Announcing the Winners of the "Honoring the Athlete" Contest

Launching a contest is a lot like organizing a new race: you never know at the outset how many people will show up.

In late March, we announced the Focal Flame Photography “Honoring the Athlete” contest, inviting nominees to enter themselves or someone they know to win $700 worth of photography and written athlete history services.

After reviewing the nominations, we have to say, simply…  Wow.

We were overwhelmed by the stories that were shared. Athletes new to their sport. Athletes with years of experience. Athletes who began their athletic endeavors at age 40, 50, and beyond. Athletes who overcame loss, injury, disease and circumstance. Amateur athletes who compete passionately while balancing the demands of work, parenting, or both. Athletes who encourage teammates and newcomers, and who give back tirelessly to the community with charity work.

We were moved to tears more than once.

And then the dilemma was clear: how could we pick just one winner?

In the end, we couldn’t. So we’ve chosen one overall winner and three runners-up in the 2010 “Honoring the Athlete” contest. We can't wait to share their stories with you during the 2010 endurance sports season. The winners are:

Overall winner: Ed Peirick
Ed will receive 4 hours of custom sports photography sessions, interviews to document his athlete history, and a story + photo book. We’ll also work with him to develop an article or letter that he can use in his charity fundraising efforts.  From the nomination:

"5 years [ago, Ed] lost his home in a fire and discovered he had cancer - all within a matter of weeks!  Ed rose to the challenge, recovered from his losses, BEAT cancer and is on his way to competing in his first ever Ironman at the very young age of 59 (or 60?)!‚Ä®‚Ä® Ed is an amazing athlete and friend who has overcome adversity in his darkest of times and risen to the challenges before him….He saw me through both of my Ironman races and trained and competed along side me for many triathlons and running races in the last several years. No matter what his own goals and passions, Ed always had the time and energy to cheer on his friends and support them in achieving their dreams."

Runners-up
Each of the runners-up will receive 1 h of custom sports photography, digital images, interviews, and a 500-word profile. We’ll also work with those engaging in charity benefit events to develop an article or letter for fundraising efforts.
 
First runner-up: Kitty Cole
From Kitty’s nomination:

"My older brother was a marathoner in the 80's and he wanted me to train and run a marathon with him...which I didn't do because I thought it/he was crazy.  My brother died running in a race in Madison and I never got a chance to run with him.  At his funeral I promised him I would train and run one marathon to honor him and his passion.  With my 45th birthday looming, I decided it was time to make good on my promise.  I trained myself and in 1998 I ran the Marine Corps Marathon to celebrate my hero and pay homage to his memory.  I crossed the finish line and "got" what his passion was all about.  Within a month I was signed up for my 2nd marathon and I have now run 17 marathons and have completed a marathon on all 7 Continents, each one in celebration of my big brother.  I've added triathlons (as I think he would have) and am now in training for IM-Florida.  I've attempted IM-Wisconsin 3 times, with 3 DNF's for varying reasons so the motivation to cross the IM finish line is very strong. I feel my brother's spirit any time I run or race and many times that is what keeps me going when the going gets tough.   I am now 56 years young and plan on running until I get to cross the finish line of a race with a grandchild.  As I don't have any grandchildren yet, I will keep training!"

Second runner-up: Darren Fortney
From the nomination:

"Darren is a twenty year cancer survivor. Also, during a back surgery his spine was nicked and he was told that he would probably never walk again. Darren proved everyone wrong and is not only walking, but running, biking and swimming. He completed the Badwater 135 ultra-marathon last July, which is a 135-mile foot race through Death Valley. He used the event to raise money for Gilda's Club. He also organizes an annual ultra-swim in Madison, Wisconsin to raise awareness of water quality."

Third runner-up: Arrietta Claus
From the nomination:

"Arrietta has a  PhD in Chemistry, works at UW in the chemistry dept., she is also a Mom with 5 kids ... the youngest are twin boys who just started college ... and now she has time and tonnes of energy for her own training. She is training for Master's Nationals to be held in Louisville in Aug. - and I think she is going to win!! She is a tough, competitive woman with a big smile!"

Many, many thanks to all the entrants. We wish we had unlimited time to work with every single nominee; there were so very many deserving stories.

To follow these and other inspiring stories, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

"Honoring the Athlete" Contest

You know an athlete who has a story to tell.

Maybe it’s an athlete who is working hard to break into the next level – a new competitive class, a championship event, a qualifying race. Maybe it’s an athlete who has engaged in sports to help overcome a challenge: an injury, an illness, a personal turning point. Maybe it’s an athlete who is 23 years old…or 47…or 89.

