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Hospital Workers Take On Triathlon Challenge

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Jun 26, 2009 8:28 pm US/Mountain

Hospital Workers Take On Triathlon Challenge

Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith

Reporting
Brooke Wagner
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ― The Danskin Triathlon will be a test of will and stamina this Sunday. More than 1,000 Colorado women are signed up to swim a 1/2 mile, bike 10 miles, and run a 5k all on a course at Aurora Reservoir.

Among the participants will be 28 women who work at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The women came together with a common goal of doing the triathlon and they've been dedicated to training together.

"I didn't think so many would do it. Many of them are first-timers and many are going beyond their comfort zone," said Cindy Kreutz, CEO of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Eight of members of Team Spaulding will do the whole race themselves, while the other 20 women are divided up into relay teams, each taking one leg of the race.

"We're all supporting each other to try and accomplish something that we haven't done before," Kreutz added.

Susan Richardson is doing the swim leg of the race. She's used to swimming about a quarter-of-a-mile in a pool, so the half-mile in the reservoir presents a challenge.

"It's a lot colder than a normal swimming pool. There's current especially if there is any wind," Richardson told CBS4.

Richardson faces another challenge every day -- cerebral palsy. She has limited use of her legs so she relies on are arm strokes to get her through the water.

"It's an opportunity to try something that I've never done before and also to keep improving my condition," Richardson added.

No matter the hardships of the triathlon, Richardson knows that her teammates and workmates will be there to cheer her on every stroke of the way. And at the end of the day, they may have accomplished a goal they never dreamed of before.

"I thought, 'A triathlon? Me? No, I'm not an athlete.' I can swim. But once I started working on it I knew I could do it," Richardson said.

"It's so easy to think you can't do it or to watch and one of the things that we talk about here is that we're at least giving it a go," Kruetz added.

The Danskin Triathlon starts at 7 a.m. on Sunday the Aurora Reservoir.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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