Joe’s Team – From Dream to Reality

I get by with a little help from my friends. ~John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I love sports, setting goals for myself and inspiring other people to do the same.  Recently, I have been into coaching kids in cross country and track, running marathons and triathlons and encouraging my friends to do the same.   It truly is my passion.  This year I have found a way (or it found me) to combine this passion with fundraising for a cause that is close to my heart, finding a cure for cancer.

About a year ago I ran into one of my friends, Norm, who I coached to run the New York City Marathon with me in 2001 and told him it was time that we did another.  He told me about his friend and our neighbour, Joe Finley, who has been battling nasal pharynx cancer for the last two years.  He mentioned that Joe wanted to put together a triathlon to raise money for a significant project for The Princess Margaret Hospital, one of the world’s top five cancer research centers..  He wanted to support Joe by getting involved and doing the race.  Normally I would pressure for a marathon but I was intrigued by what Joe was doing.  He was inspiring Norm to do a triathlon?  Norm doesn’t really like the water.  Joe must be a special guy if Norm was motivated to take the risk.

In the winter I received an email from Joe announcing the launch of “Joe’s Team” funding a special project on Translational Research which focuses on trying to determine what causes cancer at a cellular level.  I felt an immediate connection to this cause.  I have lost many friends and family members to this disease with my first being my mother when I was 17 years old.  I knew that I needed to get more involved.  I contacted Joe and we decided to meet.  I asked him what inspired him to do this and he said he had done his first triathlon in Brockville with two of his buddies when he completed his chemo the year before and he said “I just want everyone to feel the way I felt when I crossed the finish line.” His goal was to have 100 of his friends and their friends participate on Joe’s Team at the Gravenhurst Triathlon on Lake Muskoka this past July and “feel the way he felt”.  His goal was to raise $500K.  I asked him if we each had to raise $5000 thinking that would be tough.  He said no that the $500K was a team goal and we would raise it as a team.  I was totally hooked.  I decided to throw a party with Joe and The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation at my house in the spring.  I invited many of my friends and neighbours and we had an incredible evening.  Norm spoke, Joe spoke and one of Joe’s best friend’s spoke.  My friends came up to me afterwards and told me how amazing they thought Joe’s speech was.  It came from his heart.  Our party went on until 2am.

Joe’s Team 2007

 

Mike Cheliak Photography (July 2007)

Joe’s Team grew to 220 people including 30-40 of our friends and neighbours.  I told everyone that I knew that they needed to do this triathlon and then many of them told everyone they knew.  When they said that they weren’t fit enough or weren’t sure they could do it we said “Joe did his first triathlon weighing 118 pounds with no saliva glands just having completed chemotherapy.” We think you can do it.  Some of them decided to do it as a relay getting one person to do the swim, on person the bike and the third person the run. 

“Joe’s Team” which received incredible assistance from Caitlin Kavander from PMHF who had special group training sessions set up over the winter and the spring.  Because we were all together in this it took the edge off the fear of trying something new that scared us.  Joe and his wife Cara were beside themselves on how the team took on a life of its own.  When my neighbour Dale and her kids set up a hot chocolate stand in the spring with a big sign “Support Joe’s Team” they were practically in tears when they drove by.  Imagine having a dream, making it happen and then seeing it in action?  Although they were charging a dollar people would give them $5, $10 and $20 dollars.  The kids were pumped.  There were a few more Saturdays with Lemonade and cookies being sold for Joe’s Team.  When they reached their goal of one hundred participants and then past two hundred they were over the moon excited.  We were all really happy to be a part of it.  We were involved because everyone could feel what Joe was trying to do. 

On the day of the triathlon we arrived at the start and set up our stuff in the transition area and got our numbers and our timing chips.  We had already received our special and very fancy “Joe’s Team” cycling shirt which was a brilliant orange and black.  Some people wore wetsuits some bathing suits.  We all had different colour bathing caps depending on our age category.  There was also a special start for our group for those people who knew they might want to go a bit slower.  They started the race in waves by age category.  As we got on the boat and were headed out to the middle of the lake I looked around.  Many of my friends were chatting nervously adjusting their goggles and looking as if we were being transported to Alcatraz. 

Once the boat had reached 750 meters from shore it anchored.  They opened a hatch and one by one we jumped off holding our goggles to our head and plugging our noses as instructed.  We swam to the start line and then the fog horn from the boat sounded and we were off!  Afterwards we heard many stories of our friends.  One of them, Karen felt claustrophobic in her wetsuit and flagged down one of the kayaks.  She didn’t want to quit but she needed to take it off.  He flagged down a jet ski and he ran her back to the steamship and she took it off and went out again.  Norm wore a body fitting life vest and used a special snorkel that he had received permission from the race director to use.  Gord did the whole swim on his back (most people do the front crawl) and had the fastest time of our group.  Chris, who normally wears glasses swam up onto a small island half way there by mistake.  I was nowhere near the start when the gun sounded as I was slow to get off the boat!  We all completed the triathlon, felt amazing and waited at the finish for Joe.

Joe’s wife Cara was waiting for Joe at the end of the run in tears holding her camera.  We all were. He came in second last crossing the finish holding hands with his two children.  Everyone was lined up along the last 100 meters cheering them in.  It was spectacular! Joe raised half a million dollars in the fist year of “Joe’s Team”.  We met the goal as a team and… we all felt the way that Joe felt when he crossed the finish line for the first time last year!

Katie McLean is an urbanmoms.ca member from Toronto, a mom of 4 and a member of Joe’s Team.