It could be a teammate. Someone you coach. A triathlete who flashes a big smile after the most brutal workouts.
 
Maybe it’s your husband. Your neighbor. Your sister.
 
Maybe it’s you.
 
Between now and Wednesday, April 14, 2010, nominate yourself or another athlete in the Focal Flame Photography “Honoring the Athlete” contest. One person will be chosen to receive up to four hours of photo session time (valued at $300), personal interviews with our writer, and a 36-page custom story + photo personal documentary book (valued at $400).
 
Let us know why you think the story deserves to be heard. We’ll help the winner capture a living legacy – one that honors who they are, and what they do.

Submit your nomination.

On Your Mark

There’s no denying it now. The snow piles, which seemed invincible in mid-January, are subsiding. They leave in their wake about half a ton of grit and road salt at every intersection, which makes for lots of flat tires on bike rides and crunchy, tenuous footing for runners. But that doesn’t matter. Spring is here, and it’s a beautiful thing.
 
This weekend marked the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, and with it another hour of precious training time in the evenings. Teams and individuals everywhere are gearing up for events of the season.
 
And there are an abundance of competitions in and around the south-central Wisconsin region to enjoy. On the triathlon scene, there is the J-Hawk Earlybird Triathlon, the Wisconsin Triathlon Series, the Racine 70.3 Ironman, and the granddaddy of them all –Ironman Wisconsin.  Runners can gear up for the Crazylegs Classic, the Madison Marathon, MadCity 100k, and the Madison Mini Marathon. Cyclists have an abundance of choices, including the Wisport series, WCA series, and ABR series. Possibly the biggest new development for cyclists in 2010 is the inaugural year of the Centurion Wisconsin in Middleton, which will bring up to 3,000 cyclists to the rolling hills of western Dane County.
 
And those are just a handful of the competitive events available for endurance sports. Tours and charity events abound as well, from the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure to the Horribly Hilly Hundreds bike tour.  If you’re in the mood for something really different, there’s always the Syttende Mai Run, now in its 38th year and possibly the only running event in the US to be paired with the Norwegian delicacy of lutefisk. And for the truly insane, there is the MC200 relay – a 200 mi running relay event from Madison to Chicago.
 
So let’s hear it: what are you training for? Is your team organizing a race, tour, or other event? Are you training for a charity event and raising money for a cause? Share your thoughts in the comments – and enjoy the sunshine!

And So It Begins

by Robyn M. Perrin

You could say that my business partner and I know each other pretty well. We’ve been together since 1993, when we met on my first day of college. Cycling has played a big part in our lives. We started road biking on a whim when a college buddy invited us to a charity bike tour, and felt invincible after finishing 50 km on a hot Midwestern day. Eventually we trained longer and harder, and in 2003 we decided to race as a tandem team.
 
Which, of course, necessitated a new bike. She was a beauty. Gleaming white with black letters and longer than a subcompact car, we named her Bessie in honor of her bovine lines. She must have felt a kinship with the Holsteins on the farms we passed.
 
And oh, she was fast. Two people on one bike makes for difficult hill climbs, but on flat terrain Bessie flew. Descents were an exercise in total exhilaration mixed with complete concentration.
 
It was an amazing summer. We traveled all over Wisconsin, biking nearly every weekend. We won a few races, some due to luck and some due to skill. We hauled up hills, tucked tightly onto Bessie’s back, and used code words for calling out tactics. And we learned from other cyclists – when to surge ahead, when to hang back, how to lead a paceline.
 
It was awesome.
 
I wish I could show you a photo.  But other than a couple of distant shots snapped by a friend, there aren’t any.
 
After all, you can’t photograph yourself when you are on a bike. There’s no scarcity of images in my head: landscapes, fellow cyclists, sunsets. But mental images are impossible to share. And in time, they fade.
 
It was a turning point in our lives. The next year, our first daughter was born, and we stepped back from competition. But as Clint devoted more of his creative energy to photography, he said, “I’d like to specialize in photographing subjects that are passionate about what they do. I want to do something that just feels…totally true.”
 
I smiled. He’d already been photographing local bike races, and the images immediately evoked memories of our competitive season. Somehow he had captured the intensity and aesthetics of sports in a way that made me re-live it again. The idea of helping athletes share their dedication, joy, and energy was irresistible.
 
And so Focal Flame Photography was born. Our initial focus is custom sports photography for athletes of all ages and every level. Because we know first-hand that behind every athlete, there’s a tale to tell.
 
That’s our story. What’s yours?

Please share your own journey with us on Facebook and Twitter!