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KEEP Tri-ing for Kenya kids
By Monique Boekhout as published in Lake Wylie Pilot, Sept. 18, 2007
The Keep Tri-ing Team competed at the Go Tri Sports Triathlon in Hilton Head on Sept. 8 raising more than $8,000 for the Kenya Educational Endowment Project
We talked about it, we trained for it and suddenly it was there: September 8, 2007 and the Go Tri Sports Triathlon that the KEEP Tri-ing Team was racing to benefit Kenya Orphanage Project's education fund.
By 5:30 a.m., 25 of us were gathered on the parking lot by Coligny Circle in Hilton Head, either waiting to get our bodies marked, racking our bicycles, or just hanging around and trying to shake off the butterflies that always show up in a stomach before a race.
It was still dark and only two lights were shining by the registration tables. There, 17 of us were "branded" with a permanent marker, the race number on each arm, our age on one leg and "R" for relay if we were part of a team. In addition, to show support for Kenya Orphanage Project, each one of us agreed to also show the letters "KOP" on arms and legs.
While I was trying to reassure one of our team members, who was concerned about the swim part of the race, that the sea usually was very quiet in the morning and the surf only showed up in the afternoon, the race director announced that there might be rip currents and explained to the participants what to do in case they were pulled out to deep sea!!!Even in the dark, I could see my friend's face turn green!Tropical storm Gabrielle was churning off shore and bringing high swell and strong currents around Hilton Head Island.
By the time we walked to the beach, daylight had broken and we could see real high and scary waves rolling to shore. There were volunteer kayakers waiting for the participants to get going and making sure nobody got in trouble. They were bobbing up and down like corks in a storm. The swimmers were advised to get in the water way left of the buoys as the current would carry them to the right. The whistle was blown and we watched over 320 swimmers run like mad into the waves until they lost their footing and had to start swimming. The strongest swimmers managed fairly easy to reach the first buoy but many participants struggled to go over the surf. A few participants just gave up and were instructed to float on their backs or were hanging on to the kayaks waiting to be taken back safely to the shore. I had seen the start of triathlons many times on television but had never realized how impressive it was to see hundreds of people disappear into the ocean at once and then only see their swim caps progressing towards the finish.
While I was still watching the participants struggling to reach the first buoy, the fastest swimmers were already getting out of the sea, having completed their 500 meters parallel to the shore. From the shore, they had to run into the transition area and grab their bikes for a 12 mile speed race, four loops of three miles each.
While six people participated individually under the KOP colors and raced the whole three legs, eleven of us elected to do the race as a relay, each one of us doing a different leg.
My own team called "The Old Bike Rider" consisted of 16-year-old, Maddy Lynch from Clover doing the swim, senior citizen Richard Kiegler from Port Charlotte, FL doing the biking and myself, middle-aged Lake Wylie resident to run the 3.1 miles.
It took a little bit more than 10 minutes for Maddy who is on the Clover swim team to do the 500 meters. Richard was waiting for her in the transition area.
He grabbed the time chip from her ankle, put it on his own ankle, hopped on his bike in less than 10 seconds and off he went. Richard who bought his bike at a local flea market for the occasion, had been training regularly, faithfully riding 12 miles every day for the past three months. His time rewarded his efforts as he finished his relay in 45 minutes, an excellent time by any standard.
It was now my turn to grab the chip and try to finish the last relay in a time that would not put the others to shame after such a great performance. I have to confess that although I did the best I could these past months to inspire people to participate in this race, I personally did not train as my upcoming tennis season took priority. I spent more time on the courts than pounding the asphalt! I managed to finish my five kilometers in 33 minutes which is really nothing to brag home about, but it was good enough to get our team in third place in the co-ed relay category.
The star of the day was Andrew Jones who finished the triathlon in one hour, 14 minutes and placed 56th overall and fifth in his age category (and his was on a mountain bike). His sister, Sarah finished in one hour, 32 minutes and our own Ching Fu, KOP director of development, finished in one hour, 35 minutes. Mac Bank of the Fort Mill Times, finished in one hour, 49 minutes, but swore to improve his time for next year's race. Two other participatns from Rock Hill, Mike Davis and Adam Collins also completed the race under the KOP colors.
