Kona Inspired 3/30/2013

Last night our family routine started to get back to normal in our household since the beginning of the Kona Inspired and Shawn's visit to "YaYa's House".  Normally Shawn and I will get ready for bed and watch the Qubo channel's various kid shows for about 30 minutes before we go to his room to tuck him in, sing "Beautiful Boy," and lights out.  During the middle of the the routine, I passed out while watching the show with my son.  I guess I did not realize this is exhausted I was.  I am sorry that I did not get the chance to update you on yesterday's results.  Apparently, this "Kona Inspired" contest is taking everything I have, but I have no regrets.  It is worth it!

Here are the results:

1	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	5018
2	Boudousa Brain	4369
3	Fireman Brian's Mission	2908
4	Shawn's Ironman	2702
5	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	2075
6	Suck It Cancer	1891
7	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1092
8	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	603
9	Isabella' Legacy	560
10	Happy Birthday Ironman	446
11	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	339
12	The Opportunity	288
13	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	267
14	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	258
15	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	241
16	A race for the women in my life	235
17	Iron driven lifestyle	223
18	From the Bathroom to Kona	214
19	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	203
20	Kona for the Kids	202
21	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	182
22	Dad's Great Day	132
23	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	125
24	IRONMAN-BAWDO	74

Keep in mind that these results are for views only and that may not truly reflect the ranking since the decision is bases on VOTES. However, the vote count is not shown and the view count does not calculate views from mobile devices.  There could be a large margin of error in this case and we just have to work with what we can see.

Most of my focus has been on getting the word out about the Shawn's Ironman video has been through Facebook, Twitter, and this blog.  Sometimes that message gets lost in peoples news so we try to try to come up with ideas on how to better reach you social media fans.  Yesterday we started an online event invitation that helped triple our daily view count.  To All of you that accepted that invitation to the event and have invited others to the event, THANK YOU!

If I get the opportunity to compete in Kona, it will not be because I got there, it will be because you got me there.  This journey is yours and the success of the journey depends on a community's ability to move together.  Just like the Ironman triathlon, we have to take this one day at a time.  Consider this preliminary voting time as a training period before the real race.  If you skip a day your ultimate performance in the real event, so remember: One Vote, One Share, One Day at a time!

Lastly, some of you may have seen our motivational poster or "motes" for short.  They are pictures that have a information caption on them.  Some may be funny and others have a more serious nature.  We put those out hoping that some of them will go "viral" to help get the vote count up.  If you see any you like, I encourage you to hit the share button or RT so it will placed on all of your friends news feeds.  Just remember to add the website www.sendshawnsironmantokona.com to your comment so they can click the link to directly vote.  If you have an idea for a mote, please post it on the Shawn's Ironman Facebook page.  If we use it, you will be the proud owner of a Shawn's Anomaly: iDO! Awareness Bracelet.  Here is our current contribution:

Thanks again for all your support! Keep up the great work!

Kona Inspired Results 3/28/2013

I wanted to share this message I received first before we talk about the results.  It demands a little attention because it changed my whole day.  I have decided to edit and paraphrase it because I want to make sure she stays anonymous:

Mr. Murphy, 

You don't know me, but I needed to write you.  My son is very sick and I have been in the hospital with him for as long as I remember.  He does not have a birth defect, but his conditions are definitely an anomaly. The doctors recently told me that his condition was getting worse and I needed to consider signing a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate Form) in case he stopped breathing or his heart stopped again.  I have cried about this for days and have locked myself in my son's hospital room so I did not have to talk about the fact that I decided to sign the form. 

As a parent, you never want to give up on your child, but I felt that holding on to him was starting to become selfish.  I did not tell anyone about my decision and I just wanted to stop thinking about it for while.  For some reason, I decided to log into Facebook (something I don't normally do), and your video was on my newsfeed with the statement What if this happened to your baby?  I am so glad I clicked on it because it made me change my mind about signing the DNR. I prayed about my decision and felt comfortable that I was doing the right thing. 

Since then, the doctors and I have seen a huge improvement in my sons condition.  He is not out of the woods yet, but your video has given me hope.  God Bless you for what you are doing!  It may have saved my son's life.  I will be voting for your video everyday and praying that you can make it to the Ironman.

