Ironman World Championship Training Day 1`

Today is my official 1st day of training for the Ironman World Championship.  I have made my commitment, and now I just need you to help me get there.  Your vote is the only way I can get there! Please Vote and Share at www.sendshawnsironmantokona.com today!

 

Kemah Triathlon Results (1 of 2) - Kona Inspired Update

This year's Kemah triathlon became a first for a lot of things for me.  First off, this was the first time in my triathlon career that I was not either competing or being a coordinator in the event.  My whole focus was to be there for the athletes that were on Team Shawn's Anomaly.  It was so much fun to be there for these amazing athletes.

The Kemah Triathlon has become one of the best triathlons in the US.  Several professionals from all over the world choose to compete in the is event because of the professionalism and organization of the event by OnUrMark Productions.  Regardless of your skill level, this triathlon is a MUST compete for all triathletes because of the location, the amenities, and the atmosphere.  After all, how may other triathlon's do you get to jump off a boat to get started.

Saturday started off great as the Sprint triathlon competitors entered the water in the early hours.  Team Shawn's Anomaly members Jennifer Kilgore and Jackson Wyers were two of the athletes in the event.  Both of them had dedicated the Kemah Tri as their fundraising event in 2013.

I can't tell you how proud I am to call these athletes my teammates.  That the perfect ambassadors for the team.  The "Tri" their hardest but ultimately remember that it is about having fun and furthering the mision to provide education, hope, and help to families affected by congenital birth anomalies.

Jackson was only doing the swim part of a relay and would be in the Olympic distance the next day.  Jennifer was in the Sprint race.  What makes both of these athletes so amazing is that this is the second triathlon in less than a month for both of them.  Together they raised over $2,700.00 for Shawn's Anomaly.

I had to break away for a few minutes to do an interview with Julia Fine, check it out:

After I returned from the radio interview, I was informed that Jackson's team had finished 1st in the Relay.  This was the first win for Shawn's Anomaly.  Now keep in mind that podium finishes are not what Team Shawn's Anomaly is about, but when it happens, we are really excited for those involved.  I am so proud of Jackson's team for their amazing finish.

Saturday continued to be a great day as we took Shawn to Space Center Houston since it was sprinkling a little and did not allow us to go to the beach.  Check out tomorrow posting about Day 2 of the Kemah Triathlon. 

Here are the results of yesterday's Kona Inspired views:

		Views	Daily Views
1	Fireman Brian's Mission	87759	8405
2	IRONMAN-BAWDO	76531	6250
3	Jacob Fuka_Kona Inspired	55771	21
4	Boudousa Brain	34008	1581
5	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	25076	417
6	I'm Dean Bullock, I Have Brain Cancer	21744	464
7	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	11017	888
8	Kona Inspired, Ironman retun…Heart Condition	8522	497
9	Suck It Cancer	7708	368
10	Clarissa Alba	7533	1780
11	Running' Down A Dream	6328	2544
12	Kona for Karen and ALS	5413	2725
13	Shawn's Ironman	5079	72
14	From Deathbed to Ironman	3763	197
15	PROJECT GIVING: IRONMAN JOURNEY	3694	353
16	Kona for the Kids	3688	164
17	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	3471	35
18	My Life is full of possibilities	3316	321
19	Double disabled Inspiration	3135	959
20	Kevin Hickey's Submission Video	2838	335
21	4 the NEXT Generation	2817	539
22	From the Bathroom to Kona	2694	80
23	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1908	36
24	The Journey-Quadriplegic to Ironman	1550	99
25	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	1541	109
26	MAKING POSSIBLE THE IMPOSSIBLE	1501	24
27	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	1473	14
28	Dad's Great Day	1453	47
29	Rich Cline- Racing for a Cause	1370	503
30	Never Quit the Game;…	1071	212
31	Paralysis to Ironman - Brad Kelley	865	42
32	Isabella' Legacy	824	27
33	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	699	12
34	Happy Birthday Ironman	606	14
35	Iron driven lifestyle	544	13
36	Choose to be well!	541	9
37	Heigl Olafson "A.S. Warrior"	489	127
38	Life Long Journey	456	21
39	A race for the women in my life	441	12
40	The Opportunity	420	9
41	Sara's Wish	415	53
42	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	407	10
43	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	405	6
44	My thanks to ironman	367	12
45	Flatline to Finishline	367	56
46	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	347	5
47	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	293	5
48	Family strength	256	10
49	For Mari	256	256
50	Fighting MS with MS	201	201
51	Graves' Eye Disease	181	181
52	Kona Inspired (Greg O' Reilly)	176	36
53	Triathlete for 35 Years	170	50
54	Military PTSD	107	107
55	Hope	51	51
56	Starting to Tri-Special Olympics	44	44
57	A Cancer Cure is Possible	13	13
58	Kona dream	12	12

Kona Inspired 4/25/2013 - Long Pause

Thanks to all of you that have been voting for me on the past few days.  I am sorry that I have not been able to update you on the view count in the past couple of days.  As some of you may know, I was very sick with fever the first of the week.

I am finally starting to feel like myself again just in time for us to get ready for the annual Kemah Triathlon Festival.  I am so excited to go support Yvonne, Jennifer, Jackson, Patrick, and all of my other friends that are going to racing.

Here are Today's view counts:

		Views	Daily Views
1	Fireman Brian's Mission	79354	17658
2	IRONMAN-BAWDO	70281	7746
3	Jacob Fuka_Kona Inspired	55750	5362
4	Boudousa Brain	32427	10638
5	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	24659	2971
6	I'm Dean Bullock, I Have Brain Cancer	21280	989
7	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	10129	1620
8	Kona Inspired, Ironman retun…Heart Condition	8025	1003
9	Suck It Cancer	7340	816
10	Clarissa Alba	5753	715
11	Shawn's Ironman	5007	653
12	Running' Down A Dream	3784	3784
13	From Deathbed to Ironman	3566	3566
14	Kona for the Kids	3524	652
15	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	3436	154
16	PROJECT GIVING: IRONMAN JOURNEY	3341	767
17	My Life is full of possibilities	2995	723
18	Kona for Karen and ALS	2688	2688
19	From the Bathroom to Kona	2614	230
20	Kevin Hickey's Submission Video	2503	1533
21	4 the NEXT Generation	2278	1244
22	Double disabled Inspiration	2176	510
23	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1872	129
24	MAKING POSSIBLE THE IMPOSSIBLE	1477	53
25	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	1459	23
26	The Journey-Quadriplegic to Ironman	1451	581
27	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	1432	27
28	Dad's Great Day	1406	310
29	Rich Cline- Racing for a Cause	867	867
30	Never Quit the Game;…	859	859
31	Paralysis to Ironman - Brad Kelley	823	86
32	Isabella' Legacy	797	29
33	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	687	30
34	Happy Birthday Ironman	592	20
35	Choose to be well!	532	21
36	Iron driven lifestyle	531	59
37	Life Long Journey	435	39
38	A race for the women in my life	429	22
39	The Opportunity	411	16
40	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	399	13
41	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	397	44
42	Sara's Wish	362	362
43	Heigl Olafson "A.S. Warrior"	362	362
44	My thanks to ironman	355	30
45	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	342	19
46	Flatline to Finishline	311	223
47	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	288	12
48	Family strength	246	52
49	Kona Inspired (Greg O' Reilly)	140	140
50	Triathlete for 35 Years	120	120

We have added a few new entries.  All of the stories are really inspiring!  Sadly there will be some left out of the semi-finalist round now that there are more than 45 entries.  I am hoping that we make it to the semi-finals!

Some of you also may have noticed that a recent posting was not from me, but from someone else giving you updates.  I am happy to say that we had a volunteer step up and will be helping me keep you updated during the voting period.  This person has asked to remain anonymous, but I still wanted to show my appreciation for their efforts.  This takes a huge load off my plate and frees me up to further the mission even better. 

Thanks to all of you for your support.  Please keep up the daily voting and sharing.  It is working for sure! 

Kona Inspired Results 4/22/2013

I am exceedingly grateful to be a small part of this cause.  What a TREMENDOUS turnout for voting.  I have looked back and am so pleased to report that today represents the largest number of daily views recorded for Shawn's Ironman!!

With all of the speaking engagements and promotion for Shawn's Anomaly one can only imagine how overwhelming trying to tackle everything alone may be.  We as a community who support this cause can first help by taking the minute a day to vote.  That is obvious and much appreciated by the continued efforts of those spreading the word and continually remembering to vote and share with others!   This is a community effort, so when others are willing to step up and "march on" together for the mission, it grows faster and stronger. 

