It takes a lot of hard work to be an endurance athlete – and sometimes, even after the countless hours spent training and after doing your best, you still sometimes fall short of your goal. But the dedicated men and women who make up the ITP Team can rest easy knowing that in one very important area they have definitely met – and passed – the mark that they set: raising money to help kids with ITP.
When the Board of Directors of the ITP Foundation devised the budget for 2004, they crossed their fingers and hoped that the ITP Team members would be able to raise $25,000. That’s a lot of money, especially when ITP Team members are working as private individuals to get sponsorships.
But when the books are closed on 2004, the ITP Team will have raised a total of $40,861, exceeding the budgeted figure by $15,861, or more than 63%!
(Neither the budgeted figures nor the actual figures include funds raised by ITP Foundation Chair Michael E. McGuire, Jr., whose activities are counted separately from the Team.)
The ITP Foundation’s Sports Directors, professional endurance athletes Chann McRae and Jessi Stensland, are quite impressed with the results of the Team.
“This is amazing,” says McRae. “It really shows what a few determined men and women can do when they are working toward a worthwhile goal.”
“I am enormously proud of our Team members for their hard work and their willingness to use their talents to benefit the ITP Foundation,” adds Stensland.
The 2004 ITP Team members include James Clarkson, Matthew Clement, Dr. Jeffrey Ender, Marilyn Hart, Craig Knutson, Wilson Kwong, Ethan Lew, John Macfarlane, Alexa Marks, Tim Martin, Michael McGuire, Jr., Chann McRae, Jessi Stensland, Dean Sulzer, Jr. and Jun Watanabe.
ITP Team members are endurance athletes of all levels. By asking people to sponsor them in marathons, biathlons or triathlons, they raise money for the ITP Foundation while simultaneously raising awareness of the disorder. Anyone who wishes to join the ITP Team is welcome; information is available here.