Jim Stratakos, The Herald photographer, admitted he had spent little time training on his bike! However, thanks to a great performance from his teammates, swimmer Bruce Bailey and to a 26 minute 5k from Kim Moseley, the team took 4th place in the co-ed relay category.
Our other two KOP teams consisting of Joan Epping, John and Geri Craven for one and FranHall and Carol Goehring for the second team finished in respectable times, but did not get any trophies.
All the participants agreed they had a great time and have already decided to make the triathlon a yearly fundraising event for KOP. Our thanks to our faithful supporters at the race: Jane Jones, David Cribbs, Grady and Latham Moseley, Jerry Epping, Avery Lathem, Barbara Kiegler and Bob Boekhout.
It was great fun as we all enjoyed the camaraderie, the adrenaline of racing, and the excuse to go to Hilton Head. At the end, the true winners are the children of Jubilee Center in Nairobi as we raised over $8,000 that will go into our Kenya Educational Endowment Project (KEEP) Fund for higher education. We could not have done this without our 18 local company sponsors who believe in what KOP is doing and wanted to support not only KOP, the KEEP Fund, and the children, but also the great participants who made up the KEEP Tri-ing Team.
Click here to see photos of the triathlon
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SPONSORS
We would like to thank our sponsors for their support for KEEP Tri-ing TEAM, KOP, the children at Jubilee Children's Center, and our hardworking triathletes. Please support our sponsors when you can.
CHAMPION LEVEL
  
CHALLENGER LEVEL
 
COMPETITOR LEVEL
| Haselden, Owen and Boloyan |
| Lake Wylie Family Chiropractic |
Senior Citizens at Bozeman
& Glenrock |
SUPPORTERS
| Allstate Insurance-The Mike Short Agency |
SPECIAL THANKS
We would like to thank Go Tri Sports, Inc. for teaming up with us to benefit the KEEP Fund and including us in this exciting triathlon event!
We would like to give special thanks to Comporium for their continued support over the years.
We would like to thank Lake Wylie Pilot for all of their media support.
Thank you Monogram Fever for doing an excellent job on the KEEP Tri-ing t-shirts.
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About the KEEP Tri-ing Team
In 2006, Kenya Orphanage Project challenged North and South Carolina residents to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain (19,340 ft) and raise $200,000 for KOP's Kenya Educational Endowment Project (KEEP Fund). Twelve individuals accepted the challenge, raised $125,000, and off to the glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro they went. Today, KOP has a new challenge for the community, something closer to home, warmer, and lower in elevation, but requires just as much commitment as Mt. Kilimanjaro needed: a triathlon.
On September 8, 2007, Monique Boekhout, KOP's president, and other KOP supporters were on the beach of Hilton Head Island, SC with their goggles and swim caps on, ready at the sound of the horn to swim 500 meters of the Atlantic Ocean, then bike 12.5 miles and run 3.1 miles. Why? Because there are 98 children across the world whose faces transform into enormous bright smiles when they hear their sponsors' names. Because KOP sponsors are these orphans' hope that their goals of becoming a pilot, a doctor, or a scientist will not simply be an unattainable dream.
The KEEP Fund was created in 2006, with the mission to raise money to create an endowment fund for the higher education of the orphans of Jubilee Children's Center, Nairobi, Kenya. All earnings for the KEEP Fund will be used toward the children's college or vocational education. Currently there are 98 children who once called the streets and slums of Nairobi home. Before Jubilee, these children constantly worried about whether or not they had enough food for the week, the day, or simply for one meal. All of the children who live at Jubilee have lost both their parents to AIDS.
The support from KEEP Tri-ing's company sponsors and the individual participants for KOP's 2nd Annual Keep Fundraiser will ensure that after these children finish their high school education, they will have the chance to pursue a higher education. Without a further education, the children will be left with limited ways to break the cycle of poverty that affects majority of Kenya. Without a continuing education, their opportunities to contribute significantly to our world may simply be a dream.
Go Tri Sports, Inc. located in Hilton Head Island, SC, was the organizer of this fall's Go Tri Sports at Hilton Head Island Triathlon. GTS donated a portion of all KOP participants' registration fee to the KEEP Fund.
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