Mission Possible -- Badwater

Mission Possible -- Badwater 135

We were given a MISSION and chose to accept it. The MISSION is to bring awareness around the world that a person's age or physical imperfection does not determine what they can accomplish. Older people, people with disabilities, and even people with life-threatening diseases can and do share the same active lifestyle that society has believed to be limited to the young. Don Fallis 65, from Hawaii, a type 2 diabetic, will be competing in the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon, in Death Valley, in July when the temperature reaches 120-130 degrees. The runners travel entirely on foot, basically uninterrupted, in order to complete the distance in the allotted 60 hours. Since the race supplies no aid, Don will be joined by 6 tough, experienced athletes, who will make up the Mission Possible Force (MPF) Team. With an average age of 63, they will alternate between pacing Don on foot and crewing from support vans. Pacing and crewing this particular race is quite an accomplishment in itself, for, in addition to the heat and the distance, the race starts at the lowest point in the U.S. at -282 ft. at Badwater, and crosses two mountain ranges, finishing at the portals of Mt. Whitney at 8,360 ft. elevation. The field of 90 invited entrants, from 15 countries, includes some of the top endurance athletes in the world. The goal will be to finish.

One of the main reasons that this particular race was chosen, is that this race also has a mission. They use this event to bring aid and awareness to that very special group of people known as challenged athletes. These are athletes that despite incredible odds continue to show us the real meaning of the triumph of the human spirit. Part of our goal in this endeavor is to help raise money for this worthy cause and if you would like to join us with your support for the Challenged Athlete Foundation, please click on the link provided at the upper left of this page. We invite you to look around this site to learn more about Don's adventure and encourage you to go out and challenge yourself as well. Click here to read a good article about the Badwater race. Aloha !

Cat and Robert are on Don's Team!

Today is the Day!!

As Heather said in her previous post, today is the day!!

The Big Day !

To all the wonderful folks that have been a part of Don's Team, THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day. Don loses Mr. Chemo and gets his last radiation treatment. If you listen hard, I'm sure you'll hear all the cheering from the office in Kaneohe. Through it all, Don has shown the amazing strength of spirit he has become known for, and despite Angelina Joli lips and Baby Huey diapers, he has kept his wonderful sense of humor. He'll get a 6 week break, and then head in to surgery on August 20th.

I can't tell you how much your support and care has meant to him, and how much it has helped him during this challenge. Please stay tuned, we'll be keeping this blog site going through the surgery, and recovery, and until we get those very special words " All Clear ".

Love to All,

Heather

Don's Team up at Western States

SpeedGoat Karl is on Don's Team!

Karl Meltzer is on Don's Team.  Karl was one of those participants left without a race on Saturday after Western States was canceled. However for those of you who don't know, he's going to go after the Appalachian Trail record this year.

"On August 5, 2008, uber ultra-runner Karl Meltzer will set off on the biggest race of his life. His challenge: to run the entire length of the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail in less than 47 days." 

You can always find out what Karl is up to here.

And follow along with his AT record attempt here.

An Uncommon Bond

Aloha Friends !

Non-runners may find the following dry and boring but I need to say it. Sorry. Today was a sad day for all ultrarunners but especially our local HURT ultrarunners.  Out of hundreds of lottery-picked entrants for the Western States 100, Hawaii had only TWO. However, they are a very special two...Marian Yasuda and Ernest Tay. So, for the past several months, these two wonderful athletes have "lived and breathed" Western States. To say they have trained hard is a total understatement ! Unfortunately, due to smoke from fires in the area, race officials sadly were forced to cancel the race. The good news is, the 2008 entrants will be rolled-over for 2009. You will still have to do a qualifying race, but I'm confident that's okay with Marian and Ernest. Nobody's to blame for the race being cancelled. It's just the way it is.

Ultrarunners around the globe are a very unusual and special breed. It's not unusual during a race for an ultrarunner to sacrifice his or her race to come to the aid of a fallen runner, many times spending hours until help arrives. You rarely, if ever, see this in an Ironman Triathlon. Ultrarunners have an uncommon bond. My wonderful wife Heather has witnessed this uncommon bond several times and was asking Steve Dewald why he thought this was. By the way, Steve just got accepted in Ultraman, the double Ironman ! Congrats, Steve ! Anyway, Steve felt it was due to Ultrarunners sharing the adversity that comes with the extreme sport. I agree. Ultrarunners train together through all kinds of conditions and for lots and lots of hours...through the day and night. When something bad happens to one of ours, we are affected too. This is why most all of our HURT ultrarunners are very saddened by the cancellation of the Western States 100.

A great example of an uncommon bond is the one between myself and David Goggins, which has been told many times, but still not enough in my opinion. David busted his okole for 135 miles, over 24 hours, in extreme heat, using all he had, to finish 3rd in the Badwater Ultramarathon. After finding out that I was still out on the race course, struggling through back problems, David somehow was able to go back out on the course and help me for my last 10 miles, before the clock ran out. David's entire crew, including his great wife Alleza and John Rennison, who had also just finished his race (and including his crew) followed along giving support to me and my wonderful crew.They all could have been in their air-conditioned motel rooms sleeping and letting their blistered feet heal, but chose to help me. An Uncommon bond. Ultrarunners are just that way. I'm proud to be an Ultrarunner.  Don

Hardrock Hopwood is on Don's Team

Don , you're an inspiration in every way and form  :)  -  Proud to be on your team!! 



Paul H.  5:oo am Haleakala. Hardrock 08 training

Catra Must Have A Don's Team Tatoo Somewhere

Thanks to Becky and Jaime Gifford for these wonderful pictures !

Scott Jurek joins Don's Team

Don's Team in Yellowstone