**Below, Paul and I at the finish at TRR!!
Saturday, 2 October, 7:38am, Wellington, New Zealand ~
Hi there, Team WWP, it’s been awhile, but a good finish to another successful season. We’ve been going for 22.5 months now, and we’ve raised just shy of $96,000 for America’s severely wounded heroes. It’s been an amazing journey, with all the high points and bottom dwelling you’d expect from an undertaking like this. I’m excited that we’ve gained momentum. The first year, we raised roughly $40,000, and this second year nearly $56,000. Truly this has been a labor of love for all those involved. It has not been corporate based in the least (although I’m thankful for the amazing help from Technical Management Services and Nathan Hydration) ~ it’s been people based. Donations ranging from what happened to be in someone’s pocket to $10 to $20 to $50. College kids gathering coins from seat cushions (that’s a true story). Average folks with a spontaneous moment of compassion and generosity.
Even more so, they’ve given their time. The events we’ve put on this past two springs in Minnesota were some of the best things I’ve ever been associated with, in my entire life, period. The amount of time that my great fundraising partner and friend Tom Cocchiarella put in, not to mention the Saint Paul Vulcans and the rest of Cocchiarella family…so many others gave…it was astounding. I was privileged to have been a part of something so special.
I should note, I have too many people to thank specifically (it would literally take me days!), so I have to keep this short. But there is one more person I have to write about. My wife, Rachel. We met while I had just started doing this, so she’s been with me nearly every step (or misstep) of the way. Most notably, she’s been with me when I’ve been in my worst moments. The injuries. The days where I would come back from a run and go straight for the ice (literally every day for the past 5 months). She’s massaged the big knots in the legs out…but more importantly, she’s been at the finish lines and when I’ve hit bottom. I could not be who I am without her. There’s no better way for me to say that. Thank you.
Tom and I have talked this over a bit, and we’ve decided that we’ll continue Team WWP, albeit in a different form. Rachel and I are currently at an assignment in New Zealand (through June 2012), which precludes us from being around for awhile. So I’ll sort of fade into the background, and Tom, assisted by the Vulcans, will take over. It looks as though the spring banquet/get together will continue as the signature event. Although we didn’t make it to $100,000, I am heartened by the fact that I know that Tom and the Vulcans will in the coming months…
Oh, last thought, I’m finally taking a real injury break. The left knee just never got better, and it’s going to take some time away to fully heal. I had to cancel an event in December, which I really couldn’t do this past couple years, but it’s finally time. Please cross your finger and/or pray for me not to have to go under the knife. It doesn’t look likely, but you never know about these things.
Again, I thank you for being a part of Team WWP, and I’ll never forget this experience…
All my best & Keep moving forward,
Matt
**Here’s a couple recent stories…
Army Times story on Team Wounded Warrior Project
NZ Herald story on my first race here ~ finished 3rd place
**Top, rounding the last turn
after 116.95 miles!!
**Bottom, our customary post stage pushups, one for every mile of that day!!