Professional triathlete Kristi Johnson, 31, was unable to compete in Ironman Arizona this past month but will be heading into next year’s season with unwavering fortitude and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Arizona State University.

For Wendy Gesund, the best part about running in the Boston Marathon isn’t even going to be the race.

The start of the multi-sport season in Arizona will be marked by the 15th Annual TriSports.com Desert Classic Duathlon on March 10 at McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

The start of the Multi-Sport season in Arizona opens in three weeks, marked by the 15th Annual TriSports.com Desert Classic Duathlon. This prestigious event will be at the McDowell Mountain Regional Park on March 10.

The start of the Multi-Sport season in Arizona opens in three weeks, marked by the 15th Annual TriSports.com Desert Classic Duathlon. This prestigious event will be at the McDowell Mountain Regional Park on March 10.

Fed up with his physical appearance, Jarrett Wyatt said a company weight-loss challenge in 2009 helped him take the first stride toward getting in shape. And after 33 marathons, he has never looked back.

Fed up with his physical appearance, Jarrett Wyatt said a company weight-loss challenge in 2009 helped him take the first stride toward getting in shape. And after 33 marathons, he has never looked back.

You know what they say about Arizona’s weather: It’s paradise, except for the three months when we languish mercilessly in the triple digits. Options for getting out and about do dwindle in the summertime, but we more than make up for it the rest of the year — when we pick peaches, race ostriches, dance at outdoor concerts, browse arts festivals, run foot races and navigate corn mazes.

You know what they say about Arizona’s weather: It’s paradise, except for the three months when we languish mercilessly in the triple digits. Options for getting out and about do dwindle in the summertime, but we more than make up for it the rest of the year — when we pick peaches, race ostriches, dance at outdoor concerts, browse arts festivals, run foot races and navigate corn mazes.

It's often said that tragedy can bring people together, even in the toughest of times.

It's often said that tragedy can bring people together, even in the toughest of times.

A new company in Ahwatukee Foothills says it's changing the way people pay for chiropractic care to prove it's not only beneficial for overall health, but that it can be affordable.

Life in the East Valley moves according to the seasons: hot and not. Options for getting out and about definitely dwindle in the summertime, but there are still plenty of events — from down-on-the-farm fruit festivals to giant community dog walks — to keep you entertained throughout the year. Call the phone numbers given or check city websites for updates to these events.

Life in the East Valley moves according to the seasons: hot and not. Options for getting out and about definitely dwindle in the summertime, but there are still plenty of events — from down-on-the-farm fruit festivals to giant community dog walks — to keep you entertained throughout the year. Call the phone numbers given or check city websites for updates to these events.

Karen King What is the biggest challenge of staying healthy at your age? "It's balance, because whether you're in college, just starting a new job or starting a family there is a lot to balance. There are also a lot of temptations to eat out or go out." What is your biggest accomplishment? "Just starting triathlon. I started two years ago and now I race up to Olympic distance and Xterra races." What are your goals? "I want to do at least a half Ironman this year. For Xterra, my goal is to qualify for Nationals." What is your motivation to stay healthy and active? "I think once you get to a certain point you almost get addicted to it." Do you have any heroes? "I look up to my mom."

As a 42-year-old mom of three girls, including a toddler, I manage to keep healthy by exercising regularly, eating well and making sure I get plenty of rest. For me, I find that I stick to an exercise regimen if I'm training for some sort of race. I've raced in some 5Ks, a few short triathlons and, most recently, the P.F. Chang's half-marathon. This year I just committed to a half-Ironman triathlon in July. I've found an enormous support network and a great group of friends through my training. It's much easier to roll out of bed at 4:30 a.m. if I know I have a partner or group to meet. It's healthy peer pressure. I'm home by 6:30 a.m., just as the kids are getting up fully charged for the busy morning before the kids head off to school. A few days a week I meet a group of friends to swim for an hour at the Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA and my toddler is able to play in the childcare area for up to two hours. When it was time to shed the baby weight from my child's birth, I did so by exercising and eating healthy. I never talked about dieting with my older girls. I wanted them to see that if you make healthy food choices and exercise regularly that I would easily get back to my pre-baby figure. I did find, though I needed to exercise a little harder and longer to shed the weight at 40 than I did at 30, I did so successfully. Our family makes a point of trying to eat lean protein, vegetables and we also include healthy grains. We're not perfect. We also like cookies, ice cream, In-N-Out Burger and pizza, but we have those in moderation. I know I feel better when I've slept for at least eight hours a night, so I make a point of getting to bed early. I will leave chores for the next day instead of staying up late to get them done. Ironically, I'm in better shape now than I ever have been. I feel happy and full of energy. I attribute the way I feel to the lifestyle choices I make each day. Maggie Penman is a 42-year-old mother of three girls. She believes in balance and setting a good example for her daughters, ages 12, 11, and 20 months.

