Youth Athlete, Carson's Reason2Race!
Fury athlete, Carson Padilla, may only be eleven years old, but he is already setting big goals for himself. His triathlon goals include Kona, but he has a big heart and wants to do great things outside of athletics as well. This summer he got started on one of his ideas.
A lifelong friend of Carson's father lost her husband this summer. Before his passing, he had started a project with the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. Carson decided he wanted to make sure the project was funded and came to fruition. Through our partnership with Reason2Race, our athletes can choose any charity they want to fundraise for... no minimum amount, no pressure. They pick an event to race/participate in, and as they train for the race, they fundraise for their cause. Carson chose the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary and the Kemah Youth Triathlon and got straight to work.
Carson is a fantastic triathlete, and often ends up on the podium with a top 3 finish in many races. It was exciting to see the added challenge he was giving himself with this project. There is extra motivation to work even harder when you are focused on a bigger goal. Some of the races, like the Bayou City Tri Series (the Kemah Youth Tri is a part of the series), contribute extra money to the highest fundraisers of the event. The top fundraiser gets $500 extra from the race for their charity through this series!
Carson continued to train and fundraise through the summer and fall, not even letting Hurricane Harvey put too much of a damper on things. Race weekend, October 7-8, came, and Carson again ended up on the podium for a top three finish. As an 11 year old, he was 2nd in the 11-12 boys age group, after completing a 150 meter open water swim, 2 mile bike, and a 1 mile run. Though he was quite please with his finish, an even greater podium was in his future. The next day, at the adult race, it was revealed that his campaign had raised more than $2,000, making him the top fundraiser and earning an extra $500 for his charity. To date, his effort has raised $2,720 for the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary to make sure the sluice box exhibit can be completed and installed. This will allow kids to get to check out what California mining was like. To donate, CLICK HERE.
If you have a cause near and dear to your heart, and would like to help by raising money for them, you can check out Reason2Race and see a bit more about how they work. We will likely also get to have Gabrielle from R2R come speak to our team and give us some more information at the parents meeting in January. Adult and youth athletes are both welcome to participate, and we've even had some families raise money as a group for a race. Please feel free to contact Coach Meagan or Gabrielle about potential races and information on how you too can participate in something bigger than just the race (although that part is fun too).
Fury will be releasing our team races as soon as the majority of the race directors post official dates, which will help you choose a best race to fundraise for.
Thank you to Carson and the Padilla family for sharing your story, Reason2Race for providing these fantastic opportunities for our athletes, and the Bayou City Tri Series for the generous donation as a bonus for being a top fundraiser.
