Iron Kid Races for ALS
by Karen Kennedy
photography by Judy Le Jeune
3651 Peachtree Parkway Suite 425 - Suwanee, GA 30024
With a face full of freckles and dimples that appear when he smiles, 13-year-old Brian Duffy could be the poster boy for all that is right with Georgia kids today. Get him started talking about his passions, triathlons and raising money for ALS, and he becomes someone adults could learn from as well.
Brian has been racing in triathlons since he was seven, nearly half his life. A neighbor who did ironman races, introduced Brian to the sport. "I was hooked," Brian said. "I couldn't do just one."
Triathlons consist of swimming, biking and running. Youth races in Brian's age group feature a 200-yard swim, usually in a pool, a six-mile bike ride and a one-mile run. Last year, Brian decided to race with the big boys. He participated in sprint distance triathlons, adult races with 600-yard swims - often in lakes, rivers or even the Gulf of Mexico - 13 to 16-mile bike races and 5K runs.
The fact that these races aren't generally team sports, might lead people to think that participants are loners, happy to be racing by themselves. Brian says that's not the way it is at all. In fact, Tri to Cure, a youth race in Greenville, S.C. that raises money for children's charities, is his favorite race. "I love that race," Brian said. "Everybody's cheering for you. The whole sport's like that. A very supportive atmosphere."
The supportive, giving aspect of the Tri to Cure got Brian thinking about how he could do something for others when he was participating in triathlons. With the idea of giving on his mind, it was a 2005 Christmas gift "The Hawaiian Ironman" DVD that led Brian to his cause. The story of Jon Blais or "Blazeman" as he's known in racing circles - a racer and special-education teacher who has been stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease - was featured on the DVD. Inspired by Blazeman's story, Brian became the first Blazeman Warrior, a team of people raising money for ALS research in Jon Blais' name. "Blazeman Jr." as Brian is now known, raised $3,000 for ALS last year. His goal for 2007 is $5,000.
Brian, who is very articulate when describing ALS, calls it "a motor neuron disease. Motor neurons send signals from the brain to the muscles," he said. "When the motor neurons die, as they do when people have ALS, the muscles don't work at all."
"It's almost the opposite of Alzheimer's," said Karen Duffy, Brian's mother. "Because the mind stays fine." Generally, people diagnosed with ALS live two to five years following diagnosis. There is currently no cure.
Brian, who participates in about ten races every year, hopes to do an Olympic distance race this year. Georgia has two such races that feature a 1,500-yard swim, 40K (25 mile) bike race and 10K run. Brian's overall racing goal: to win the Hawaiian Ironman, the world championship Ironman race.
Brian's interest in triathlons is now a family-shared event for his parents, Mike and Karen, as well as his brother, Kevin. "Usually parents do triathlons and kids fall into it," said Karen. "We went the other way around." Mike Duffy now races with his son in the sprint distance races. Kevin and Karen have raced as two of three members of a relay team, in which each teammate participates in one triathlon event.
On top of Brian's personal $5,000 fund-raising goal, he and his family are working to raise $10,000 for the ALS Center at Emory University by sponsoring the Blazeman Warrior 5K Run/Walk at South Forsyth High School on April 14. Given Brian's drive to compete and the time, energy and fundraising efforts he gives to ALS, he will not only reach his personal goal to raise $5,000 and the $10,000 goal for The Blazeman Warrior 5K Run/Walk, but will most likely exceed his own fundraising goals. Brian "Blazeman Jr." is surely doing his part to cure a disease that keeps others from finishing their own race.
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For additional information on ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease: www. alsa.org