I have told you before, but it does not hurt to say it again: THIS is why you are voting and sharing.  This mother would not have seen my video without one of you being generous enough to vote and share the the video. No matter what the outcome, we are successful. Please pray from this mother and her son. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Here are the results of the views today:

1	Boudousa Brain	3993
2	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	3412
3	Shawn's Ironman	2448
4	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1903
5	Fireman Brian's Mission	1274
6	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1059
7	Suck It Cancer	989
8	Isabella' Legacy	540
9	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	495
10	Happy Birthday Ironman	437
11	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	314
12	The Opportunity	280
13	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	257
14	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	232
15	A race for the women in my life	226
16	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	206
17	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	194
18	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	174
19	Iron driven lifestyle	130
20	Kona for the Kids	93
21	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	50
22	IRONMAN-BAWDO	39

We are still in 3rd place according to views, but there are two specific campaigns that will over take us in the next few days unless we see a influx in views.  There are some great and deserving stories being submitted everyday. They are doing something right with how they spread their message to get the views.  Do any of your loyal supporters have any ideas how we can keep pace?  I am all ears!  Thank all of you for your support!

Kona Inspired 3/27/2013

Well are still moving along, and I am still watching the view count every day to see how we are doing.  Today, the news is not as great as previous posts, but my appreciation is still HIGH.  Thank you so much for all of those that are voting daily and sharing this video. Here are view results for today:

1	Boudousa Brain	3568
2	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	2550
3	Shawn's Ironman	2353
4	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1793
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	978
6	Fireman Brian's Mission	556
7	Isabella' Legacy	515
8	Happy Birthday Ironman	424
9	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	403
10	The Opportunity	274
11	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	256
12	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	251
13	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	224
14	A race for the women in my life	204
15	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	176
16	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	160
17	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	135
18	Iron driven lifestyle	29

As you can see, we have moved from 2nd to 3rd place.  The F16 pilot somehow changed the name of his video to say "Help Our Heros" and they had a calculated 1,079 views to our 79 views yesterday.  Now keep in mind, that views are not the deciding factor, but "Kona Inspired" does not let us to see our vote count, so this is the only thing we can use to determine where we are.

As a veteran, I am happy to see that this F16 pilot is trying to bring awareness to military members that suffer from depression.  It is a tough life.  I am not surprised at all that he can get 1,079 views in a day.  I have calculated that if you counted all of the Facebook followers of children's pages that is currently named on the H.O.P.E. flag,  we could get nearly 140,000 votes if they all voted just one day.  Not daily, one day!

Sure it is not impossible, but it is somewhat improbable based on how Facebook works.  A family can post on their child's page to vote, and they may only reach approximately 10% of their followers.  That is why I stress to SHARE daily.  When you vote daily, it counts as one, but if you VOTE & SHARE DAILY, you may have others that click on the video and vote.  Please SHARE DAILY.

If I get invited, it will not be because of my own individual achievements, it will be a community effort, as well as it should be since the total community is affected by birth defects and needs to know more to prevent them.   You all are my voice, and I need you yelling from the top of roofs.

I did get some advice for the Facebook page admins of The People That Inspire Humanity.  They say they get so many more hits from videos that people can directly click and watch from Facebook. Quote"...videos get a much better reaction when they are embedded onto Facebook. People are more likely to view them and then decide if they wish to participate in the external links."  I will try that today!

Thank you to all of you that do this.  I am not sure if you have noticed, but if you are my friend on Facebook and I see that you shared, I try to acknowledge that.  You are my HEROS!  Thank you for taking the 20 seconds to SHARE our story.  You are amazing!

Be ready for tomorrow.  I will be releasing a video that is a must watch.  I will give you a hint, "I Am Official!"  See ya tomorrow!

