My name is Susan Schulze. I have two boys, Christopher 21, and Kevin 20, who are very precious to me. 

I am an accountant and I have been working as a Compliance Officer for Investment Planning Counsel for the past 10 years.  I love my boys and I love my career. 

So why does a person who sits at a desk all day decide to take on a challenge such as the Ironman? 

For me it started on New Year’s Eve 2001.  I was sitting at home all by myself and as I was feeling sorry for myself I thought – why would I be sitting here feeling sorry for myself?  I am healthy, my boys are healthy, and I realized how lucky I was. 

That is when I made a New Year’s Resolution. In some way, I was going to give back to society.  I didn’t know just what I was going to do, however I knew an opportunity would present itself and I would be available. 

Well, two years later, January 2003, our company put out a challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and raise money for ‘Make A Wish’, which is a foundation that benefits children with life threatening illnesses. 

What an opportunity!  Not only was I going to jump off the wheel and challenge myself after  having done nothing active in years, but work towards giving back by raising money for a child with a life threatening illness.

In 2004 I continued to look for challenges that would bring a greater awareness and hopefully make a difference in people’s lives.  I climbed Mount Aconcagua for the South Okanagan Community Foundation raising funds that would benefit children of the Okanagan. 

In 2005 I took on the weekend walk for St. Margaret’s Hospital for Cancer Research. 

It was in 2008 that I decided on another challenge again, a company initiative, to take part in a 100km bicycle ride ‘The Healing Cycle’ for palliative care.  I had not ridden a bike since I was about 13 years old.  I had recently lost a great friend to colon cancer and for her and her family, palliative care was invaluable.

So, why did I take on the Ironman challenge to help raise money for MS? 

To Be Continued……