Flying through Indiana with a Message of Fitness 4 All!!

Kevin flys along as he turns on a hill in Indiana

8 a.m. CST- Today was great because I was able to fly from place to place with the wind behind my back and meet with many different people.  While I was in Portland, I presented Mayor Hozier a plaque from the Kevin Saunders’ Health and Fitness Tour of America.  Stephanie Arnold, assistant to Mayor Hozier, was another one of the interesting people I met today.  She is on the Olympic Women’s Archery Team that will be competing in Athens, Greece.  We wished her good luck and told her to bring back the Gold.  I also spoke with The Portland Commercial Review, Jay County’s daily newspaper.  They interviewed me about my history and the mission of the Tour. 

Kevin with Mayor Hozier in Portland, IN

I explained how I had overcome the tragedy I faced years ago to achieve goals I never thought were possible. I overcame adversity and found the motivation and inspiration to live my dream despite being completely paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair from terrible explosion that destroyed the building we were in, killed my supervisor and catapulted me over a 2 story building and over 300 ft. on to a concrete parking lot where I was left for dead. I thought I was done for but I wasn’t. I was able to get involved with fitness and proper nutrition and come back to accomplish things that I would have never dreamed possible. Most all because of being a Christian, I know GOD gave me a second chance because I still had a mission on this earth to do.

My current dream is to help fight obesity by supplying students, parents, teachers and Americans with the motivation and the knowledge they need to be successful in that fight. My book, “Revolutions”, will cover my methods and plan to achieve that goal.  We also talked about my motivational coaching and inspirational speaking career and how I used it as a platform to get my message across. 

New Castle, IN.- I pushed two morning sessions, 20 miles each, with a little less than an hour break between. I pushed through Farmland, Modoc, and into Hagerstown. Then I had to get in the follow vehicle to get to New Castle in time for my 1:30 p.m. interview Indianapolis, IN that afternoon. I got back in the van and we quickly drove from Hagerstown to Indianapolis. But hey, I don’t let it keep me down. I’ll just keep rolling on spreading my message of proper fitness and nutrition to everyone that would listen especially our nation’s youth, parents, teachers, state and local government officials and community and state leaders.

I also met the police chief and some of the officers.  One officer, Officer Mark, led me through town and then out to the highway where I was once again “on the road again” a favorite song of mine by country western singing star Willie Nelson. I keep telling myself we have to learn all we can so when we  do the “Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour”, we should have most of the kinks worked out so our message to help educate, inform and inspire our nation’s youth and the American people about the positive effects of staying active and the importance of proper nutrition.

1:25 p.m. CST – A couple of blocks away from the Courier Times newspaper office, I got out of the follow vehicle and pushed to my interview. They interviewed me and took pictures for about 15 minutes. We had an appointment to meet the media at the Baymont Inn, who was one of our sponsors for the “BIG PUSH” across America tour. We are working on improving our skills for the “Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour” to help educate our nation’s youth, parents, teachers and Americans about the importance of understanding how getting involved in fitness activities and making proper fitness choices can positively affect each person and help them become more active and more alert to do better, feel better and have an opportunity to reach incredible goals in be a success with their lives.

"Riding for Fitness" Newspaper Article

4:30 p.m. CST – We arrived at the Baymont with time to spare; however, no media showed. When a meeting falls through, it is disappointing for many reasons.  The main one is that I get so excited at the chance to reach out and deliver my message to new individuals; it’s a very disappointing let down if I am unable to do that because I have a tremendous passion to help America get fit. After all, it was my rugby friends that helped give me that second chance by getting me back involved in proper fitness and nutrition like I was when I was on my feet.  Also, I cut my interview short and lost pushing time by hurrying to meet the media. So now, tomorrow, I have to back track to make up the mileage I lost but like I always say, “There is always a way when you never give up” so I become re-energized to make a positive start tomorrow.