EE Newsletter: December 25, 2014

 

Friends:

Since we last wrote to you, the kids have been incredibly busy. We’ve had a number of great racing events with some standout performances, a trip to Disneyland for ten lucky kids, and last Sunday we had our annual Exceeding Expectations Awards Party where the kids received recognition for their accomplishments over the past year. We’ll hit some highlights of the races and then we have a photo gallery of the party.

Preparation for the last racing events of the year began with some bike and run training on November 9. We did this in the desert in order to get the older kids ready for the HITS events in La Quinta. (There was also swim training by coach Ben Hobbins but we don’t have photos.)

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Nothing like a good photobomb:

 

HITS itself took place on December 7, and was a great success.

 

 

Some of the kids had never done an open water swim
so Cherie was pretty anxious and giving instructions right up until the last minute.

“Just show me where the water is.”

 

Natalie: “Relax: We were well trained!”

 

Garry has his game face on coming out of the water.

 

 

Kids got pretty excited when these guys wandered into the area.

 

Enrique, who is becoming quite the athlete (more later), took second.

 

 

The Tinsel Tri was on December 14 in Hemet, CA. This is a fun event in which participants dress up in all kinds of crazy costumes.

 

A little surprise from Mother Nature the night before,
and it was pretty cold at the start,
but things warmed up a bit in time for the swim.

 

 

Speaking of photobombs, leave it to Glenn:

 


We love it when parents participate. Here’s Papa Campos:

 

 

 

Ian moved up a few places with an aggressive swim:

 

 

The kids grabbed a ton of medals. Here’s Johanna with the mayor of Hemet:

 

 

Enrique discovered one of the side benefits of winning:
 
And, by the way, Isi Ibarra one first place overall for females.

   

Don Reilly and his son Frank, founders and owners of Reilly Financial Services in San Diego, are long-time donors to EE. Several years ago they started an annual tradition of sending ten kids to Disneyland with tickets that let them go back and forth between both parks, the original and California Adventure. It’s always been a problem getting photos – who wants to stop the fun and take any? – but this year April Buell managed to snag a couple.


 

 

On December 20 it was on to the Santa Paws run in Palm Springs, a charity event benefiting Guide Dogs of the Desert. It’s put on by our friend Molly Thorpe, who gives every single athlete a Santa Claus suit to run in.

 

So there are St. Nicks and dogs all over the place. (These photos were taken by Jacque Irons.)

 

 

But here’s the big news: Enrique Campos was the overall winner of 
the race, and Isi Ibarra was the overall female winner. Same way they finished at the Tinsel Tri. How do you like them apples?

 

 

 

 

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The last event of the year is always the EE Awards & Recognition Party, and this year’s was a lulu. We had a record crowd and Cherie gave out more well-deserved awards than ever before.

 



Here are a couple of highlights, but be sure to take a look at the whole gallery to get the full story of what all of these kids accomplished this year.

 

 

Cherie gave brothers Ahris and Arian her 2014 Ironman World Championship medal
in recognition of their hard work and achievements.

 

Nik Keller, who graduated UC San Diego last year and is now a working man,
pledged to be a mentor and guide to Ian. He also fulfilled one of Cherie’s wildest dreams:
Kids not only graduating college but becoming EE donors.

 

 

Longtime EE supporter David Martin pledged support of Anthony Patterson’s
college education, backing it up with a $5,000 scholarship.

 

 

And speaking of higher education, a rare shot
of all the EE college students in one place (except Josh).


From Cherie:

"Thanks, as always. for the ongoing support that makes all of this possible. And a happy, healthy and safe holiday to you and your families."