Kona Inspired 3/26/2013

While doing the viewing statistics today, I have to admit, I started to get a little emotional.  When you are the this side of the computer you don't always see how many people are reading what you write.  I finally was able to see through this internet window when I calculated the views.  Here are the results:

1	Boudousa Brain	3442
2	Shawn's Ironman	2274
3	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1655
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	1471
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	880
6	Isabella' Legacy	501
7	Happy Birthday Ironman	414
8	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	317
9	Fireman Brian's Mission	299
10	The Opportunity	268
11	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	244
12	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	229
13	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	218
14	A race for the women in my life	193
15	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	162
16	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	153
17	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	43

This may look normal to all of you that have been following our progress since we have not moved from second in views, but were it gets special is the fact we have gained momentum on the first place participant and you voted/viewed the Shawn's Ironman nearly 400 times more than the second most viewed video yesterday.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Where this day gets really awesome is when I get responses from families that are honored by what we are trying to accomplish.  Recently, the Jakya's family sent me a response that I thought I would share with you:

Thank you so much for the longest. I thought nobody cared but you show me that some people still do care.  Thank you.  You have no idea how much this means.  

I tried getting help for our family. We had to stay up in Louisville which is 4 hours from home. The whole time had little money and noone would help, not even my co-workers. Jakya was only 3 weeks old when she went home to God. We have been trying to get her name out there for a while now. This is great that you are wanting to honor her by putting her name on the flag.  We are so excited.  

Everyone, I just want to remind you how important your daily vote is.  It is the most important you can do for families like this.  You directly giving HOPE to these families that you care!  I know you do, but now the world needs to see it.

I will be putting up a page on the blog that will have all of the names that will be on the flag.  Please continue to vote daily and please let everyone know about the flag so we can add more names of children.  YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

Kona Inspired 3/25/2013

Hello everyone!  Here is the update so far of our progress.  I am happy to say that we are currently in 2nd when it comes to views.  I know that views are that what counts and votes do, but since it is the only way we can monitor how we are doing, I have to use that as our way to keep track.  Here is the results of the views:

1	Boudousa Brain	3128
2	Shawn's Ironman	1552
3	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1474
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	1228
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	817
6	Isabella' Legacy	482
7	Happy Birthday Ironman	400
8	The Opportunity	261
9	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	237
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	210
11	A race for the women in my life	177
12	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	171
13	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	154
14	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	144
15	Fireman Brian's Mission	72
16	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	18

As I stated, we are in second, but 1st, 3rd and 4th place videos had more views than the Shawn's Ironman video.  I have decided that this may because of "Already Voted Madness"

(Expect Sarcasm Now)

Several of you have explained that you have tried to video on your mobile device daily, but the device would not allow you and tell you that you already voted.  I decided to put out this PSA to help those that may be frustrated and have had been affected by "Already Voted Madness"  Please watch and share:

(End Sarcasm Now)

I want to thank all of you for your support.  You are my strength, and I hope that you can be encouaged by some of the responses that I am getting from families that will be represented if you we get enough votes to get into Kona.  Here is a message I received from one of the parents: 

I spent the day feeling hopeless. Going through several spells crying. I log in and find this message from you and watch your video. 

Thank you for reminding me to NEGU and reminding me of the hope we have and must cling to.
I have liked your video and shared it on 3 pages, including the page of a mentoring group I am in - a whole new audiance that is global. I hope it spreads.

We hope it spreads too, but you have to share it to make it spread.  This journey means a lot to a lot of people.  Please keep up the great work.  Thanks again!

Kona Inspired Result 3/24/2013

Well, it is Sunday afternoon and I am happy to say that we have widened our gap between us and 3rd place, but the 1st place guy has increased his lead on us.  Of course, that is views only.  I am not sure what our vote count looks like and that is what is most important.  I am not upset at all about it.  We are doing great!  Thank you all for supporting this effort! Here are todays view results:

1	Boudousa Brain	2819
2	Shawn's Ironman	1469
3	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1374
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	1051
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	768
6	Isabella' Legacy	457
7	Happy Birthday Ironman	385
8	The Opportunity	245
9	I am a living proof..."Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	227
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	196
11	A race for the women in my life	154
12	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	137
13	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	131
14	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	125

In the past two days I have reached out to approximately 80 different awareness pages on Facebook to see if they would like their child's name place on the flag.  If you combine their total reach, we could obtain over 450,000 votes if every person that liked their page would vote just once.

It may not reflect on the views, but I know that there is a positive reach to those that need to know about this.  I will continue to reach out other pages to let them know about our efforts to spread awareness for birth defects. All of those that have replied are really excited to help, and they have shared on their page for their followers to vote for the video.

