Welcome to Iron Team Sandy - 2021
Sharing my thankful heart with fans and volunteers!
Once again, I have decided to make a difference in our fight against Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis. In 2021, I will be re-joining Iron Team Challenge for my 10th 140.6 Ironman triathlon as well as a couple 70.3 events, proudly wearing Team Challenge. As an endurance triathlete, aside from appreciating the outdoors and my no-limits lifestyle, I really enjoy pushing myself mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Each training session has a purpose and each event always presents a new set of challenges to persevere.
As a Iron Team Challenge advocate and athlete, I am blessed and grateful to have the opportunity to help change the lives of individuals with Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis. They have no choice but to persevere every day. I chose this particular cause to help bring a voice, visibility, education and funds to a very private disease. Once we find a cure, our patients can live a spontaneous, healthy lifestyle, without limitations - something I strive to do everyday.
The patients I continually meet along my triathlete journey are the real heros and ultimately my motivation. It's far more rewarding for me to cross the finish line carrying their names and our collective cause vs. soloing a race. I would sincerely appreciate you joining our cause with a donation, ANY amount you contribute will make a difference! Thanks for your consideration and for being an important part of Team Orange, we are funding key IBD research, education and support. And our real finishline is finding a cure!
Thanks for your consideration,
Sandy
Sandy
P.S. "Iron is an element used to make other metals stronger. Team Challenge is definitely my "iron". It strengthens my IRONMAN® strategy, training, motivation, race day execution and most importantly my purpose. If you go "all-in" with Team Challenge's Iron Team, they will carry you across the finish line, you will truly connect with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's cause. You will also learn more about yourself than you ever imagined. Simply put, my Team Challenge Iron Team experience changed my life and it can change yours as well!" - Sandy Thompson
About Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affects almost 1 in 100 people. They are painful, medically incurable diseases that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere along the digestive tract, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever, and weight loss. Many patients require numerous hospitalizations and surgery. Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15 and 35; however the incidence is increasing in children.
The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation is the largest non-profit, voluntary, health organization dedicated to finding cures for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The Foundation’s mission is to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults who are affected by these diseases. The Foundation works to fulfill its mission by funding research; providing educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public; and furnishing supportive services for those afflicted with IBD.
