Cole's Race

By Teresa Moriarty

The Nature Valley Grand Prix is a prestigious bike race that assists families in need at Children’s Hospital and Clinics. For the past nine years, The Nature Valley Grand Prix has been summoning professional racers from across the globe, while making a positive impact on those who are with Children’s Hospital and Clinics. In the year 2000 there was no wavering from this race’s influence.

Back in the 2000-2001 school year, I had another amazing group of sixth-graders that I had worked with as an elementary teacher. Each student was unique with their own talents, all eager to break away from their lower school years so that they could set new life goals, and use their tangible talents to achieve them. However, one of my students was given a different path, a far greater challenge than five days of hard bike racing in Minnesota. His was the race against time, a goal to have a longer life. This beloved student was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Within two days of his diagnosis, Children’s Hospital in Saint Paul became his second home and classroom where lessons on life, health, and perseverance were administered by those who came to his bedside. But who was the real teacher? Cole was the educator, this eleven-year old sixth-grader. He taught others what it really means to push onward, to stay alive and fight cancer. This was Cole’s toughest race.

And where did his support come from? It came from his wonderful parents and younger brother. It also came from an amazing team of physicians, nurses, and from those who make things possible at Saint Paul’s Children‘s Hospital. The medical team tried so many new treatments for Cole, which we all know takes money, time, and dedicated people to understand about this disease. They never gave up on helping Cole to fight for his possible win.

As 2001 lead the way in our new millennium, that year gave me a new reason as to why I race in the Nature Valley Grand Prix. I race for Cole! You see, Cole will never be able to take his own bike outside again in the backyard where he made a BMX track course to have races against his brother and friends. Cole lost his race against cancer. So now, I race for Cole.

Thank you to all of the individuals who make the Nature Valley Grand Prix what it is: a prestigious bike race that assists families in need at Children’s Hospital and Clinics.