For me, staying healthy in my 20s is easy. My obsession with Ironman triathlons helps me to do that. I have learned that the body is capable of many things while swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. What amazes me about the body though is how much weight it can put on. Most people know they are overweight but do nothing about it. Since we are so young we can stop the crisis before it starts. Working out is a good time to reflect on your day and your life. Always take time for your health and give it priority. Making time to work out is easy. If you treat working out as something that you have to do every day you will make the time for it. Being so young, the most important thing to remember in your 20s is patience. Seeing improvements from working out takes time but eventually it comes. Too many people in their 20s want everything right away or they give up on it. Just because you are young does not mean you are invincible (although you may think that sometimes). There is a reason that the older generations are heavier: you don't wake up fat one day. Everything slowly happens over the years. At this age too many people are just focused on their careers and not themselves. A good retirement fund is nothing if you don't have a good retirement body. I know that since I have started working out seriously I have made some of the best friends of my life and met some very inspirational people. You only get one body in life, so treat it right. Oh, and the runner's high is real, and it is sweet.

Life is short, and on the morning of April 14 two men learned the hard way that each day could be their last. Just before sunrise, Eric Waterman, 35, Kenneth Jaravata, 36, Ann Durkin, 39, and Luan Huynh, 32, met at the Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA for an 11-mile run. Their plan to return to the YMCA in time to watch the annual 5K fun run quickly took an alternate route when 25-year-old Yoon Keop Kim's 2005 Honda Accord veered off course, just short of the intersection at Pecos Road and 17th Street. While running in the safety lane along Pecos, the car struck Waterman first. After smashing onto the windshield, Waterman's body was sent soaring 8 to 10 feet into the air. Jaravata was struck second, and the two other runners were unharmed. According to police, Kim was over the legal alcohol limit. He was booked on one count of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. "It was literally like the movies," said Waterman, a finance manager at Intel and father of two. "I was lying in bed and I saw the clouds open up and I was in the hospital." Waterman broke his right tibial plateau, top right humerus and tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left leg. He remained in the County Hospital for five days, unable to see his children. "I lucked out and didn't have to have surgery," Waterman said. "I do 12 hours of physical therapy a week at Foothills Sports Medicine. It's almost like I've become a part-time employee there." Jaravata suffered from a heavily bruised right quadricep and lacerations down his entire right leg. After spending nearly three months in physical therapy, he has successfully competed in two triathlons. "We're both just happy to be here today," said Jaravata, a pharmacist and father of three. A long road to recovery At 5:30 a.m. last Saturday morning, a group of 20 runners huddled outside the Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA. Among them, both Waterman and Jaravata stretched together for the first time since April. Three-and-a-half months after the accident, Waterman ran 7 miles, the longest distance he has attempted since his release from the hospital. It was his first time running with a group again. "The day of the accident I was starting to prepare for Ironman Arizona 2008," Waterman said. "It was the day before the 2007 race, and I was going to kick-off a year of training." A two-time Boston Marathon qualifier, Waterman still has big plans this year. He will compete in the Soma Half Ironman Triathlon in October and the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in January. Jaravata took time off from running after the accident with a vacation to California last month. "I started running a few miles here and there, but I'm not as fast as I was before." Jaravata plans on competing in the Timex Triathlon in September and Soma Quarter Ironman in October. Lessons from life "Those who drink and drive do not realize they are impacting more than just themselves," Waterman said at Starbucks Saturday morning after the run. "In this case, nine small children could have been left with one parent." Waterman and Jaravata said they've learned not to take life for granted, to live each day like it's their last. Both said the strong community and family support they received impacted their recovery. "I want people to know that when running and training, it's important to do it in groups," Jaravata said. "If it was just one of us out there that morning and we got hit, we could have just been left dead." After the accident, Durkin, one of the runners that escaped injury, started petitioning the City Council. Jaravata also wrote a letter to the council, explaining what had happened. Their goal - to create a safe place for athletes to exercise - was met when the event "Silent Sundays" was created. Scheduled one Sunday a month, the roads of South Mountain Park are now closed to vehicles. "We have to be able to create a safe environment to exercise," Waterman said. "The Valley is one of the largest exercising communities and there are a lot of accidents." Corinne Frayer can be reached at (480) 898-7917 or cfrayer@aztrib.com.

