In September 2008, NoHLA’s office manager, Hafoc Yates, proposed celebrating her 50th birthday by doing a triathlon relay. Joined by Board member Bob Crittenden and staff attorney Lori Buchsbaum their modest plan blossomed into our ‘Racing for Health Justice’ event with 10 relay teams, including groups from Northwest Justice Project, SEIU, University of Washington, and Garfield High School (“the moms and daughters”).
Throughout the summer, NoHLA supporters dusted off their bikes, dug out their running shoes, and took courses in open water swimming. On September 20, NoHLA’s relay teams competed in the Kirkland Triathlon at Carillon Point, collecting over $9,000 in donations!
The swimmers emerged from Lake Washington glowing with tales of a wonderful, if bracing, early morning swim. The bikers were challenged with a hilly 12-mile course, but all returned to hand-off to the runners, who finished the race with smiles of victory!
While the goal for many of us was just to complete the race, two of our teams finished in the top 4 in their divisions: