It’s hard not to think about water today. In the western world, we face growing concerns about our stewardship of the world’s most precious resource. There’s talk of shortages, evidence of reservoirs and aquifers drying up, and of course, plenty of people who simply don’t care. But forget about us. Most of us have never really been thirsty. We’ve never had to leave our houses and walk 5 miles to fetch water. We simply turn on the tap, and water comes out. Clean. Yet there are a billion people on the planet who don’t have clean water. Now, make a decision to help. We’re not offering grand solutions and billion dollar schemes, but instead, simple things that work. Things like freshwater wells, rainwater catchments and sand filters. For about $20 a person, we know how to help millions of people. You have given for relay for life and bought boxes of girlscout cookies. You have pledged for 5k runs and you have bought from the salvation army. I am asking you to donate $20 towards my efforts to build a well, and in return, I will run an Ironman. I think that's a fair deal.

The world doesn’t quite care what I do each day. It will go to work and eat at restaurants and play with its kids and watch television and go on vacations. The world will scare me into submission and inspire me to capture my dreams. It will love and it will hate. The sun will come up and the moon will shine and the stars will die and the tides will change and the wind will blow and the clock will tick, regardless of what I do. In time—the only guarantee I have is that with or without me, the world will continue. So then I am left with a fundamental question: what will I do with my time? I’ve chosen, at least for now, to do an Ironman triathlon. This is unanimously considered the most difficult race humanity has had the courage to think up. Often we don’t know them, these ironmen—they exist but who really knows one? Who knows what it takes? Is it really possible? My parents told me that I could do whatever I decided to do and my country promised me a better tomorrow. I believe them. Nevertheless, you still ask why? Well with a full head of inspiration, a heart too strong to quit, and just enough naïve curiosity to begin—I calmly reply, “why not?”