They don't call it the Ironman for nothing. Hundreds of athletes converged on Tempe Town Lake April 15 to jump start the annual triathlon that included a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and finished with a 26.2-mile marathon run. One of those athletes included Ahwatukee Foothills' Robert Steffen, who turned 66 the day before the race began. Although Steffan admits that he participates in triathlons like the Ironman in an attempt to make it to the World Championships in Hawaii, he braved the grueling battle of the bulge most recently to raise awareness for a specialized pediatric clinic. "You work very hard and it's a lot of pain," Steffan said last Friday before the race. "But it's nothing like what these kids go through." The kids Steffan is referring to are the more than 200 tiny patients that receive care from Phoenix Children's Hospital's Bill Holt Clinic, the only complete pediatric HIV/AIDS program in Arizona. "We have 65 (HIV) positive kids and another 180 that have been exposed," said Laura Clarke-Steffen, a social worker at the clinic. "We're hopefully ruling out infection." Clarke-Steffen's first-hand stories were the reason her husband chose to represent the clinic at the Ironman competition. Steffen admits the chances he'll make it to the world championships in Hawaii are pretty slim; "I have to win in my age group, which is a lot larger this year than it was last." But, by donating funds to the hospital's clinic and raising awareness, his most recent effort to challenge himself has an even bigger cause. "I've been running for 35 years," Steffen said. "About eight or nine years ago I got burnt out on it, and decided to do something different, so I started doing triathlon." Sunday's race was not the first Ironman competition Steffen competed in, having raced in the California triathlon more than a few times. After moving to Phoenix and seeing that there were only four participants in his age group in the 2006 race, he saw an opportunity to have a real shot at winning and making it to the world championships. "I started focusing on the race about a year ago," he said. "After six months I got pretty serious - I spent about 12 to 14 hours a week training for all three events." The popularity of the Ironman race in Tempe proved a hurdle for Steffen, who soon found out that there were 12 contestants he would have to beat out to have a chance at the championship this year. Realizing his chances of winning his age group were now much smaller, he focused the attention he was getting for participating to the clinic. The Janus Charity Challenge is a unique fundraising effort for those who participate in North American Ironman triathlons. Each race participant is given their own Web page, where donations can be made to their charity of choice. As of race day, Steffen had raised over $1,000 for the Bill Holt Clinic. Making it to Hawaii took a backseat for Steffan this year, and instead he focuses on reminding his well-wishers who the real champions are. "People need to know these kids are suffering," he said. "They need to know they're just babies."

I spent last night with a friend who had just received a heavy dose of radiation for a cancerous tumor on the remaining portion of her one good kidney. The waves of pain came over her like a pregnant woman deep in labor; only there was no happy delivery of a baby to come with this pain. I want to share her courageous and inspiring lifetime journey of faith with you. Kathy has never once blamed God for any of her health issues. She has known and believed from a young age that God is good no matter what and that it is the enemy who comes to destroy life. In the words of Jesus from John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Kathy grew up in a town that had a power plant and along with it the highest incidence of cancer in children under age 12 in the US. Everyone in Zion knew someone who had cancer so she was not afraid when diagnosed with leukemia at age 8. At age 9 she received a bone marrow transplant. Even at that young age, Kathy knew God had a purpose for her life. Her favorite song as a child was Jesus Loves Me and she never doubted that love. God has an amazing way of easing painful memories with time. Life resumed and appeared to be fine until age 16 when vibrant, healthy, athletic Kathy got into a car accident. Because of the impact of the steering wheel, she was given a chest X-ray. Incredibly, it indicated lung cancer. She endured chemo and surgery once again and proved that if you focus on God and pray, you can get through anything. Ten years later Kathy completed an Ironman triathlon and had finally acquired enough points to achieve her dream of becoming a professional triathlete. But plans and priorities can change. Within two weeks, a large tumor was discovered on her brain. She was given less than a 3 percent chance to live for another six months. After a difficult year, Kathy ended up with Hospice care to ease her final hours of life on earth. She had withered down to a scrawny 80 pounds. She believed that whether she was restored to health or taken to live with the Lord, either way it would be a win-win situation. Miraculously, after five days in a medically-induced coma, she woke up, sat up, and announced to her mother that she would be fine! It was a long road to recovery with therapy, learning how to walk, talk, write with her other hand, and even count money. A doctor she had met a year earlier through amazing divine circumstances was instrumental in her medication and recovery plan, proving that science and spirituality can coexist. To this day, she cannot remember his name. She knows that is so God gets the glory and not the doctor. Kathy spent a couple of years in good health until last October when this current tumor was discovered on her kidney. Through every instance, Kathy's faith has only increased. In fact, a psychologist was once called in to evaluate Kathy because doctors thought she was in denial about her circumstances. What doctors call an "opportunity," Kathy sees as God's plan. If she is ever not convinced that the Lord is behind something suggested by her doctors, she won't do it. She knows God is bigger than anything, even the pain, and that is a comfort. When I asked Kathy what she would say to someone who would question why she has experienced so much suffering if our God is indeed a loving God, she chuckled and said this is not suffering compared to what Jesus went through. She said it's through life that God is so real and that's where love comes from. If you don't experience anything then you don't experience God. Then I asked what she would tell someone who wondered if she was upset that God has not healed her. Her response? "But He has so many times!" Doctors are baffled and amazed that Kathy is still alive, yet she takes it all in stride as part of a life of faith. Her favorite Bible verse is Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Kathy has always believed that she is here on earth for God and God alone. He is continually glorified through her life and response to her circumstances. Ahwatukee Foothills resident Lisa Jisa is a member of the Foothills Baptist Church, where she is active in the choir and mission work.

