On Friday, I was at work and I received an email from my good friend, Dean. He and I discussed earlier in the week about going out to the race together. He is a triathlete, artist, innovator, and the owner of Prosper Apparel. Dean was telling me about this amazing design he came up with for a shirt, and I was so excited to get one from him so I could wear it at the race.
After talking to him, a light bulb went off in my head, and I decided to get some flyers printed up so we could pass them out during the race. I agree that is was a spontaneous idea that may have not been fully thought through, but never the less, I was committed to it.
I made about 1000 flyers simply saying "Send Shawn's Ironman To Kona-Go to www.shawnsironman.com for more details" on a flashy red paper. Shawn and I ventured out early on Saturday morning so we could see the event and pass out flyers.
After about an hour of passing out flyers, I realized that my message was not very clear on the flyer because I started to see crumbled up flyers on the ground, and people were starting to avoid me like the plague. It did not take long for a Divine intervention to happen and my friends, Shannon and Dean, came to the rescue with recruits to help me get the story out. Soon, I started people started to engage me and them, as we were passing out the flyers, wanting to know more about Shawn and his condition. It was a really cool moment in my life, but I felt that there was true compassion coming from so many people. I can't thank all of you enough that took the flyer home and decided to look up the website.
The beauty of the sport of triathlon is that you get to compete on the same course as the pros, but what is also cool is how real the professional athletes are. Because you get to know them on a personal level, you can't help but become a fan. I learned that at the Kemah Triathlon, and it showed up again in pro triathlete, Romain Gullaume, from France. He had a busy couple of weeks participation in the Galveston Ironman 70.3, the St. Croix 70.3, and now the Ironman Texas. It obviously took a toll on his body, and he had to drop out of the race due to injury. All that being said, he was still very interested in what Shawn's Ironman was and took the time to find out more. He is heading back to France to recover before he comes back to U.S. for a few events including the Ironman 70.3 Kansas. Romain, thanks again for being so nice and showing compassion for my son. Hope to see you again and recover well.
For those of you that have send an email on behalf of the Shawn's Ironman Journey, thank you again. It means a lot to Rachel, Shawn, and I. God Bless!
