Our biggest fundraising effort to date, we have combined endurance praying with endurance racing!
30 athletes will compete in the 2nd Annual New Orleans 70.3 IronMan competition April 18, 2010.
Donate now. Donate often.
Scroll through the page and meet all our wonderfully committed athletes.
Visit us at www.racingforneworleans.org for more information.
Our ministry is provided to local New Orleanians at no cost. Select from any of the below programs to offer your support. Thank you for your generosity.
Relay Swimmer
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Currently: Freshman at Tulane University
I swim competitively for the Tulane swim team where there is no saying of its potential. This is its first year since Katrina that the university's athletic program decided to bring swimming back. The team is composed of all freshman giving each individual the opportunity for roles of leadership and a chance to explore the challenges and accomplishments together. We each have the privilege and the responsibility to mark a path for others to follow. Although swimming takes a great deal of my time as a college student, I remain just that: a college student. I am majoring in Biomedical Engineering with which I hope to delve into tissue engineering. I am very excited to join Team Enduring Hope. And I hope in years to come, Tulane may have more involvement.
Who Dat!? I spend my time hanging out with Eric, Erica, Brian, Jimmy, and Katherine, soaking up the local food, music, whooping and hollering as part of the “Oyster Shuckers” and Down Under Tailgaters” for the New Orleans Saints. I love this city and am excited to devote my body and spirit to its continued recovery, healing, and celebration. I’m proud to join Team Enduring Hope to help raise money for Contemplatives in Action, a local hospitality ministry that offers space for all the amazing volunteers from across the world to meet, reflect, and build community. You have a chance to help, too! Sponsor my efforts to get in shape for New Orleans with a simple donation.
I was born in Metairie, LA and raised there since I was a kid. I’ve been looking for a challenge, and competing in the IronMan competition sounded very exciting!
I am a 30 year old New Orleans resident. During the day, I operate a small web design and internet marketing company. My inspiration to participate in the swimming portion of the half IronMan competition is to mentally and physically challenge myself beyond my comfort zone. I also find this a great opportunity to give back to the city I’ve been raised in and learned to love! Who Dat!
Relay Swimmer
Hometown: Conrad, Montana
Currently: ACE Volunteer and 2nd Grade Teacher at St. Alphonsus in NOLA
In August of 2008, I moved to New Orleans, Louisiana as a part of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE - ace.nd.edu) program, having never set foot in the city before. After arriving, I was shocked to
see the lingering affects of Hurricane Katrina on both the land and the people. Teaching second grade for the past two years, I found many of my students fearing heavy rains and winds. As Hurricane Gustav approached last fall, I experienced first hand the fear of leaving your home and everything you own behind as you look to an uncertain future.
Relay Bicyclist
Hometown:Louisville Kentucky
Cuurently: Insurance Agent
I am 62 years young and have been married for 40year this year 2010 to my lovely wife Mary. We have two wonderful kids John and Amy who are grown and out of the household. I am a Shelter Insurance agent for the past 35 years and that is why I feel connected to New Orleans. My company does business in Louisiana . Many of my fellow agents, their families and their clients were affected by Katrina and still are. I was not able to get away and help out. Racing for New Orleans offers me a chance to do something. I have been a cyclist for many years. However, I cut back my bicycling do to injuries. I look forward to getting back into riding shape and meeting all who are coming to race for New Orleans .
Currently: Campus Minister at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
Some people are gifted athletically. Annie is not one of them. What she lacks in the ability to run, bike, or swim, she makes up for in her ability to cheer. Though she led her little league team in strike outs, she consistently won the “Most Inspirational Award,” 9 in total. Annie graduated from Santa Clara University (Go Broncos!) and entered the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in the best city on earth, Detroit, Michigan. She then returned back to the west coast and completed her MDiv at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. She currently serves as the Director of Campus Ministry (or the only Campus Minister, however you choose to look at it) at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, an all girls high school in the suburbs of LA. As the Krewe Captain, she is looking forward to working with YOU (yes, you, reading this right now) to fully support our team.