One specific correspondence really stood out to me today.  They were so grateful for what we are doing, but they mentioned that they are really trying to get more research and that was something that I "can't" help with.  If any of you that know me at all, that word immediately stood out to me, so I responded with a little encouragement:


If there is one thing that I have learned in the past four years since my son was born with his 1 in 35 million condition is the phrase "I can't" is not true. Shawn's conditions only been recorded 200 times ever and even in those cases, there was not one of them that was exactly like my baby Shawn.
We were told several times that Shawn's conditions were "sporadic" and could have never been predicted or fixed, but after a little determination from Shawn's doctor to find a solution and Shawn's resiliency to survive, we saw the phrase "I can't" turn into the phrase "I just did!"

That resilience and determination from Shawn is what spurred me to attempt my own impossible and go from that "Overweight Smoker" to an Ironman triathlete. Why? Well before my son was born, I always watched that event on TV and said, "I can't do that!" Since I had a change my attitude from "I can't" to "I Do", I decided to prove it while raising awareness and hope for families like yours. We started a research fund with Texas Children's Hospital (something we were told we couldn't do) to help research congenital anomalies, and I crossed the Ironman Texas finish line in May of last year.
Several people asked me to describe my attitude, and so I coined the mantra, "iDO!" in a blog posting. Here is what I said:

"I DO” is such a simple phrase but it is so powerful in so many ways. It is powerful enough to confirm the commitment to marriage and powerful enough confirm truth in a court of law. We live in a world of I Can’t and I Don’t. Some of us get inspired enough to go from the “I Can’t” to “I Can”, but never get around to doing anything to make that phrase “I DO!” The 1% of the world that has finished an Ironman triathlon, understands the phrase better than most. They don’t just not say there were going to do something, they do it. You don’t have to finish an Ironman to use this phrase. You can use it to follow through with any commitment whether to be to finish a race, lose a few pounds, volunteer to help the less fortunate, or just be a better person. I challenge you to change your life mantra to “I DO!" 

Take the pledge with me:
iDO better myself
iDO better those around me
iDO encourage others that say iDO
iDO help those that are less fortunate
iDO test my boundaries

I tell you all of this because you said the phrase, "you can't". I know you did not mean harm in saying it, but the word "can't" is now the fuel that drives people that say, "iDO!" I encourage you to feel the same way when someone tells you you can't do something. The next time that happens, just look at them, smile, and say, "Wanna bet?" I will be right beside you to remind you that you can! 

I will keep that commitment, and I ask you to keep the iDO! commitment as well by voting daily and sharing with all your friends.  Thank all for your support!

Plan on seeing some new video to be released not "New Video Thursday", but in the meantime, have fun with this.  I posted this when we made it to the semi-finals last year, but it is still relevant:

Kona Inspired Results 3/23/2013

Well we are trucking a long pretty well with our campaign to spread awareness about birth defects by crossing the finish line at the Ironman World Championship. I am happy to say that we have maintained our spot in second place. Here are the results of the views:

1	Boudousa Brain	2503
2	Shawn's Ironman	1306
3	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1258
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	837
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	730
6	Isabella' Legacy	402
7	Happy Birthday Ironman	362
8	The Opportunity	219
9	I am a living proof of your mantra "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	207
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	169
11	A race for the women in my life	115
12	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	114
13	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	111
14	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	13

Keep in mind this is only based on views and not true votes.  We have noticed that for some reason mobile views are not being recorded (only computer views).  That means we may have a lot more votes than we do views.  Since it is still the only way for us to monitor where we are, I am keeping those stats.  First of all, we received 100 new views from yesterday.  The leader received 281 and 3rd received 106.  That means that the leader is extending his lead and the person behind us is catching up.  But:

I can tell by Facebook and Twitter that all of you are doing an amazing job with voting and sharing every day.  We just need to keep voting and sharing with others.  We will eventually have others who will join us.  You are doing an AMAZING job!  Thank you so much for your support. 

