Carter's Angels and the San Tan Triathlon

At the beginning of the year, several of us had the same goal on our New Years Resolutions as the 17 or more years before... LOSE SOME WEIGHT! As the year has progressed on, our goals have changed from losing weight to being more active and promoting healthy families.

In August of this year Laura Woods, Brooke Garner and myself (Sonda Bryce) entered into a triathlon in Safford, AZ hoping to be more prepared for the one we are all getting ready to participate in on Oct. 17th. We trained hard and tried to keep each other on track. But, as the time for the tri got closer, there was a huge anxiety about swim, bike, and run times, and what place we would finish in and the feeling around the whole event was pretty negative. So we talked about it. Laura went home and said her prayers that she would be able to feel peace about the whole thing. She called Brooke and I and asked us how we would feel about doing the event in Carter Herbert's name. Many of you know of Carter, of the many challenges and struggles that he has faced since birth and of the amazing way that he lives his life. He is always happy, is quick to smile and always has a hug for you. When we got permission from Rich and Lacee to run in Carter's name, the whole feeling changed.



I can tell you that the triathlon was the hardest physical challenge I have faced. I can also tell you that I cried... yes cried, for several miles of the bike section. Laura and Brooke experienced similar hardships during the event. Though we felt them at different times and for different reasons, one of the things that kept us going and helped us to finish the race was remembering Carter and thinking that if he could do what he does every day with a smile on his face that we could finish this race.


We had shirts made the night before the race that we wore with pride. They are black and say Carter's Angels on the front and have wings on the back.

They still hang proudly in our closets today waiting for the next event where we can draw strength from little Carter. It was such a positive experience for us that we wanted to give all of you the opportunity to be a part of it. We will be wearing our shirts at the San Tan Triathlon. If Carter inspires you and you would like to Support Carter's Angels, you can purchase your shirt here on the blog by Saturday, October 10th (for it to be here for the tri next weekend). The charge will be $10 each. Shirts are in men's and women's sizes. The women's shirts are more fitted with a capped sleeve. In addition, there will be Team Carter shirts available in kids as well as adult sizes for those not participating in the triathlon, but want to support Carter and his Angels!