Sunday, April 1, 2012

Be Courageous and Standup for Your Cause!


A few weeks ago I was competing at an event in Dana Point, California, the 3rd Annual 2012 Mickey Munoz Mongoose Cup and met Judie Vivian, the organizer of the “Standup for the Cure” event. We talked about the upcoming event http://www.standup-for-the-cure.org/ in Newport Beach, California May 5, 2012, and in general the work that the Susan G. Komen organization does regarding finding a cure for breast cancer http://ww5.komen.org/


As promised Judie included in the news letter a note regarding diabetics and their struggles and accomplishments related to their experiences with a disease that is in epidemic proportions throughout the United States and the world. Take a look at an article that was just published in the Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2715537/time-to-get-serious-about-diabetes.html


The Standup-for-a-cure newsletter included a photo of Ryan Maloney and a short message about his courage, his battles with type 1diabetes and how he is determined to not let it hold him back from doing  all kinds of things, like Standup paddling. I was also stoked to see they included a link to http://www.supwithdiabetes.com/


I have been diagnosed with type1 diabetes now for about 7 years and competing as an Elite Standup Paddle racer and SUP surfer for the last 2 years. I met Ryan after his father Bill Maloney saw me paddling and racing in the many SUP races in California that are held almost every weekend  http://www.supracer.com/calendar/, and contacted me through Facebook. Ryan and I have since become good friends and while I was living in San Diego, California we would meet up at the beach and get in a SUP surf session or a paddle. We would share stories of our experiences with diabetes and we talk about SUP surfing and SUP racing.


Ryan is fairly new to the sport of SUP and is a young and up and coming endurance athlete that is trying to make a difference in letting the world know that diabetes can be controlled and people that are faced with having to deal with disease such as cancer and diabetes can overcome these obstacles, with a little hard work and dedication. Ryan is an ambassador for the sport of SUP and can be seen paddling one of the may awesome SUP boards that Boardworks provides him with from time to time! http://boardworkssup.com/


I have since moved from California back to the beautiful state of Hawaii and will continue to train, race, surf and paddle my way towards educating, motivating and inspiring individuals like Ryan to get out there and do the things that you enjoy, and to not let their diabetes control you, but to control their diabetes!


Obviously I am passionate about diabetes and the quest to one day find a cure, but finding a cure for breast cancer is huge on my list as well. My step mother, who has been in my life for more than  35 years is a three time breast cancer survivor and an inspiration to me as to what we can accomplish if we put our minds and hearts into something we believe in. Rose I love you, you are my hero!


I wish that I could be at the “Standup for the Cure” event in Newport Beach, CA. this coming May and paddling to help find a cure, but instead I will be competing at the upcoming 2012 Waikiki Paddle Festival http://quiksilverlive.com/waikikipaddle/2012/

I’m SUP surfing as much as possible and once I can get my hands on a SUP race board (had to sell my race board to help with the move over to Hawaii) I will start to put in some distance training and get out there an paddle my heart out for all the people like Ryan and my step mother Rose!
Do everything you can to enjoy every day because just like my good friend Jeff Archer says,” you only live once”’ YOLO! http://www.yoloboard.com/

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