Gals for Cal

Our Story
We started as a few friends of the Quitzau family wanting to do "something" to help their young son, Calvin, who at age 5 was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, DMD, and have blossomed into a whole "team" of women called The Gals For Cal, helping 20,000 boys diagnosed with Duchenne!  

In 2009, our inaugural year, we brought together 20 women along with Calvin's mother, Cindy, to do our first triathlon as a team with the purpose of raising awareness and funds for Duchenne research. Most of the Gals had never done any sports related races previously. In fact, most of us were not even athletes and had to learn to swim, bike and run to participate! In 2010, we grew our team to 50 Gals and added 2 more mothers of young sons with DMD. 

In July,  2011 we gathered together again to compete in our 3rd triathlon together. On race day this year our Gals team included 85 amazing women helping in our fight against Duchenne! Proudly, we were joined by several additional mothers of sons with Duchenne. In addition, we had a small team in PA compete in the Philly SheROX triathlon in August.

It just keeps getting better!
2012 is shaping up to be our most exciting year yet as we take on greater personal physical challenges and continue to grow the largest triathlon team TRI-ing to END DUCHENNE!
 
Please consider joining us as we continue to challenge ourselves while challenging Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy together!

Our Inspiration
Meet Calvin.  Calvin is now 10 years old. He is an adorable boy who is witty, talkative, and friendly.  He is the first born of triplet siblings--being one minute older than his brother and sister is a position he takes seriously! Calvin inspires us because he never complains about his growing struggles and doesn't want special attention (like a piggy back up the stairs because of his progressing weakness). Each day, a part of Calvin's muscles is dying and by the time he is 12, like most boys with Duchenne, he is expected to loose the ability to walk independantly. As the disease progresses, brushing his own teeth, feeding himself, even picking up a book to read will become impossible for him to do alone. The typical course of Duchenne also affects respiratory function and since the heart is a muscle too, eventually it will fail. Most boys with Duchenne do not live past their teens or twenties. Cal's daily struggles are growing, yet he is always upbeat and finds humor in just about everything. After a day of sledding and snowmobiling, Calvin exclaimed, "Yeah, I'm livin' large!"  Calvin, YOU inspire us to "live large" everyday and help make a difference in the lives of the 20,000 boys living with Duchenne!