I spent last night with a friend who had just received a heavy dose of radiation for a cancerous tumor on the remaining portion of her one good kidney. The waves of pain came over her like a pregnant woman deep in labor; only there was no happy delivery of a baby to come with this pain. I want to share her courageous and inspiring lifetime journey of faith with you. Kathy has never once blamed God for any of her health issues. She has known and believed from a young age that God is good no matter what and that it is the enemy who comes to destroy life. In the words of Jesus from John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Kathy grew up in a town that had a power plant and along with it the highest incidence of cancer in children under age 12 in the US. Everyone in Zion knew someone who had cancer so she was not afraid when diagnosed with leukemia at age 8. At age 9 she received a bone marrow transplant. Even at that young age, Kathy knew God had a purpose for her life. Her favorite song as a child was Jesus Loves Me and she never doubted that love. God has an amazing way of easing painful memories with time. Life resumed and appeared to be fine until age 16 when vibrant, healthy, athletic Kathy got into a car accident. Because of the impact of the steering wheel, she was given a chest X-ray. Incredibly, it indicated lung cancer. She endured chemo and surgery once again and proved that if you focus on God and pray, you can get through anything. Ten years later Kathy completed an Ironman triathlon and had finally acquired enough points to achieve her dream of becoming a professional triathlete. But plans and priorities can change. Within two weeks, a large tumor was discovered on her brain. She was given less than a 3 percent chance to live for another six months. After a difficult year, Kathy ended up with Hospice care to ease her final hours of life on earth. She had withered down to a scrawny 80 pounds. She believed that whether she was restored to health or taken to live with the Lord, either way it would be a win-win situation. Miraculously, after five days in a medically-induced coma, she woke up, sat up, and announced to her mother that she would be fine! It was a long road to recovery with therapy, learning how to walk, talk, write with her other hand, and even count money. A doctor she had met a year earlier through amazing divine circumstances was instrumental in her medication and recovery plan, proving that science and spirituality can coexist. To this day, she cannot remember his name. She knows that is so God gets the glory and not the doctor. Kathy spent a couple of years in good health until last October when this current tumor was discovered on her kidney. Through every instance, Kathy's faith has only increased. In fact, a psychologist was once called in to evaluate Kathy because doctors thought she was in denial about her circumstances. What doctors call an "opportunity," Kathy sees as God's plan. If she is ever not convinced that the Lord is behind something suggested by her doctors, she won't do it. She knows God is bigger than anything, even the pain, and that is a comfort. When I asked Kathy what she would say to someone who would question why she has experienced so much suffering if our God is indeed a loving God, she chuckled and said this is not suffering compared to what Jesus went through. She said it's through life that God is so real and that's where love comes from. If you don't experience anything then you don't experience God. Then I asked what she would tell someone who wondered if she was upset that God has not healed her. Her response? "But He has so many times!" Doctors are baffled and amazed that Kathy is still alive, yet she takes it all in stride as part of a life of faith. Her favorite Bible verse is Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Kathy has always believed that she is here on earth for God and God alone. He is continually glorified through her life and response to her circumstances. Ahwatukee Foothills resident Lisa Jisa is a member of the Foothills Baptist Church, where she is active in the choir and mission work.