Ironman athletes race for a cause
Photo courtesy of Chelsea Pearson Ironman competitors (from left) Chelsea Pearson, Debbie Callins and Ashley Spencer, take a break in their workout to pose together. The three are training for Sunday’s event with the added motivation of racing for the Anna Schindler Foundation charity, which helps families of children diagnosed with cancer.
Photo courtesy of Polly Schindler Supporters of Anna Schindler Foundation racers, all dressed in green, gather in preparation for last year’s Ironman.
Among the wave of athletes racing in Sunday’s Ironman, three local residents will compete for a cause, cheered on by a swarm of green shirts in hopes of raising some green of their own.
“Having families out there with a child diagnosed with cancer has always hit me a certain way,” Coeur d’Alene’s Ashley Spencer said. “I look at them and think, ‘This is the least I could do.’”
The “least” Spencer, along with friends Chelsea Pearson of Coeur d’Alene and Debbie Callins of Hayden decided to do this Sunday is swim 1.2 miles, cycle 56 miles and run 13.1 miles in this weekend’s Ironman. While many race participants will be looking to beat their personal best times, Spencer, Pearson and Callins will compete to help children and their families beat cancer.
“It just gets me through the training and the race,” Spencer said. “The grunt work that goes along with it, the sweat and the aches: I think about what those kids and their families go through, and it keeps me going. It’s something I’ve always been passionate about.”
This is the third year Spencer has raced for the Anna Schindler Foundation, a nonprofit that provides familes of children diagnosed with cancer funding and housing throughout the Inland Northwest. Named after a young patient stricken with hepatoblastoma, which starts in the liver, parents Joe and Polly Schindler used their daughter’s death as an opportunity to help other families grappling with the reality of children battling cancer.
“The money these athletes raise goes to providing very basic needs,” Polly Schindler said. “Even if it’s just going to food, groceries or gas, it’s one less thing they have to worry about. You’re helping them through a very heavy time.”
Pearson, a Coeur d’Alene chiropractor, agreed. “[Ashley] just really inspired me,” she said. “I want to do this for a purpose. I didn’t know anything about the foundation until I watched Ashley race last year. In my practice, I see a lot of kids. I love kids. I just have a heart to help them whenever I can, and this is a way I could help.”
Spencer said the families — and particularly the patients — helped the three friends more than the friends help the families.
“I look up to anybody who can take something so tragic and look at it positively.” she said. “You’re putting the miles on the bike, you’re running and training. I might feel fatigued, but [I’m reminded] the kids are feeling it every day. These little kids get poked and take in treatment that’s toxic and barbaric to their bodies, and they’re still optimistic. The kids stay optimistic, more than the parents, even.”
Spencer said she was inspired by another athlete competing for the same cause: Dr. Tom deTar, a Post Falls ear, nose and throat doctor who raised more than $27,000 for the foundation in 2014.
People can visit www.annaschindler foundation.org to donate.
“As a parent, to know what a parent goes through when a child is diagnosed, it’s crushing,” Schindler said. “So to have these athletes dedicate their time and effort to raise money for these children, it’s incredible.”
Schindler said she and the Anna Schindler Foundation will continue to champion these athletes during Sunday’s race, with supporters clad in green foundation shirts cheering them on from south Sherman and throughout the race route.
“Every dime I raise goes to help a family put gas in someone’s car or pay for a prescription or maybe dad can take a few days off of work,” Spencer added. “To be part of this, it’s an honor.”