Here are just a few athletic accomplishments from today's guest Deanna McCurdy:

Six national championships, Four Pan-Am championships, 5th overall at ITU Cross Worlds, she’s finished as the top American female and 4th overall twice at the XTERRA World Championships. USA Triathlon awarded her Off-road Triathlete of the Year honors in 2017, 2018, and 2021.  In 2019, she competed as a Pro (at age 45), placing 2nd at XTERRA Quebec and winning XTERRA Fruita.

WHEW...Even if you don’t know what any of those races are, you certainly recognize a powerhouse when you see and hear those results.

BUT, what makes Deanna’s success story so incredible is that she didn’t start doing triathlons until 2009 after she had her second daughter. Yes, Deanna is also currently raising two teenage daughters (which is an “I Could Never Do That” unto itself) — one of which was diagnosed with Angelman’s Syndrome at just 16 months.

Life can change in an instant.

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurogenetic disorder that affects approximately one in 15,000 people – about 500,000 individuals worldwide. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: delayed developmental milestones; gross and fine motor impairment; difficulty with feeding and swallowing; issues; loss of functional speech and epilepsy.

As you’ll hear today, her daughter Hayden is one of the main reasons she races and trains —all in an effort to raise awareness and funds for a cure for this rare disorder.

In fact, her most recent endeavor was truly epic — It was the Breck Epic, a six-day mountain bike race in the Breckenridge mountains. She and her partner crushed the race, but her fundraising goals continue and today, we talk about her athletic journey, and also the joy, difficulty, reality, and gift of raising a child with Angelman's Syndrome.

She speaks beautifully and candidly about this privilege of giving her baby angel the wings to fly.

Episode Resources:

Deanna's "Epic Climb for an Epic Cure" Fundraising Page - https://cureangelman.org/deanna-mccurdys-epic-climb-for-an-epic-cure

To learn more about FAST Athletes, their mission and inspiring stories, check out our FAST Athletes page - https://cureangelman.org/fast-athletes

Deanna's Team USA Blog

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Theme Music: Your Love by Atch -License: Creative Commons License - Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)