Biossential Nutrition Sponsored Athlete to Swim the English Channel For Charity

09/14/2009

Biossential Nutrition sponsored athlete Darren Miller, of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, plans to swim across the English Channel on July 18th, 2010, to not only achieve a personal goal, but to raise money for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh while taking on the endeavor.

The Challenge

Miller, who recently finished in 8^th place during the Mohican 50-mile Ultramarathon, having only begun his marathon career less than a year ago and coming into the race with a broken bone in his foot, is setting his goals much higher by accepting the 21+ mile swimming challenge.

The change in training from pavement to water will be no problem for Miller, as he has always been an avid swimmer; swimming for his high school and at the collegiate level, and currently being a swim coach at Franklin Regional High School. When asked what his training regiment will consist of, Miller responded:

"Cold water endurance will be the only thing that matters; physical conditioning is nice, eating properly is important, but its building a tolerance to 50-60 degree water, for hours at a time, that will be the only way I will pass this challenge. I will swim Lake Erie for the endurance training, however, I plan on swimming as late into the fall as possible, and as early as I can in the spring. I have been told a great way is to take cold showers from now on, as anything I can do for cold weather endurance is important. The air temperature in the English Channel varies from 55-69 degree average, however, a record low of 47, and a high of 87 show that the weather is quite unpredictable! They also say you should gain 10-20 pounds of fat to try and insulate your body as much as you can, because you can only wear a Speedo, not a wet-suit, as the Channel Swimming Association is adamant about following strict accordance to the original swim back in 1875. They didn't have special equipment then, and we are not allowed to have it now!"

The swim begins on the English coast and spans across 21+ miles (depending on how much the current pulls you) and ends on the French coast. Besides having to bear the chilly waters (50-64° F depending on the season), no wetsuits allowed, swimmers encounter such obstacles as jelly fish, seaweed, various sea creatures, and waves which swell up to 7ft high.

The Charity

The swim is being held in honor of Anthony Frank Cartieri, and to help raise money for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The Cartieri Family of Fox Chapel is funding the trip and hopes the swim will help raise significant funds for the cardiothoracic unit of Children's Hospital, which is responsible for open heart surgeries of infants and children.

Cathy Cartieri-Mehl, daughter of the late Anthony Frank Carieri, wants to help infants and children who struggle with genetic heart conditions similar to that of her father.

"A lot of babies are born with heart conditions and require surgery at a young age or else they will die. Obviously these surgeries are extremely expensive (My little cousin was born with a hole in his heart and he had surgery when he was 3. It cost over $500,000.) Without insurance, or even good insurance, these families cannot afford to pay for the surgeries. Children's depends on charities and generous people to donate money to help families with babies and young kids in need."

Miller, being a man of charity and a committed member of St. Barbara's church in Harrison City, Pennsylvania, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Pittsburgh Chapter, hopped right on the opportunity to help give to those in need.

"My life doesn't have a finish line. I have been blessed with the ability to always see the positive in everything I do, and I have always used this intense drive to educate others on how charity should be a huge part of your life. Giving back to those who can do us absolutely no good, is what defines us in the end. Success to me is not your bank account, but rather what you are doing to make the world a better place. I love the feeling of pain when I do certain races, because it reminds me that I am still alive, and as long as I am breathing, my goals are to help those less fortunate by using my God-given talents of being able to punish myself much harder than most are willing to even consider. My inspiration to continue to push harder, and harder, lies with my friends who have gone before me. I am humbled everyday by the reminder that no matter how tough my day is, I am still alive, and there is nothing that is going to bring me down. As a Eucharistic Minister at my church, I am humbled each time I see two children at our mass who are physically disabled, and have a hard time making their way to the front when they receive communion. When I see these kids, and the struggles they must have, I can't help but to have a large amount of anger towards those who think they are owed something in life, or who get down on themselves because something didn't go their way. Get up! You have one life to live, you better damn well use it towards good use, because you have been given so much compared to some, and I have zero-tolerance for anyone who complains about life being hard! We are all guilty of this. I have been called crazy, I have been called masochistic, but one thing you will never hear anyone say about me is that I don't work hard. I'm nobody special, but I refuse to say the words "I can't." Those who know me best know the good Lord will take me before I quit anything I say I am going to do."

After swimming the English Channel, Miller plans to begin training for his next challenge - The Badwater Ultramarathon. The Badwater Ultramarathon is a grueling 135 mile non-stop road race from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney California, which has been dubbed, "The World's Toughest Foot Race" due to the hostile 130-degree desert heat.

How Does He Do It?

When asked how Darren has the ability to take on such an endeavor, he responded:

"I thank the crew at Biossential Nutrition, as they have done an excellent job of helping out with all of my nutritional requirements during the grueling training process. Extreme challenges require extreme nutrition, and Biossential Nutrition products have everything I need to keep my training in peak performance! Thank you."

Biossential Nutrition is proud to sponsor Darren Miller and will begin taking donations in the near future in support of the English Channel swim, with all proceeds benefiting the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.