Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears was a phrase spoken by Sir Winston Churchill to rally the British people during the dark days of World War II. We have adapted his message for our time.

Our biathlon of triumph and remembrance takes place in Washington D.C. on Saturday, November 12, 2005, Veterans Day weekend, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. It will include veterans of past and present conflicts, including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, many of whom are adaptive athletes. Funds raised from this event will go to Disabled Sports USA and Team River Runner, two organizations that provide injured American servicemen and women health and healing through involvement in sport. Both organizations support veterans and their family members who are staying at the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital during the service member's recovery and physical rehabilitation period.

The BST&T will be a one-day race format contested by individuals or teams. The teams will be of two athletes competing in either a segment of running or a segment of kayaking. Each athlete competes in the segment of their choice. The aggregate score of the two athletes is the team's score. Teams entering as adaptive teams must be at least one adaptive athlete. Prizes will be awarded.

The race will start at the entrance to the Washington Canoe Club, 3700 K Street, N.W., with a 4-mile, out-and-back run on the Capital Crescent Trail that transitions into a 1-mile, out-and-back kayak segment on the Potomac River. The kayak segment launch will be from the docks of Washington Canoe Club.

Each athlete or team is invited to support our programs, as well as the costs of the event, through their entry fee, which will be $200 per person/team. Athletes are invited to solicit sponsorships from friends, family, and co-workers on a per-mile basis. Those athletes who are stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and are members of Team River Runner will have their entry fees sponsored by Team River Runner. Prizes will be awarded for individual and team fundraising achievements, as well as for individual and team athletic achievement. We also expect to get event sponsors to help defray costs.

We want to create an event that brings the Washington D.C. community out to cheer on our veterans, to see in person the spirit of honor, integrity, dedication and patriotism that we know our veterans and service members brought or bring to their duties as members of the United States Armed Forces.

We expect a substantial amount of our athletes to be veterans or active duty servicemen and women. We also expect a high turnout of adaptive athletes. We encourage non-adaptive athletes to team with adaptive athletes. We also can offer non-kayak runners or wheelchair racers the opportunity to pair with a kayaker through a matchmaking program. However, due to limitations of having room for the kayaks on the launch docks, we are capping entries at 200.

The challenge and joy of physical competition is a great motivator for adaptive athletes, many of whom are struggling with a range of emotional and physical challenges as a result of their combat duty and injuries. We are seeking substantial corporate sponsorship to support both our prize list and our Team River Runner and Disabled Sports USA programs. We believe that everybody is an athlete, that some are more adaptive than others, and that the strengthening of that adaptive spirit is the way to a lifetime of health and healing.

To that end, we are creating a novel approach to adaptive athletics by creating a prize list that offers modest financial reward. We feel that the adaptive athletes competing in our event will be motivated to train for and compete in challenging physical activities when that process is also a source of modest financial gain. We will devote half of the funds we receive from our sponsors directly to the prize list.

It is important to bear in mind that Department of Defense regulations do not allow the disbursement of cash or gifts in excess of $50 to service members. But they are allowed to compete for prize money as long as the competition is open to the general public. With that in mind, we have divided our race into two primary categories: Military (to include active duty and former service) and Non-Military. Competition within these two categories will be for solely bragging rights. The cash awards will be distributed to the top placers according to their finish time. For a class to be eligible for cash awards, there must be at least 10 entrants. We will be combining Military and Non-Military classes into the one overall list. Male and female athletes will also compete in separate classes, as well there will be a mixed category in the team event.