KPF Grows as Elsha Defies the Odds

One of the long-term goals of the Kyle Pease Foundation is to assist those around the country and not just in the Atlanta area. Our primary goal is to assist those in our own backyard but as we establish our roots here in Georgia we are looking for opportunities to expand.

We recently have connected with Elsha Stockseth from Utah who is our first long distance KPF sponsored athlete. We are excited to share her post from her two recent races, the Ogden Half Marathon and the Defy the Odds-5K. So thrilled to have her on board and excited to share in her success.

When not running the courses through Utah, Elsha, who has muscular dystrophy and weighs only 40 pounds, is a skilled artist who uses her head to create her amazing work. See this video link to witness this amazing young lady.

Ogden Half Marathon - May 17, 2014

This was my first time running this race. I was being pushed by my friend, Mandi McBride, and her sister, Angie Nye Rasmussen. This was our second half marathon together. It was a pretty early race and a little chilly. Right when the race started, Angie said that if I wanted, Mandi and I could go faster and she would just run behind. We took off and had a great run.

 

This was such a beautiful course through Ogden Canyon with the running river, the beautiful waterfall, and the delicious smell of campfires. So many wonderful people raced next to us, but my favorite was Team Bart another guy being pushed in his special cart by his father. Although it was just a few seconds that we were next to each other it was really fun to hear Bart be so excited about racing. Even more inspiring was when my mom told me how Bart was able to get out of his wheelchair to use a walker for his last few steps across the finish line.

 

Mandi and I crossed the finish in 1:33 which was quite amazing since she had to struggle for the entire 13.1 miles with my B.O.B stroller thing that only wanted to go left. We were able to easily fix the problem right after the race thanks to Google and Mandi’s brother-in-law. It was a fun time to race together and especially to see so many people that we knew at the race. Another fun surprise was having my best friend from childhood and her family come to see my. We can’t wait to do that race together again.

Anything for a Friend -Defy the Odds 5k -May 31, 2014

This was a 5k/fun run to raise money for a boy injured in a trampoline accident last December. I was really excited for this because I was meeting a new pusher friend who I met on Facebook. His name is Joshua Snow Hansén and he is an amazing guy.

 

He has lost 180 lbs. and is trying to run 180 races. We decided that this was the perfect race for us as we are both “defying the odds” in our lives. The race was a late start race and was just about to start when Joshua came. It was so hot and almost all on a trail so kind of crowded. We still had a great time together especially since we were listening to our favorite band, U2. It was especially fun to have my brother and his little girls to cheer us on.