I identify myself first as a Christian (favorite verse Philippians 4:13), second as a husband, and third as a father.  By profession, I am an orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder surgery.  My avocation is endurance sports (marathon running and, more recently, long course triathlon).  I started in endurance sports at age 34 (I am currently 38) after gaining more weight than my wife during her pregnancy with our daughter.  It started simply by running and working out, but as an obsessive, goal-oriented person, quickly grew into marathon running.  After having an overuse injury while marathon training, I started cycling to stay in shape.  By cross training on the bike, I was feeling better and getting injured less.  This naturally evolved into triathlon (I had to learn how to swim).  I really enjoy the challenge of longer races and have done a few 70.3’s.  My first ironman will be Florida this fall.  My immediate endurance sports goals are currently to finish IM Florida in less than 11 hours and to run the Houston marathon next year in under 2:55 to get a qualification spot for the New York City Marathon.  My long-term endurance sport goal is to qualify for the Kona ironman (I’m giving myself 10 years).  Current personal bests include a 2:59:40 marathon at Houston this year and 4:52:59 half IM at Lone Star 2009 in Galveston.

 
About a year ago I started talking to my training partner about something God was putting on my heart:  starting a ministry through triathlon.  I noticed many races are on Sunday mornings and simply wearing a jersey with a Christian symbol or scripture on it may invite inquiry and open a door.  Several guys in my Sunday school class participate in triathlon (I attend West University Baptist Church in Houston) and said they would be interested.  I recently noticed an advertisement for Multisport Ministries in Triathlete magazine and thought you guys have already started what I was thinking about.  I also thought that by joining your ministry, we could really get a jumpstart on this.  We are now in the process of establishing a Houston chapter of Multisport Ministries to help men in our area focus on the real “race that has been set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).