Thank You!!!

There are seven new entrants to Kona Inspired as well.

Here are the results for today:  

		Views	Daily Views
1	IRONMAN-BAWDO	66293	3758
2	Fireman Brian's Mission	66001	4305
3	Jacob Fuka_Kona Inspired	50402	14
4	Boudousa Brain	25901	4112
5	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	22241	553
6	I'm Dean Bullock, I Have Brain Cancer	20712	421
7	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	9006	497
8	Kona Inspired, Ironman retun…Heart Condition	7031	9
9	Suck It Cancer	6659	135
10	Clarissa Alba	5112	74
11	Shawn's Ironman	4853	499
12	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	3303	21
13	Kona for the Kids	3098	226
14	PROJECT GIVING: IRONMAN JOURNEY	2830	256
15	From the Bathroom to Kona	2503	119
16	My Life is full of possibilities	2615	343
17	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1759	16
18	Double disabled Inspiration	1901	235
19	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	1445	9
20	MAKING POSSIBLE THE IMPOSSIBLE	1441	17
21	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	1413	25
22	Dad's Great Day	1107	11
23	4 the NEXT Generation	1442	408
24	Kevin Hickey's Submission Video	1271	301
25	The Journey-Quadriplegic to Ironman	1204	334
26	Isabella' Legacy	773	5
27	Paralysis to Ironman - Brad Kelley	768	31
28	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	667	10
29	Happy Birthday Ironman	577	5
30	Choose to be well!	518	7
31	Iron driven lifestyle	481	9
32	A race for the women in my life	414	7
33	Life Long Journey	409	13
34	The Opportunity	398	3
35	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	388	2
36	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	356	3
37	My thanks to ironman	336	11
38	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	328	3
39	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	280	4
40	Family strength	215	21
41	Flatline to Finishline	134	46
42	Sara's Wish	218	218
43	From Deathbed to Ironman	245	245
44	Kona Inspired (Greg O' Reilly)	33	33
45	Runnin' Down A Dream	1209	1209
46	Triathlete for 35 Years	33	33
47	Rich Cline-Racing for a Cause	104	104

The vote count and daily views numbers are accurate; however I am not extremely skilled at excel...therefore the rankings are not, and for that I apologize.  I hope to have the kinks worked out by tomorrow but thought it was such an amazing effort it had to be shared!

Sincerely, 

Shawn's Anomaly Supporter

Kona Inspired Results 4/20/2012 - Kona Inspired Is A Full-Time Job

This has been the first time since Tuesday that I have had a time to sit down long enough to update you on what is going on with the Kona Inspired views as we see it. Kona inspired has become a full-time job, and I really need help from some of you to further succeed with the mission.  See below for specifics.

First off , I wanted to let you know that I received some information about the voting process that has reassured me that getting votes the right way is going to pay off.  Here is the confirmation:

Please be advised that while the view count is public, the vote count is kept private so that we can closely monitor (fraudulent voting) situations. The vote button is set to only count one vote per user per video in a 24 hour time frame, this setting was chosen so that we could get an accurate representation of the reach of the video.

I also want you to understand that this means that we can't get discouraged if our view counts are not as high as some of the others. We must keep on keep calm, keep voting, and keep sharing.  You are doing a great job!

Since those view counts are the only way that we can see how our progression is, I or a volunteer, will try to keep updating with daily results.

Here are the results:

