September 2013 Letter

Friends:

 

We've been busy since our last email. Two weeks ago Lee and the "Two Craigs" took five of the older kids to see the Dodgers clobber the Padres in Chavez Ravine. The seats were given to us by Jeff McFarland and were some of the best in the whole ballpark, right behind the Dodger dugout. Jeff and his family have been strong supporters of EE, with a special interest in seeing to it that finances never stand in the way of a college education. (Pitcher Zack Greinke saw to it that the Padres didn't stand in the way of the Dodgers.)

 

(l to r) Anthony, Jesus, Shoe Craig, Alex, Joseph, Jamajae, Trailer Craig:

 

The boys got to see one of the best pitchers in the game up close:

 

 

Tommy Lasorda sat right in front of them:

 

 

Alex: "Is this where we sit every time we go to a ball game?"

 

 

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The kids have been training hard all summer long in preparation for our annual "Race  for CAF," to see which five of them get to go to San Diego and run in the Challenged Athletes Foundation's Triathlon Challenge on October 20 in La Jolla. Today was the big day, with about three dozen kids competing in 5K, 10K and 10-mile races.

 

 

Jesus Soto (wearing a vanity t-shirt?) Behind him is Isi Ibarra, who was one of the winners in our very first Race for CAF when she was eleven years old. She's now a freshman at Riverside Community College...on a track scholarship!

 

 

The winners: Anthony Patterson, Alex Sanchez, Jamajae Gladden, Ian English (not shown) and Manual Montenegro (not shown): [* SEE CORRECTION, BELOW]

 

There were also other awards, celebrating other achievements:

Arian: Age group 1st place. Inland Empire 5K

Anthony: Third place, Santa Barbara (half Ironman distance)
Alex: Most Determined!

Vanessa: Toughest!

Natalie: Most Reliable!

 

As you can see in all these photos, we're still making great use of all those terrific medals you donated:

 

Ryan got a tiara for completing fifty gritty miles of the Leadville 100 before being forced out by a knee injury.

 

A special moment for Anthony: I gave him my finisher's medal from last week's Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas, because it's the same as the one won by his hero, second-place pro finisher and former world champion Terenzo Bozzone. (You can see Lee's story and photos of that event on the Ironman website.)

 

Before breaking up for the day, I had a heart-to-heart with our seniors about their college plans:

 

A splendid time was had by all!

 

[* CORRECTION]

Friends:

Sorry to bother you again so soon but there was an error in our last email that I feel is important to correct. Anthony Patterson generously gave up his slot to the CAF event to his teammate, Ian English. "I've had that experience," he said, "and thought it would be cool to give someone else a shot." It was Jesus Soto, not mentioned in the photo caption, who actually won that race, so he'll be going, too.

So look for these five kids at CAF on October 20:

Ian

 

Manuel and Jamajae

 

Alex

 

Jesus