My name is Cricket Butler and my life, along with husband Glenn and sons Marshall (8) and Grayson (7) was changed forever 3 years ago with Grayson's diagnosis of Type1 diabetes.  Grayson's disease requires constant attention, yet with education, practice and support of family and friends, we have all learned to live as fully as we did prior to the diagnosis.

 

In 2009, I entered the Tour Divide Mountain Bike Race to raise awareness and funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF),www.JDRF.org.  Our efforts were successful and we raised $4000 for JDRF and the continued research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.  The Tour Divide Mountain Bike race is a 2775 mile self-supported race starting in Banff, Canada and ending in Antelope Wells, New Mexico on the Mexican/American border.  The 2010 Tour Divide Race once again draws my interest and raising awareness and funds for JDRF is again my primary purpose.  It is difficult enough to imagine racing the Tour Divide Race once, but twice?  I have never claimed to be sane and once again with the support of my family and friends, I hope to show that families affected by diabetes can continue to dream, play, and live life without boundaries!  Do what you think you can not and you are alive!!!!!!

 

 

The Tour Divide Race and living with Type 1 diabetes both can be considered the most challenging obstacles an individual will ever face.  The idea of utilizing the world's longest mountain bike race to raise awareness and funds for JDRF is both epic and exciting.  Both have the power to make us reach deep within, making us stronger than we realize.  For a family with a Type 1 diabetic child, it is hard not to let this 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year disease take over and rule our lives.  The main objective of teamup4type1 is to show that even though diabetes has greatly impacted our lives, we still believe anything is possible.

 

Follow my preparation for the 2010 race and see how my family prepares once again for a month without "mommy".  Once the race begins, you can follow my progress via the Tour Divide Race webpage, www.tourdivide.org, and track my location using GoogleMaps and the Spot GPS Satellite Tracking devise that racers carry.  The race will be easy in comparison to leaving my family and trusting others to care for Grayson's health needs.  The race will be fulfilling one of my dreams and through it, I hope that Grayson will realize that he can accomplish anything he sets his mind to.

 

Please help us and everyone with Type 1 diabetes by donating to JDRF via our webpage at www.firstgiving.com/teamup4type1.  By raising funds and donating all the proceeds to JDRF, everyone who takes part in this event with have helped find a cure for diabetes!  Help find a cure and help us show others that there are no limits when living with Type 1 diabetes!