Reflecting the Plateaus: Racing to the pinnacle of achievement to a fit America

KEVIN’S PERSONAL JOURNAL

DAY 1

6:00 a.m. CST – We got everything packed up to leave for Champaign, IL.  Andy aired the tires in the trailer, Jeep, and racer to get ready for the push that would make up the ‘BIG PUSH’ in preparation for the “Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour”.  Our first media stop was in Lebanon, IN with Matt Hendrix from the Lebanon Reporter, a local newspaper.  In the interview, I told Matt that I was doing this to inspire and motivate all Americans to get fit.  I’m doing it to demonstrate that if I can do it, completely paralyzed from the chest down with no core muscles or balance, then anyone can become healthy and fit regardless of his or her current limitations.  I’m also providing clear, concise, easy-to-understand information about proper nutrition with balanced meals and healthy snacks and activities to partake in.  To win the war against obesity, I am working with city and community leaders by providing resources free of charge to create lasting health and fitness initiatives for all.  The battle will be won in the communities where people live, work, and play. I truly believe lasting success can happen with the commitment of individual communities within the school systems, parents, teachers and community leaders like Lebanon, IL where the make it one of their priorities.  I want to encourage all community members to get involved in making their community a healthier place to live. The “Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour” is a non-profit organization and we welcome any support from individuals or organizations that want to help support our efforts, making grass roots health and fitness initiatives easily available to all Americans.

2:00 pm. CST – I presented a plaque thanking the city of Lebanon, IL for their commitment to health and fitness and for their support of the Kevin Saunders’ Health and Fitness Tour of America.  The City Treasurer, Debbie Offering, presented me with a key to a city.  She designed this key for people who make a positive difference in the city of Lebanon.  I was the first recipient of the key.  It was an honor for me to receive the key.  After the ceremony, a Lebanon police officer led me out of town and I pushed on to Crawfordsville, IN.  I averaged just over ten miles an hour; 22.5 miles took me approximately 2 hours. 

Kevin presents plaque to Mayor

8:30 p.m. CST – We arrived at the Champaign, IL location of one of our tour sponsors, the Baymont Inns and Suites.  We unloaded the gear, checked our email, caught up with the blog, downloaded pictures and videos, made some calls, and went to bed at around 10:30 p.m.

Kevin stops for photo-op at his hotel sponsor Baymont Inn Suites

DAY 2

I called Marty Morris, head of wheelchair athletics at the University of Illinois. We set up a meeting for 4 P.M. to give him a plaque at the Parkland College Olympic Memorial.

I pushed to city hall where I am giving a presentation for 45 minutes to an hour called the ‘Health and Fitness Summit’. This is where I present the latest state of the art information on fitness activities and the importance of eating nutritionally balanced meals and why it is so important to take part in fitness activities. Then we had a 20 minute discussion period on how the community leaders, parents, and other citizens could help do or begin to help make Lebanon, IN a healthier community.

12 noon to 1 P.M. lunch break

1:30 P.M. Met IL state trooper David W. Tendrix who escorted me as I pushed faster because the police do not like driving any slower than 20 mph so I kicked it in to high gear. We went just over 5 miles west on Highway 10 to Hwy 6 in Seymour, IN.  It always gets me fired up to go on the tour and push from 36 to 100 miles some days to keep on schedule. We also met with The Champaign News Gazette reporter and photographer Vanda Bickwell who took some photos as I was pushing out of town. I told them how well the health and fitness summit had went and how there had been some great ideas generated for making Lebanon in to a healthier community.  I realized that there was another media group to interview me. No matter how much longer it took, I was here to spread the message and promote proper nutritionally balanced eating habits and taking part, 3 to 4 times a week or more, in some type of physical activity.

Kevin crossing over I 55 in IL

2 P.M. to 3 P.M. short break after pushing in Georgetown

Immediately after pushing we jumped back into the Jeep and headed for a presentation with Marty Morris at the Olympic Memorial in Parkland College. What a beautiful city, so peaceful.
We arrived at the Memorial just after 3 P.M. Andy took some photos of the park and we waited for 4 when Marty would arrive.

As we waited I noticed the memorial tribute and thought about how it reflected our tour’s mission. Part of the text on the memorial read as follows:

“Viewers of the memorial move through a series of intermediate platforms marked by light bollards and granite aggregate, reflecting the plateaus achieved then surpassed as the athletes pursue their dreams. Then to the climatic, final, inscribed granite platform beyond the gateway… the smallest but grandest plateau… representing the pinnacle of achievement, here they can view the surrounding countryside. It is this rising progression that is a metaphor for the path traveled by Olympians as they compete, strive, and excel through discipline and desire.”

Reading this inscription reminded me not only of the struggle that I would be undertaking on this tour, but also of the struggle that many Americans face with health and fitness. For some the challenge may seem overwhelming, it is a series of steps that will lead them to a healthier lifestyle. I hope that through this tour we can help, by providing the tools and resources and by motivating, many Americans to reach their next personal plateau, and then the next one after that in the cycle of struggles that leads to a lifelong health and fitness lifestyle. Sports transcends ones current limitations and allows them to become healthier and happier.

4 P.M. I presented Marty Morse, a world class paralympic athlete and coach with the award for his tireless dedication to health and fitness for people with disabilities and for having coached three of the Olympic athletes listed on the monument.

5:15 P.M. Returned to the Baymont hotel left shortly after with Andy to go to Farm and Fleet, a store in Champaign. We bought flashing safety lights and slow moving vehicle signs for the trailer. We were also running low on healthy snacks that I like to have around when we travel. I find it hard to eat healthy on the road so when we have time to stop I make sure that we load up on nutritious snacks for the road.  We then went to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club to buy some additional supplies and get some film developed.

Returned to the Baymont at 8:45 P.M

We ran errands for a total of 4 hours. It was an unexpected 4 hours, but we are not letting the unexpected trials slow us down on this tour. The trials are often unexpected, but they are just a test of our perseverance, courage, dedication, and determination. We are continually having new plateaus placed in front of us and are trying our hardest to meet them and continue on. I hope that this determination is contagious and that it spreads to the American people through our tour message.

Oh, our day is not over yet by a long shot, now it was time to start writing the blog for the day.

9 P.M. Began scanning in photos and updating journal to send in to, The Visibility Company, our command central for the tour. Finished with all updating at about midnight and went to bed.