Relay Swimmer
Hometown: Louisville, KY
Currently: Clinical Psychologist
My first experience of New Orleans occurred when I was a junior in college and my best friend Ken came into the Student Union and said: “If we leave right now, we can be in New Orleans by midnight.” We headed toward New Orleans with a total of $113 in our pockets, two loaves of bread , and a cooler full of bologna, cheese, and beer. I fell in love with New Orleans and its culture, food, and joie de vivre. I’ve been back many times since. Team Enduring Hope is a chance for me to give something back to a city that has brought me such joy.
Relay Runner
Hometown: Frederick, MD
Currently: First Year MDiv student at Jesuit School of Theology
Brian originally comes from the wild rural area of Frederick Maryland. After graduating High School and narrowly evading death by stampeding cows he migrated to Baltimore and picked up a BA in Classics from Loyola College in Maryland.
IronMan
Hometown: Santa Clarita, California
Currently: First Year M.A. in Ministry at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska
I find it fitting that I work in Creighton’s Center for Service and Justice helping plan and facilitate service trips since it was a service trip to New Orleans for Katrina relief, during my junior year of college, that metaphorically set me on fire and sparked my desire to develop a faith that does justice.
Relay Runner
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Currently: Teacher's Assistant, Chartwell Center, New Orleans, LA
Brittany earned her BA in Psychology and Spanish at Loyola University New Orleans. After relocating to Atlanta for a year, she is now back in New Orleans working as a minister of hospitality and with our Summer Intern Program. She returned to CIA in hopes of deepening her own faith and spirituality through her service to others.
Relay Runner
Hometown: O'Neill, NE
Currently: 3rd year Masters of Divinity student, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
I'm excited to run for New Orleans, a city that has moved my heart and become a part of my own story. I was working at Marquette University when Katrina hit and students and staff connected with Catholic Charities to help clean up debris once the city opened in October. Since then, I have witnessed so many lives changed and careers re-oriented because of people's involvement in the city's recovery--there is something important happening in New Orleans that calls out the gifts and potential in people. My own grad school program at JST got interrupted so I could spend a year working at Loyola in New Orleans with students who were trying to make sense of their own call and responsibility to their community.
Relay Bicyclist
Hometown: Covington, LA
Currently: 1st year Masters of Arts in Theology, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
When the storm hit, I was over a thousand miles away from my home of Covington, Louisiana. Sitting on the futon in my undergrad dorm room, I called time and time again, and all I heard for hours was, ‘Boo, doo, doop. We’re sorry the number you have dialed is not in service. Please hang up and try again.” So, I tried again; same thing. When I finally reached my mother’s cell, I was relieved to find out that everyone was ok. Still, it felt like the world stopped for those few hours, and I wasn’t even there.
IronWoman and Athletic Coordinator
Hometown: Louisiville, KY
Currently: 3rd year Master's of Divinity Student, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
Susan Haarman had her first beignet at Café Du Monde at the age of 19. She had 11 more before the weekend was over and fell head over heels in love with New Orleans. When Katina hit, Susan had just taken a job as a campus minister at Wheeling Jesuit University. Only two weeks into the job, she found herself sitting in her car thinking about the fact that if she quit her job, she could be in New Orleans in less than a day.
Relay Bicyclist
Hometown: Arlington Heights, IL
Currently: RN at Mendoza Medical Clinic, Kenner, LA
Anna Villanueva grew up in Arlington Heights, IL and moved down to New Orleans in July 2008. Her relationship with New Orleans began with a trip in October 2006 with the MARDI GRAS (Making A Real Difference In the Gulf Region and Area Surrounding) student organization at Marquette University. After several service trips to the Gulf Region ranging from gutting to drywalling houses, she responded to the call and continued volunteering after graduation. She served as the Thoughtful Response Team Coordinator with CIA for a year, and continues to assist as the JustCoffee Coordinator.