		Views	Daily Views
1	IRONMAN-BAWDO	58857	13578
2	Fireman Brian's Mission	58418	12203
3	Jacob Fuka_Kona Inspired	50375	7144
4	Kona hopeful F16 pilot	21469	3424
5	I'm Dean Bullock, I Have Brain Cancer	20161	1540
6	Boudousa Brain	20097	2457
7	Dr. Martin Jay Hernandez Motivational Specialist	8304	3097
8	Suck It Cancer	6437	774
9	Kona Inspired, Ironman retun…Heart Condition	5821	1464
10	Clarissa Alba	4843	1076
11	Shawn's Ironman	4303	135
12	Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt)	3229	193
13	Kona for the Kids	2841	394
14	PROJECT GIVING: IRONMAN JOURNEY	2488	2108
15	From the Bathroom to Kona	2314	290
16	My Life is full of possibilities	2107	2107
17	The Quadfather (Nick Tieney)	1732	91
18	Eric Yollick (Team Yollick)	1431	17
19	MAKING POSSIBLE THE IMPOSSIBLE	1411	186
20	Spirit of Hawaii (Anja Kraft)	1315	90
21	Dad's Great Day	1087	51
22	Kevin Hickey's Submission Video	920	859
23	4 the NEXT Generation	855	855
24	The Journey-Quadriplegic to Ironman	801	761
25	Isabella' Legacy	763	28
26	Paralysis to Ironman - Brad Kelley	715	211
27	Operation Brain Tumor (Ted Pepenhagen II)	652	27
28	Happy Birthday Ironman	566	15
29	Choose to be well!	502	32
30	Iron driven lifestyle	467	24
31	A race for the women in my life	403	21
32	The Opportunity	392	14
33	Life Long Journey	389	39
34	I am ... "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka)	382	18
35	Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche)	350	14
36	my biggest dream (Christian Schon)	320	14
37	My thanks to ironman	316	54
38	Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan)	272	12
39	Double disabled Inspiration	243	243
40	Family strength	180	98
41	Flatline to Finishline	65	65

As I have said, even though we are not in 1st place in views, we are WINNING because the word is getting out.

One of the main reasons that I have not been able to keep you updated is because I have been all over the great state of Texas telling our story to organizations and groups.  This helps because every time I get to tell our story, we are completing the mission of providing education, hope, and help to families affected by congenital anomalies.  This is VERY exciting, but it is also very demanding on my time.  Some days when I come home I pass out on the couch because of exhaustion.  It is hard for one guy to keep up with.

Several of you have asked me how you can help me with this journey.  Of course voting and sharing has been great, but now there are some specific things that some of you can help me with:

1. Getting publicity in the media has been a huge way to gain support for the Kona Inspired video and reaching out to other families that need support.  The publicity is not just here in Houston, but all over the US. In public relations it is said, "If it is new, it's news" and what we are doing for families is new and fresh, so we have a great chance of getting coverage. It is very rare for a media channel to find interest in a story after just getting a press release, but when it is followed up with a phone call and email, the chances of them wanting to tell the story goes up dramatically   We need someone that can help us follow up with phone calls and email to the media channels that we send press releases to.  If you can help me with that maybe just a few minutes a day, I would really appreciate it.

2. The greatest impact on our mission is when I get the chance to tell the Shawn's Anomaly story to a new audience through speaking engagements.  Several have found it to not only be informational but entertaining, motivational, and inspiring for their own lives.  I have been fortunate to speak at some great places in the past couple of weeks, but I would love to do more.  If you are a part of group that has an upcoming meeting, a teacher or principal that is looking for speaker, or a company that seeks motivational speakers, please contact me if you think that your group would benefit from hearing this story.  I have all the equipment and ability to provide a presentation that is informative and motivational.  The presentation is tailored to your group and has received a great reception thus far. Here is an example of one of the recent speeches:

3. Researching, preparing and speaking has become pretty time consuming and I would like to maintain my focus on trying to cater my presentation to the group that I would be speaking to. If you are willing to help me locate other venues to speak by calling schools, churches, business, civic organizations, etc., I would love to receive your help.

4. Keeping people updated daily on the Kona Inspired results has been a huge succes in getting votes.  If you have a love for writing, and I am sure are better at it than I am, I encourage you to contact me if you could help by providing a small daily Kona Inspired update similar to this one.  I have created a spread sheet that I used to tally the views place in the videos in rank according to views, so if you have Excel experience, that would be great too. I can add you as a contributor to this blog and you can start writing from your own computer.  

This is a community effort, so we others are willing to step up "march on" together for the mission, it grows faster and stronger.  I don't normally do this, but I am going to provide my email in a blog because I desperately need your help.  Please contact me at shawnsironman@gmail.com if you are willing to provide any assistance regarding the specific areas I am needing help with.  Don't talk yourself out of contacting me because you feel that I may have been contacted and receiving help, more than likely everyone feels the same way that you do, and I am never contacted.  

Thank you again for all of your support!  It means so much to me!