The 2009 MiracleKids Triathlon was held at Lake Nokomis Park on July 18 in Minneapolis, MN. This is one of many events held throughout the year to raise funds for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation.

Who was Mitch?

Mitch was a kid who loved to swim, bike and run, and always seemed to be up to something with his pals. Then one day he was diagnosed with bone cancer. Though the cancer quickly ravaged his body, it hardly made a dent in this 9 year old boy’s incredible spirit. In fact, it was when Mitch was at his sickest that his spirit shined brightest. That’s when he reached out with generosity and kindness to other cancer kids, giving them his life savings and all the encouragement he had left to give.

For his final wish, Mitch made his family promise they would keep helping cancer kids and he sealed it with a “pinky swear” made with his father.

The Miracles of Mitch Foundation has two major giving priorities:

1) to provide cost of living financial assistance to the families of children diagnosed with cancer, and
2) in those cases of a child facing an advanced stage of cancer illness, to facilitate an individually tailored quality of life initiative for that child and their family

Biggest Event of All

The MiracleKids Triathlon is by far the Miracles of Mitch Foundation’s most important fundraiser of the entire year. If not for the hard work of each MiracleKid raising pledges and the generosity of each and every donor, the foundation would not have the funding needed to support cancer families across Minnesota.

This year Alexandra and two of her SEMS swim mates, Jacob and Adam participated in the event. The event is for kids ages 7 – 17 years old. For Alexandra, Jake, and Adam, the triathlon consisted of a 200 yard swim. For these guys the swim was not nearly long enough. They are all very good swimmers and of the three disciplines the swim is definitely their strength. The bike was 6 miles, two laps around the lake, and the run, a 1 mile out and back. All three did very well and we are all very proud of their effort.

New this year the kids received a bio card of the child that they were racing for. In previous years they would only know the child’s name when it was written on the back of their calf. Alexandra was racing this year for Jacie. Jacie is 3 years old and was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) on October 2, 2008. The money that Alexandra was able to raise will go to help make a mortgage payment for Jacie’s family. Thank you all for your support.