete and to be an athlete. It was amazing to see these challenged athletes pushing their limits with sport and getting the feeling of achieving something. Many of them had bikes especially made for their disability. This past year my niece was able to get a bike, which was paid for by The Challenged Athletes Foundation, and ride a bike for the first time in her life at 8 years old. In the swim they had a partner that helped them to swim and a number of them have running legs, which are prosthetic legs to run on. If you watch The Amazing Race you probably remember Sarah Reinertsen who was on the show. She is a spokesperson for Challenged Athletes Foundation and has a running prosthetic leg. She is always at this race. There was also a 9 year old boy who was a double amputee, with no legs who did the entire 1.2 mile swim. As I was finishing my swim I glanced over and saw that he was right next to me coming in to the beach giving me a final boost of inspiration!

This is the face of courage. 9 year old Cody McCasland prepares for a One Mile Swim in La Jolla Cove at the Challenged Athletes Foundation's San Diego Triathlon Challenge. www.challengedathletes.org Photo by Rich Cruse www.richcruse.com

I do this race to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation in honor of my niece who is a sponsored Challenged Athlete. As I mentioned above she was able to get her first bike this past year and rides it all over because of this foundation. This was the first time my niece, Marie, came to the race. In the past year with her gaining strength from riding the bike and working with a horse back riding coach Marie has gone from using a walker to get around to not using a walker at all. One of the emotional moments was when another little girl who is 3 came up to Marie using her walker with cerebral palsy just like Marie and saw that Marie doesn't use a walker anymore. Her parents at that moment seeing Marie gave them hope that their daughter one day would not need her walker.

Sport makes you whole really means a lot more after seeing all of these people be a part of sports and athletics when something as simple as jump roping at school with the other kids may have never been an option for them. It also makes me appreciate being able to participate in an event like this and that I am able to do whatever I want physically. It reminds me not to take advantage of that or take advantage of the feeling of being able to do a sport and accomplish something physically.

During one of the speeches before the race one of the speakers said, “Enjoy this day of playing in the game of life!” Which is exactly what Challenged Athletes Foundation gives to all of the disabled athlete s- a chance to play in the game of life!

I look forward to the day when Marie participates in the race with me “playing in the game of life” like all of the other kids and adults who have benefited from Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Throughout my swim that quote kept running through my head – “Playing in the game of life!” and how fortunate I am to be able to every single day. Thank you for the amazing, inspiring event CAF! I was honored to be a part of it and look forward to it next year. To learn more about CAF go to – ChallengedAthletes.org

Check out this article about training for a triathlon. Click Here