Well, I don't know much about Sarah, however i would venture that she has funding from challanged athlete programs.

As far as the 'guy who broke his bike', he was rewarded for his efforts with new bike compliments of Cannondale at the awards dinner. It was pretty cool.

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-Erik

"I don't half-ass anything. For me its either whole-ass or nothing." -elake

That was very cool of Cannondale. Similar thing happened in Muncie in 1996. Two Checz guy got hit by a car a few days before the race. Trek and Zip replaced their entire bike after the race.
And, I just heard the guy with the 'broke' bike was hit by a moto. Sorry, I missed that on the NBC show.

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STIndiana
America Multi-Sport, Inc.
America's Half June 10, 2017
USAT RD Century Club
http://www.americamultisport.com

That's ok, i'm not sure if they showed it on the NBC show, i only know because i was at the awards dinner :)

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-Erik

"I don't half-ass anything. For me its either whole-ass or nothing." -elake

Hey, that girl, Sarah, works for the Challenged Athletes Foundation in San Diego and they have gobs of money and support athletes with disabilities. They are pretty closely tied with triathlon (Tinley's wife runs it) so I'm guessing the bike (as well as her fake leg) is pretty much dialed in to her. Maybe it was her training that slowed her bike split --- just like the rest of us! Or else may be it was her disability that limited her first go at IMH.

"That was very cool of Cannondale."

it was half cool / half business for cannondale, i'm guessing. sarah is a friend of mine, and she comes up here to train every now and then. her original bike was REALLY bad. i explained this to herbert at ABG and he sent her out a QR. now THAT was cool, because herbert had no package in front of him, no expectation of a TV show at kona, nothing but his and his company's knowledge of a need. there was no fanfare, no press release, no expectation that it would come back to them.

if you'll notice over the years, whether it's alexandra paul, or TV reporters, or whomever, they just about always ended up in kona on a kestrel, if they were invited by the organizers and were likely to be part of the TV production. this is because kestrel was the licensee. i remember when the cute san diego TV anchor girl was part of the show (lauren something) and she was basically taken off her QR and put on a kestrel, which sort of pissed me off at the time.

now c'dale is the licensee. i don't know exactly how it went down, and who contacted whom, what was discussed, recommended, offered, strongly encouraged, i just don't know. and i don't think anyone did anything wrong. my reason for posting is to clarify--if you want to point to a company that did something entirely for the reasons you'd like to think were in play here, ABG did so, and did not ask for credit, and has not complained that it got no credit.

as to her set up on her c'dale, or her QR (a tequilo i think it was), sarah is an interesting case. she has two $30,000 legs, one for running, one for cycling. yes, this is what CAS does, it provides funds for orthotics like these. she pays for everything else, except for sponsored stuff (also, louis garneau supplied helmet and cycling shoes, on the same basic impulse that herbert was working under). her leg wasn't amputated, it was withered from birth. so, there's a lack of musculature all the way up, which makes things really tough for her versus an amputee who's got "standard" musculature from the trunk/glutes on down. sometimes i think that, for cycling, her leg length on her prosthetic side isn't long enough. but i'd need to work with her to know.

as to the remark that she ought to be on the hottie thread, that is exactly the truth. there are two kinds of people in this world. the kind that get better looking as you get to know them, and the kind that get uglier the more they speak. sarah starts out hot when you first look at her, and her numerical score climbs from there the more you get to know her. and, she's absolutely ripped, which never hurts.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I like that Herbert guy.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Sarah is an amputee... she was born with a tissue disorder which resulted in a limb deficiency and her left leg was amputated above the knee when she was 6 or 7 so that she could be fitted with a prosthetic. I believe she told some of the story on the IM show. Regardless, because of that she doesn't really have any quads or hamstring to speak of. If you could find a way to help her utilize the muscles on the left side of her body (what remains of her quads, hams and glutes) and make her prosthetic limb more effective I'm sure the benefit would be huge for her because right now it looks like essentially she's doing a one-leg drill for 112 miles. Can you imagine doing that?!

Watching her miss the cut-off brought a tear to my eye.

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

You are sure right about Sarah being a hottie and a stud. Chatted with her at Wildflower this year and she is really something. A great role model for all athletes to look up to ("challenged" or not).

"Sarah is an amputee"

yes, i should've clarified, sarah is an amputee for similar reasons that rudy is an amputee. my intention was to describe the challenge sarah has that those don't have whose musculature is fully developed, and has lost a leg via some element of trauma. i used to ride with jim pennsyres on wednesdays when i lived in san diego county, and he lost a leg just above the knee in vietnam. but you'd better be on your game when riding with him, or he'll whip your butt.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

{it was half cool / half business for cannondale,}-reply

i think it was all cool. a lot of bike companies could have stepped up to the plate that were in kona (includiing ABG i presume) but they didn't. sure it doesn't hurt cannondale's image but they didn't have to do it. and nobody else did.

Yeah, from seeing Sarah ride it seems to me that she's basically one legging it. I believe that amputees who were previously fully developed have a more balanced pedal stroke. Her right leg is ripped!!

The bike looked like a custom painted pinkish C'dale road bike with clip-ons.

Sarah is definitely a hottie. No doubt, and totally ripped. I've got a crush.

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

We did not step up to the plate indeed in Kona, we helped her out and sent her a new QR Tequilo earlier this summer for the 2004 season. :-)

Herbert
QR / Litespeed

Below is a pic of her very happy with her QR.

I'm with Slowman on this. The publicity Cannondale got over "giving" him a new bike far outweighs the cost for them to have done it.

Cannondale had a few people on the pink custom-painted Ironman 6000s - including Sarah, Lokelani McMicheal and Tracey Richardson (who posts here...) Good of them to do, and smart from a marketing perspective to boot.

They also sponsored Ryan Suttor (another smart move), I'm sure that will bring out the haters in this forum...

[reply][quote]
her leg wasn't amputated, it was withered from birth. so, there's a lack of musculature all the way up, which makes things really tough for her versus an amputee who's got "standard" musculature from the trunk/glutes on down. sometimes i think that, for cycling, her leg length on her prosthetic side isn't long enough. but i'd need to work with her to know. [/quote]


Sarah is an amputee... she was born with a tissue disorder which resulted in a limb deficiency and her left leg was amputated above the knee when she was 6 or 7 so that she could be fitted with a prosthetic. I believe she told some of the story on the IM show. Regardless, because of that she doesn't really have any quads or hamstring to speak of. If you could find a way to help her utilize the muscles on the left side of her body (what remains of her quads, hams and glutes) and make her prosthetic limb more effective I'm sure the benefit would be huge for her because right now it looks like essentially she's doing a one-leg drill for 112 miles. Can you imagine doing that?!

Watching her miss the cut-off brought a tear to my eye.[/reply]

I wondering about that. So all of her power/pedaling is essentially done with one leg?

It was sad to see her not make the cutoff, hopefully she will make it next year.

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-----------------------:)
SUPPORT OPERATION REBOUND:
http://www.operationreboundcalifornia.kintera.org/ejs3

Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

Please pass on our congratulations and our thanks to this amazing woman. Just getting to the start line of an Ironman is impressive for any athlete and even more so when it's Kona and when you have so many obstacles. We all know that she will finish this race one day and the finish line will be so much more sweet because of how difficult it was for her.

Kudos to QR and any company that helps out athletes in need, whether they're getting publicity or not.

D.

Quick question: Does anyone know if Sarah plans on doing Kona again, perhaps in 2005? I would love to see her give it another go!

Did sarah qualify for KONA or did she get in via dif way. Ethier way an amazing story and someone we should all look up to.

Dan

I bought this month's issue of Runnner's World solely for the article on her. I have her picture up as inspiration. If she can do all that she has with her handicap, I have no reason for not dragging my fat butt out to run no matter what the weather is like or how much I don't feel like running.



THANK YOU Sarah.

Sarah qualified for Kona at the Buffalo Springs Half IM, which is the only race that has slots for PC athletes.

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

slacked off, huh ;)

I'm assuming she got in this way:

Physically Challenged Division - A lottery category is available for physically challenged athletes not eligible for the hand cycle division. Physically challenged athletes must complete the application and are required to submit a resume detailing results of any ½ distance or greater (1.2 mi. swim, 56 mi. bike, 13.1 run) events in the current season, with printed results. Applications must be received in the Kona race office prior to February 29, 2004. PC Lottery results will be available on April 15, 2004, and five slots will be drawn. Athletes must check their division on the physically challenged division sheet and attach it to your application. For more information, call the Kona race office at 808-329-0063.

Way to go Sarah! (Herbert too for the QR.)

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

She qualified at Buffalo Springs. Any of y'all familiar with or have done that course? Ever tried a one-legged climb?!

Go to http://www.kreutzphotography.com/ , then "buy pictures", then "multisport" then find "Buffalo Springs" and enter her last name.

Look at the pictures of her climbing, and then look at Chann McRae's or James Bonney's climbing pictures. You'll see that that's one tough climb, and one impressive woman.

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/