Conquering the Toronto Triathlon Festival…MLSE Style! (Part 1 of 2)
By CraigM, Posted on August 8, 2012 | 6 Comments
This week our guest blogger Kayla Foster (Donor Relations Coordinator, MLSE Team Up Foundation) will be doing a
two part story on an experience of a life time – the Toronto Triathlon! In part 1, Kayla tells us about her experience leading up to the great event and the dedication it took from a whole team of people here at MLSE.
“On May 31st, the last day for pre-registration for the inaugural Toronto Triathlon Festival, I received a text from Ivana (Coordinator, Email Marketing) that read “Hey Kayla! Did you want to join me and Alex (Coordinator, Fan Services) for the triathlon? We need a swimmer!” I answered with an immediate “Sign me up!” and team K.I.A. formed. As rookies to triathlon, we opted for the Sprint Relay which included a 750m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run. Ivana, who recently completed the Ride to Conquer Cancer, signed up for the bike and Alex, who recently completed her second half marathon, chose the run. Having been a swimmer my whole life, I was excited to land that portion of the relay. We had 7 weeks to train for the big day – plenty of time, right?
Leading up to race day.
While we had our own little relay team, we were part of a much larger team. Under the guidance of Head Coach of the Toronto Marlies, Dallas Eakins, a group of motivated staff from across Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment joined together not only to train, but also to fund-raise for the MLSE Team Up Foundation. Support was felt all around for MLSE Team TUF; whether it was through the email chain of training tips, the organization of open water swims or a post-work bike ride. Words of encouragement were also passed around via twitter, which led to an interesting ‘deal’ between Coach Eakins and beloved Canadian Olympian, Simon Whitfield. Coach Eakins agreed to raise $1 for every kilometer Simon trained during the last two weeks leading up to the race –
a total of $700! With Coach Eakins goal to raise $700 and an overall team goal to raise $2,000, MLSE Team TUF’s 28 soon to be triathletes banded together in TRAINING and FUNDRAISING!
How did team K.I.A. fund-raise?
(left to right) Kayla (swim), Ivana (bike) and Alex (run)
The three of us took to the kitchen and baked! Ivana, master cupcake baker, taught Alex and I a few tricks of the trade and together we baked and iced over 7 dozen cupcakes. Our mouthwatering selection included Red Velvet, Lemon Blueberry, Chocolate Raspberry and Peanut Butter Chocolate. On July 18th, we set up shop in our cafeteria and for a donation of $3, employees were invited to indulge while contributing to a great cause! In just 45 minutes, we SOLD OUT, fundraising $400! We were extremely happy with the success of our cupcake sale and also really excited to experience first-hand how supportive employees at MLSE are of each other and the MLSE Team Up Foundation.”
- Kayla Foster, Donor Relations Coordinator – MLSE Team Up Foundation
Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Conquering the Toronto Triathlon Festival…MLSE Style!” later this week where Kayla walks us through the intense race day!
Response to "Conquering the Toronto Triathlon Festival…MLSE Style! (Part 1 of 2)"
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You girls are so inspiring!
Thank you for supporting the MLSE Team Up Foundation and for taking on the challenge of a TRIATHLON!
We couldn’t change lives through sport without you!
I enjoy your other photos very much but this one this one, is well, my cup of tea today as you prlbbaoy could have guessed after checking out my Coco and the West Bottoms pics.This is great socio-economic commentary via IMAGE. I hope you’re collecting such shots for a well for a COLLECTION for possible publication to all of places, the city of Toronto itself! Home of Northrup Frye .another univeerse entirely or is it?Keep shoot sights! Seriously.
Good luck to your husband! Here a few ckuacpe shops you should see:-Sprinkles Cupcakes (there’s one in scottsdale too!)-Cupcakes of Scottsdale (eh)-Tammie Coe Cakes (AMAZING)-AJ’s Fine FoodsHope you have a lovely time.
Love the legs you look like an athlete. I know what you mean about wtianng to tell everyone. When I do a really long run I want to tell people I come across towards the end of the run I’m on mile 18 only 2 more to go. Of course I don’t but I probably look funny with my grin.Just take one day at a time and you’ll get through all your races and the fatigue.
Aloha!lned! http://hyzvcf.com ybbsk cqfea
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