Blake Crossley overcomes heart condition to volunteer and race again

CORNER BROOK - Blake Crossley will be racing in familiar territory on July 27.
But before the Fort McMurray resident heads home to compete in Newfoundland Ironman 70.3 there are matters of the heart to attend to - in Africa.

The 33-year-old Corner Brook native is currently in Tanzania, volunteering for three weeks with Cross-Cultural Solutions to help women and children affected by the HIV crisis. As a volunteer, Crossley will work with health providers to set up health clinics, and learn a lot about humanity along the way.

"It's an opportunity of a lifetime," the network administrator at Keyano College agreed during a telephone interview before leaving his home in Alberta. "To make a meaningful difference in someone else's life; the things I will see and experience, and the people I will meet will affect me for the rest of my life."

The longtime volunteer with Oxfam and makepovertyhistory.ca already has an impressive volunteer record. In 2005, Crossley was part of the team that circulated a banner across Canada, collecting thousands of signatures and raising awareness of the need to make poverty history. In Ottawa, Crossley met U2 lead singer Bono who also signed the banner that was presented to former Prime Minister Paul Martin. The Newfoundlander won the YMCA Peace Medallion for his effort.

Crossley enlisted the help of family and friends, held fundraisers and approached local service organizations to raise money for his mission to Africa. He also tapped into his Newfoundland Ironman 70.3 training.

"I was out running one day and had the idea to raise awareness for the organizations and foundations that I belong to," he explained. "I decided that since I'm training, I might as well raise awareness of global issues that are affecting people who need help."

The second annual Newfoundland Ironman 70.3, a half triathlon event, will take place on Sunday, July 27. To date, 175 athletes - from the United Kingdom, the United States, Moscow, Dubai and Canada - have registered for the event that attracts amateur and professional athletes. The race is also a spectator sport with fans lining the route to cheer on their favourites.

Organized by the not-for-profit organization Wreckhouse Entertainment Inc., Newfoundland Ironman 70.3 (www.ironmannewfoundland.com) gets underway 8 a.m. at Pasadena Beach with athletes completing a 1.9-kilometre swim, a 90-km bike and a 21-km run.

People who followed the Corner Brook Triathlon will recognize Crossley as a former competitor. The graduate of the former Regina High School was also an avid basketball player, shooting hoops for the Regina Knights and on the provincial basketball team. But Blake hasn't competed at home since 2003.

During the fall of 2004 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that turned his world upside down.

"The doctors really couldn't pinpoint what I had, except that my heart rhythm was really screwed up and my heart was enlarged," he said. "They mentioned the condition Cardiomypathy, which has killed some athletes. When they told me no competitive sports it really hit hard."

It wasn't until November 2007 - after years of tests, evaluations and medications - that Crossley's heart rhythm stabilized and he was cleared to return to competitive sports.

"It was the best Christmas gift," he recalled. "Next to the birth of my two sons, Nathaniel and Kaleb, and marriage to my wife, Candice, that had to rank right up there. Immediately I started eyeing July 27, 2008."

Newfoundland Ironman 70.3 will be a homecoming and a test of endurance, Crossley admitted.

"This is my first ironman of this calibre and I have to remember that I still have a heart condition. I just want to see what the race brings and finish it.

"To me, the race is a journey," he reflected. "Life hands you obstacles that make you decide between one of two things: To quit or to overcome. This is a race and a personal victory for someone who was given the amazing gift of being able to compete. I'm not the fastest runner, biker, or swimmer, but I will give it 110 per cent."