I also would like to point out that I have added a "Sign H.O.P.E. Flag" button for any of you that want to put a person's name on it that has a congenital birth defect.  As soon as we receive the flag, I will place the name on the flag, take a picture of it, and email it to the person that submitted the name.  Please make sure to let everyone know about this. It have been very overwhelming emotionally getting to know some of the people that have requested a name to be placed on the flag.

For immediate updates on the names that are added to the flag, please follow the Shawn's Anomaly Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shawnsanomaly

Thanks agin for all of your support and voting. Keep up the great work!

Kona Inspired Results 3/22/2012

Well the results are in, and I can't say that we advanced one spot from our previous position in the rank according to views.  Why?  Well, it is because we moved FOUR and we are currently in 2nd place according to views!  WOW!  All of you are amazing.

1	Boudousa Brain	2222
2	Shawn's Ironman	1206
3	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	1152
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	765
5	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	702
6	Isabella' Legacy	366
7	Happy Birthday Ironman	345
8	The Opportunity	207
9	I am a living proof of your mantra "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	196
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	150
11	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	102
12	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	100
13	A race for the women in my life	84

Now that we are close to the top, we have to maintain our momentum!  Remember that views are the only way we can tell how we are doing, but VOTING is the only thing that will get us in.  SHARING is what will help us multiply our daily votes.

I have a few people to thank specifically.  All of these people are very special to me because of their dedication to spread the word to their followers on their Facebook Pages about congenital anomalies. You can show your appreciation by going and liking their pages:

I Love Liam Lyon & Lights For Liam

Nanci Tankersley

Susan Pickle

Whitney Lyon

Prayers For Pratt Pack

Amy Pratt

Jaden's Journey with Hydranencephaly

Rachel Kaufman

Avery's Angels Gastroschisis Foundation

Meghan Hall

If you combine all of their followers we can be over 126,000 strong daily, but it as we all know about the Facebook Newsfeed, the message can sometimes get lost.  You can tell how drastic the drop off is according to the views and the number of people we are trying to reach. They have committed to share our story frequently, so hopefully we can get more and more votes daily.  

I can't tell you how much it means to me to have their support.  I have gotten to know each of their stories on a personal level. I had already decided I was going to do something for each of them even before they committed to helping.  Their willingness to help just confirms to me why my ideas was a good one. 

*Warning: You may need tissues for the remainder of this post.

I spent a some time yesterday making a "HOPE" flag that I want to carry across the finish line of the Ironman World Championship if I get enough votes.  As soon as we receive it from the manufacturer, we will be bringing it to every event that I, or the iDO! Fab 5 team, will be participating in so families can put a child's name on the flag that has been/is affected by a congenital anomaly.  I can't walk hand in hand with every child that has a congenital anomaly across the finish line in Kona, but at least I can carry their name across with me.  I would be honored to do so! (Okay, now I am crying again!)

Here is the flag:  

Click To Enlarge

Now the above mentioned individuals will immediately see a lot of symbolism, but for others that may not see it all, please let me take the opportunity to explain:

1. H is colored periwinkle because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that two of the Pratt Pack 5 are affected by: Tracheal Esophageal Fistula (TEF).  Amy and her husband have 4 of 5 children born with a birth defect. 
2. O is colored in lime green because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Avery suffered from before he passed on: Gastroschisis 
3. P is colored in Red because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Liam had before he passed last year: Congenital Heart Defect (CHD)
4. E is colored in blue because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Jaden is affected by: Hydranencephaly
5. The sun represents our willingness to reach the far ends of the earth to provide education, hope, and help through Shawn's Anomaly.
6. The skyline in black represents Houston (Where Shawn's Anomaly started) and also how the world overshadowed awareness for the leading cause of infant deaths, Congenital Birth Defects, until Shawn's Anomaly started.
7. The different color houses represent that congenital anomalies comes to each home differently. 
8. You can see the swimmer, biker, and runner representing those that have dedicated their race to raise awareness through Team Shawn's Anomaly!
9. In the ocean you will see fish that are in the shape of an infinity sign representing that we will not stop our campaign to help families and make others aware of congenital birth defects.

I originally designed this with some of Shawn's crayons, but thanks to Dean Digamon of Prosper Apparel (Notice the Prosper Watermark?) we got it in a vector form that we could use for our Team Shawn's Anomaly race gear.  

