Published October 26, 2011 01:43PM
Several hundred people participated in the San Diego Triathlon Challenge in La Jolla on Sunday, raising almost $1.2 million to benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
About 500 able-bodied athletes ran, swam and biked the course side by side with some 200 disabled athletes, said Roy Perkins, senior director of programs for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the organization that puts on the event.
The challenged athletes came from all over the country and the world — one team was from Brazil — and they had a wide array of disabilities, Perkins said.
Many were amputees, some of whom had lost more than one limb, other were blind, some had cerebral palsy or had suffered spinal cord injuries, Perkins said.
Several veterans wounded in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan competed.
PHOTOS: San Diego Triathlon Challenge
The course consisted of a one-mile swim off La Jolla Cove, followed by a 44-mile bike ride that went to Cardiff before winding its way back to La Jolla and then a 10-mile run. Many did all or part of the course individually, others participated in relay teams.
The event also drew some 6,000 spectators who cheered on the athletes as they made their way to the finish line, Perkins said.
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