All for Emily

John Black

John Black (pictured) will take on the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in October to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. He is doing it all to raise funds for blood-cancer research and patient services funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He is a member of Team In Training, and his fundraising goal is $150,000. A year ago, John met fellow Ironman athlete Bob Jordan, whose daughter Emily had passed away from leukemia. Twenty years earlier, Emily had asked her daddy what he wanted for his birthday, and Bob said his wish was for her to get better. Emily told her dad he needed to make a different wish, so Bob shared his dream of racing in the Kona Ironman. Emily lost her battle with leukemia at the age of 5, but before she passed away she wrote a letter to Ironman race officials asking them to “pick her daddy” to race in Kona. In 1997, Bob read Emily’s letter on national television and learned that he had been selected to participate in the Ironman World Championship. Emily died four weeks before the race, but Bob went on to complete the race in his daughter’s memory. Donations can be made online here. 

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