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Blog Entry 30 of 85 A Lady's Lair
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Woman warriors conquer Danskin Triathlon

Contributed by: Brit Horvat/YourHub.com   on 7/15/2007

It was a day of courage, perserverance, strength and community at the Danskin Women's Triathlon, which took place July 15 at the Aurora Reservoir. Whether you're a participating athlete, volunteer, employee or spectator, this is truly a remarkable gathering. It's the largest and longest-running multi-sport series in the world for women, with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation as the official charity.

When you wake up at 4:30 a.m. to beat race traffic and end up sitting on the road for more than three hours just to get into the parking lot, it's ironically not so much of a conflict. It's actually amazing that thousands of people make their way out to be a part of this day. All ages from all places manage to get their butts to this race -- no matter how far they have to drive, walk or bike -- or how many hours of sleep they miss. They are there to support, cheer, celebrate and remember.

One of the many tents near the finish line was the Rocky Mountain Team Survivor tent. This nonprofit's inspirational slogan, "Live well, laugh often, love much" symbolizes their mission to encourage women cancer survivors to regain and rediscover their physical and emotional health, strength and well-being.

This is where I met up with Laurie Turney, a two-time breast cancer survivor from Boulder. Ah, Laurie. She is awesome. When I called her to get some extra info on her recent posting:
http://denver.yourhub.com/Boulder/Story~329043, I realized that when it comes to being optimistic and loving every minute of life, Turney is an excellent teacher with many stories to tell. She also informed me of this amazing event.

After beating cancer for the first time, Turney participated in her first Danskin Triathlon in 2005. She also did Tri for the Cure, which benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. As an athlete who kicks a$$ at swimming and biking, nothing was going to stop her from doing what she loves.

As she was training and planning for the 2006 Danskin and working as a Registered Nurse at a local hospital, Turney was re-diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she was able to work part-time during her chemotherapy, and all of her managers supported her, the HR director called her into the office one day with no notice and "terminated her employment." Turney was a dedicated employee who had just been celebrated for five years of service.

"I guess they thought I wasn't capable of working," said Turney.

In response to this, she filed a discrimination charge two weeks after her employment was terminated in August of 2006. Luckily, it was settled.

"There was no way that I could go from paying $14/pay period for myself and $70/pp for my husband to $1,000/month. I couldn't believe they could do such a thing," she said. "Although I loved my job and the hospital I worked for, I had to do it. It just felt so wrong and I didn't want them to get away with doing it to anyone else. I'm glad I perservered and took that on; I feel confident that I made a difference for other employees!"

Although Turney was too sick to make it out to last year's event, her friends participated for her. "They told me -- if you can't do it, we're going to do it for you. Some of them weren't triathletes at the time, so they chose the event they wanted to do. Now, this year, they're participating in all of them as trained triathletes. They're just really amazing friends! Always there for me, no matter what!" she said.

Turney didn't participate this year, as she is recovering from a recent surgery. But she had to come out to show her support. "I'll be back next year. Absolutely," she said.

She may be taking time off physically during recovery, but she's not sitting still when it comes to making a difference.

Not only is she working on writing a book on her experience, but she is also currently working with someone at the time to form a duathlon (swimming and biking) to help raise money to support those who don't have insurance or lose their benefits because of breast cancer.

"I want this to support women (and men) who don't have insurance. I couldn't believe how many women I met in my support groups that were feeling so sick and exhausted from their chemo treatments -- yet were still having to work full time to get their insurance benefits or just pay the bills and feed their kids," said Turney.

Breast cancer has impacted Turney's family in more ways than one. Her father, Terry Holsinger, died of breast cancer at the age of 43.

"I was just shocked. I mean -- you're a 38-year-old man and you have breast cancer?" she said.

Turney plans to educate as many people as possible on this little known fact. "It's amazing how many people are in the dark about this. Even when I'm filling out forms at the doctor's office, it will ask me about the history of breast cancer in my family but only give the option of mother, aunt or sister to choose from. I to have to write in father on my own," she said.

Sandy Anderson, of Durango, was spending the day with Turney, her best friend. The two met in Boulder in 1993 while working in the ICU at a local hospital. Anderson never missed one chemo appointment. She now works at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango and is also appalled at the lack of knowledge involving men and breast cancer.

"There is a sign in the mammography department that actually says, 'Gentlemen: Please have a seat in the main lobby.' I have to repeatedly tell them that my best friend's dad died of breast cancer," said Anderson.

Although Turney misses her dad and is well aware that she has a cancer gene, she remains thankful for all those that are there for her and takes life one day at a time. "My husband, Brant, is my most amazing supporter! He takes care of me and gives me so much love! He goes to triathlons with me and takes pictures of me in each event. He stands at the finish line to cheer me on and he gives me strength. He's awesome!"

Turney also remains incredibly optimistic. "You have to live each day for what it's worth, do what you can do and learn to appreciate all the good things."

Keep your eye out for Laurie Turney and all the things she has planned to accomplish. This woman is truly amazing!

Here are postings that YourHub.com users contributed about the race:
Danskin Triathlon...I did it again!
Heavenly Hell


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Erin Feese
posted on 7/17/2007 @ 3:08:07 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Very cool ... good luck to Laurie, she is an inspiration!
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Brit Horvat has posted 85 blog entries and 41 comments since joining on 2/19/2007. Brit Horvat 's average blog rating is 5.
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