Team Transplant, UWMC

Let’s hear it for Jeff Edelman! Jeff, one of our pulmonologists here at the U, competed in his first Beat the Bridge race on Sunday (in fact, I think it may have been his debut at the 8k distance), and he seems to be a natural.  He ran a very fine time of 36:42 and successfully beat the bridge! What makes this peformance even more impressive is that he had completed the Vancouver Marathon (the full 26.2 miles) just 2 weeks earlier, finishing in 4:11:23.   Just his second marathon, his Vancouver time was a 28-minute improvement over his Seattle Marathon race in November.  Great job, Jeff…We’re proud to have you sporting the Team Transplant colors!

And how about a round of applause for Mark Scott and family!  They have made Beat the Bridge and annual event as Juvenile Diabetes is a cause that is near to their hearts. Mark, his wife, Monica, and their son, Patrick, who has diabetes, all participated.  Of the event, Mark says:

We saw many of the families we know who also have children with Type one diabetes. We really appreciate all the people who come out and walk. It lifts the spirits of all of us who deal with juvenile diabetes every day.

And let’s not forget, Sam Patterson!  Sam was our lone participant down at the Capital City 5-miler.  Sam has made this race…and his color commentary afterwards… an annual tradition.  And, well…I’ll just let Sam take it from here…

OLYMPIA,WA (Sunday,17 May, 2009) – It took the most gorgeous day of spring weather and courageous inspiration for UWMC’s Team Transplant race walker, Sam Patterson, to rise to the occasion.   Finishing ninth in his age group and turning in a time of 1:25.27 in the 5-mile event this morning at the Capital Cities Marathon, our wasabi green clad Team Tx member got off to an exceptional start taking the opening mile “hill” in 18 minutes.

“I knew when I saw the clock, it might possibly be a good day,” Sam related.  “But what really pushed me was a young man about 10 yards ahead of me. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to bend his knees. He just kept throwing one leg forward, then the other.  Pure guts! I’ve never seen such courage, and I can’t imagine how much strength it must have taken for him to keep going.  He stayed 10 yards in front of me.  I lost track of him around the third mile.”

Patterson also attributed technique to his successful sub-17 minute/mile average. “Two weeks ago, I got back to basics, remembering the Olympic walking coach Alysun brought in a couple years ago. Arms were up, elbows in. It was like 1-2-3, blow.  1-2-3, blow.  Again and again. Feet under me in short strides to the rythmn,arms pumping along.”

“The whole day was one of gratitude..the heart (transplanted ’99) I carry—a real second shot at life.”