Women Inspired To Start Local Chapter Of myTEAM TRIUMPH
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Inspiration can be contagious, a group of area women discovered, leading to the formation of the Northern Indiana chapter of myTEAM TRIUMPH. myTEAM TRIUMPH is an athletic ride-along program created for children, teens, adults and veterans with disabilities who would normally not be able to experience endurance events such as triathlons or road races, according to the chapter’s website. Seven years ago, Ron J. Robb, founder and CEO of myTEAM TRIUMPH International, Ada, Mich., was going through an existential and emotional crisis, he said during an interview Tuesday in Warsaw. He saw a video of Dick and Rick Hoyt participating in a Hawaiian marathon and thought it was nice, but wondered about other teens and adults who didn’t have someone to help them participate in an outdoor endurance event. Rick was born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, unable to walk or talk, according to the Boston Globe. His parents ignored the advice of doctors who said Rick’s situation was hopeless, and instead fought to get their son access to all kinds of activities. When he was 15, Rick asked his father to push him in a 5-mile fundraising road race for a local lacrosse player recently paralyzed. That local 5-miler was the beginning, the Globe reported. Thirty seven years later, the Hoyts have run in more than 1,000 road races, marathons and triathlons and are known throughout the world for their extraordinary athletic achievements, the Boston Globe reported. Inspired by the Hoyts’ story, Robb founded myTEAM TRIUMPH. It matches athletes with equipment and venues. In July 2008, the organization participated in its first event. “We’re now up to 40 chapters around the world. The newest one is in Warsaw, Indiana,” Robb said. It had several hundred participants a few years ago, but has grown into the thousands, he said. He credited some of the growth to the good publicity the organization has had from media such as NBC Nightly News, Sports Illustrated, Runners World magazine and “hundreds of local media outlets.” The organization came to Warsaw through Brenda Worrell, the Northern Indiana chapter treasurer. Worrell took part in the Iron Man in Wisconsin and saw a myTEAM chapter in action. She said she was so inspired she looked it up online. Then she contacted Robb and knew Warsaw Community Schools teacher Barb Martz had to be on board. Martz is now chapter president. “I thought the community would gather around it,” Worrell said. Martz ran the Boston Marathon earlier this year. She ran beside the myTEAM TRIUMPH Canada president, though she didn’t know it at the time. Robb said a chapter can vary in size from as small as a city to as large as an entire state. “The idea is to get every Captain who wants to be in a race in a race,” Robb said. Participants with disabilities are known as “Captains,” and athletes who have the honor of pushing and pulling the Captains on the course are called their “Angels,” according to the chapter’s website. Robb said, “These folks are trapped in a broken earth suit. We take anyone who wants to race.” When Dick crossed the finish line with his son 35 years ago, Rick told him, “When I’m running I don’t feel handicapped.” Robb said his organization hears that a lot. “We hear terms like ‘liberating,’” he said. The Northern Indiana chapter needs donations and equipment. Robb said myTEAM seeds its chapters with all it can including procedures, policies and forms. Along with Martz and Worrell, the other officers of the local chapter are Vice President Rachel Hardy and Secretary Terry Powers. Two Captains from the chapter will take part Saturday in the Ellie’s Memorial 5K Run for SIDS in Winona Lake. On Dec. 6, the chapter will have two more Captains take part in the Run for the Heart event. Worrell said myTEAM doesn’t have a membership, just volunteers who want to make the Captains “feel like rock stars.” “It’s all about making the Captains feel they’re invincible and feel something they’ve never felt before,” Worrell said. Robb said he travels across the country for myTEAM as an inspirational speaker. The organization is run by volunteers who give a lot of their time and effort. “People will go to bed tonight wondering if they made a difference in the world. They (myTEAM volunteers) won’t have a problem,” he said. The chapter’s website with contact and donation information is at http://mtt-northernindiana.org/index.html and is on Facebook at facebook.com/myteamtriumphnorthernindiana
