On Saturday, February 4th, Patrick Doak shared his story and accomplishments with the Round 6
Peace Through Sport participants. Patrick is married with three children and has been a wheelchair athlete for a little more than 25 years. During his career, Patrick has completed more than 100 5K and 10K races, run 50 marathons including the New York City marathon and 4 Marine Corp marathons. He has completed 8 half ironman distance triathlons with 3 US hand cycle championship wins. Patrick took part in 4 ironman distance triathlon World Championships earning 2 second place and 2 third place finishes and was part of the first hand cycle team to finish the 3,200 mile/5,150 km Race Across America bike race before the cutoff.
Patrick talked about what he put into sports and what he was able to get out of sports. The talk was inspirational and focused on four key values.
Commitment (No matter what, keep moving forward) & Perseverance (Do not quit)
Structure & Planning (Plan and create a routine)
Priorities (What's most important)
Hard Work (Things will not be handed to you. You have to work for it.)
From sports, Patrick built his confidence and learned that failure means to try things another way. If you fail again, try differently. He learned to put all of the lessons he learned along the way into a toolbox that would help him succeed. Patrick shared the importance of dictating his own outcome instead of letting others dictate who he was and what he was capable of accomplishing. "Hope is the greatest strength one can have." "We always land where we are supposed to land."
The participants in the program had many questions and were very engaged. Thank you to Patrick Doak for making an impression on the PTS program.
The Peace Through Sport Program is generously funded by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
