Road Trippin' With My Dawg

In the name of my friend, Michelle Ana Fabian, who tragically passed away in August of 2021, I am doing triathlons every possible weekend I can until 2030, or bust. She was the most pivotal person to my life, who changed literally everything about who I am, and who I became. It's me and my doggie, Fennario, against the world.

I have been doing triathlons since 2003, and looking back upon my triathlon life, because of serious pain through my entire body from a multitude of illnesses, my racing has inspired hundreds of thousands of people across Canada, and parts of the United States and Europe. The major issues are two different types of arthritis, Reiter's Syndrome and Ankylosing spondylitis, which affect every joint in my body, including my jaw and my skull, as well as the hardening of all my tendons and ligaments. I also have fusion happening throughout my body and thinning of my bones. I have spent many years' worth of time bed-ridden, and that's all just the beginning. There is not one place on my body that does not hurt...inside or out. It all began when I was 19 in 1993. I was told to get used to it because there is no cure, and I was going to be like that for life.

Regardless of the pain in my body, I refuse to give up who I am, and I dove into triathlons almost 20 years ago. In 2002, it was my friend's (Lorraine) dying wish of me to do something with the way I navigate through my pain and my attitude within it all. She had breast, brain and liver cancer, and I had met her at a clinic in Mexico in November 2002. She passed away in January 2003. I began my triathlon life later that year. In 2006, at a triathlon in Kelowna, BC, Canada, I knew this was what I had to do when a man told me that he had AIDS, and I made him realize how lucky his life was just from seeing me race. It was overwhelming, but my path was set in front of me. In 2009, I got run down by an animal that cost me 5 1/2 of the next 6 years of my life. I came out of that and did 81 triathlons/duathlons in horrific conditions.

Now, with Michelle passing on, and being infinitely inspired by everything about who she was, I am taking all of this to the world the best I can. Fennario and I have hit the road to begin this epic journey of triathlons in her name. We are on the road to race every possible weekend, following an endless triathlon season for the rest of the decade. All in or bust!

All donations will go towards...

-Triathlon entry fees

-Fuel

-Any van maintenance

-Food

-Hotels as needed (We live predominantly in our van)

-Travel medical insurance

-Etc.

**As triathlons are on weekends, we also spend time looking to do volunteer work during the week in the communities we spend time in. I feel it's important to give back, and chip in when possible, and one of the easiest ways we do this is through cleaning up beaches, parks, rest areas, and wherever else by picking up garbage. Michelle used to clean up green space, and we are taking after her example...

Thank you so much.

Steve & Fennario

Road Trippin' With My Dawg

(They said you have to pick a dollar amount. I don't really have one in mind, especially since this is a journey going on for the better part of a decade, so I went with Mike Bossy's hockey sweater number as Wayne Gretzky's is reaching quite far...I'm Canadian; what can I say...a hockey player at heart!)