Now that you understand what all of it means, I ask you to please tell everyone you know about this flag and my campaign to fly it at the Ironman World Championship.  I want to get as many children's names of children affected by congenital anomalies as I can on the flag.  It will show the public how COMMON, COSTLY, & CRITICAL they are to all of us!

Thanks again for your support!  Keep up the great work of voting and sharing daily!

Kona Inspired Results 3/21/2013

Wow!  You guys are amazing!

We have climbed up the charts.  I can't thank you enough for all of the support that you are giving us for the daily votes and shares.

1	Boudousa Brain	1810
2	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	996
3	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	656
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	538
5	Shawn's Ironman	457
6	Happy Birthday Ironman	314
7	Isabella' Legacy	303
8	The Opportunity	182
9	I am a living proof..."Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	176
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	116
11	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	77
12	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	69
13	A race for the women in my life	0

For those of you that may be new to this contes, it is going to be long and tough. We have to take it one day at a time.  I like to have fun, so I try to do certain things with current events that will keep you coming back and laughing, crying, or both.  Be looking forward to seeing a little of both over the next few weeks.  It may be a picture, a video, or a story.  Either way, you have to keep VOTING & SHARING DAILY and coming back to see "What's Next?"

Here is a little sample of what is yet to come:

Thanks again for all your support!  You are awesome!

Kona Inspired Results 3/20/2013

Okay, so here are the view results so far of the Kona Inspired contest:

1	Boudousa Brain	1030
2	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	877
3	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	548
4	Isabella' Legacy	242
5	Happy Birthday Ironman	236
6	Shawn's Ironman	227
7	The Opportunity	118
8	I am a living proof..."Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	116
9	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	106
10	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	54
11	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	0
12	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	0

I am sitting in 6th place currently, but as we all know, there will be more an more entries as time passes. Voting daily and sharing on your FB and Twitter is the best way to win this. We have to recruit others to vote daily as well.

I was thinking about putting some shirts together that would allow all of us to be walking billboards. It is a shirt that we could give a way with a "pay it forward" message in it encouraging others to go to the Shawn's Anomaly website to donate the cost of the shirt to give another shirt away. What are your thoughts?

Time For " Kona Inspired" to Hijack Shawn's Ironman

When I first started this blog, my hope was not only to become an Ironman Triathlete, but also to finish the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI.

I really felt that we had one of those inspirational stories that would give me the chance to run down the famous chute of Alii Dr to hear Mike Riley say, "You Are An Ironman!"  I did not know at the time how difficult or long this journey would be.   It has taken everything that I thought I could give and more.  I have not made it yet, but I am not done...

In hindsight, I am kinda glad that I did not make it to the Ironman World Championship the first year that I attempted.  If I did, then I may not have met all the amazing people I have met, and Shawn's Anomaly may not exist in the way it does today.

Last year, World Triathlon Corporation introduced a program called "Kona Inspired"!  The program allows average athletes that may never have the chance qualify for the Ironman World Championship to be invited to share their inspirational stories and competed in the triathlon.  This has been the greatest opportunity yet for me to get my chance to cross the finish line in Kona.

I came so close last year from getting the invitation, but I just came up a little short.  I learned a lot about that experience.  I learned what to do and what not to do.  This year is different.  This year, I want to make a few promises to you, the follower of this journey.  I promise:

1. I will only post one posting a day on Facebook regarding voting. 
2. To keep a positive attitude during the whole process
3. To train up to my greatest potential so that I can be ready if I get the invitation.

In return, I hope that you can help me win an invitation by voting daily and most importantly, sharing will all of your friends on Facebook and Twitter at least once a week during the voting process.  I can guarantee you one thing, I have all the determination and resilience to do this, but I cant' do it alone.  This will take all of us coming together to make this happen.  This will be the video that I am submitting.  Remember that you will need to vote for the video by going to the Kona Inspired website.

Ultimately it is all about spreading awareness about the Shawn's Anomaly mission and to help those families that desperately need it.  Those families deserve the best of what I can give, and I hope that you can join me to give them that.  

I want to thank you in advance for your support and I can't wait to announce to you:

I MADE IT TO THE

 IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!