Kerry White

Remarks on Sept 7, 2006 upon receiving the 2006 DESA Athletic Achievement Award.

Good evening to everyone

First and foremost I would like to express to DESA and LifeScan how honored I feel that they have provided me with this incredible opportunity. I hope that tonight my words of thanks will be merely the beginning of a long lasting relationship with DESA and LifeScan. My wish is to show my thanks to these wonderful organizations through sharing my knowledge from personal athletic experiences that exercise is the key to freedom and independence while living with Diabetes.

As I aspire to uphold the role of an athlete mentor I can attest to the fact that the quality of being a great athlete is not really athleticism. My various experiences as a road cycling team member and individual mountain bike and Nordic athlete in ultra endurance events have brought to me the realization that athleticism without integrity, honesty and the ability to share the euphoria of exercise with others, is nothing. The importance of not just being an athlete but always maintaining a positive outlook for what you are doing and treating those that support you in your endeavours with the ultimate respect and integrity, is paramount. Without those who support, the athlete is nothing.

One of my closest cycling friends lives by the following motto - "Life is a journey not a destination". That journey, as a diabetic, is a challenge. However, living with diabetes gives you a knowledge and understanding of your body that many people never acquire. This inherent ability to feel and understand the good and bad messages provides an enormous advantage when undertaking athletic endeavors. You learn what it feels like when your blood sugar is low and how to respond and you learn the mental toughness it requires to make it through the rough patches - shhh don't let the secret out or everyone will want to be a diabetic!

I embrace the fact that diabetes has taught me to be aware of my body, respond to its needs while maintaining composure and integrity. Oh and have you ever analysed the fact that if you are a diabetic, most likely you have a determination and will power to fight the odds and survive. These are the qualities that many World Class athletes have and what takes them to the top of their game. The desire and drive for perfect control can be paralleled with the desire to be a world class athlete - little did you know you are already half way there…now just pick your sport!

In my application to the DESA Award committee I expressed a goal I have in continuing to pursue athletic achievements - I hope to pursue a rather intimidating goal this coming year … compete as a solo cyclist in the 2007 Race Across America. The Race Across America or RAAM as it is more commonly known, is a road cycling event covering over 3000miles or 4200km from the West to East Coast of America. Initially competing in this event was an individual goal and challenge that I had set for myself. But now my goal has taken on a whole new meaning. I feel that through competing and hopefully completing this race, I can bring more awareness to the public that living with Diabetes is not a burden, but an inspiration and in many ways a benefit.

I would love to be a mentor for those with Diabetes, both young and old, in showing them that you can do anything you set your mind to. The tangible measure of success in this goal will be to see if I can increase your DESA membership by 500 around the globe and donate back to DESA the same financial incentive you have provided me with tonight to pursue my dreams.

Some words that have inspired me toward competing in RAAM are from a gentleman named Eric Butterworth. He said - Why be an average person? All the great achievements of history have been made by strong individuals who refused to consult statistics or to listen to those who could prove convincingly that what they wanted to do, and in fact ultimately did do, was completely impossible."

So I hope to beat the average odds and strive for something that seems more impossible than possible. I know it will not be easy, but nothing is easy right! I am 36 years old and have been a type 1 diabetic since I was 11. I have used pork and beef insulin, during which time I was the perfect Diabetic with an A1c in the 6's. Then genetically engineered human insulin and some dramatic changes in the ability to manage my bloodsugars. I experimented with an Insulin pump for 3 years, then reverted back to injections and a newer long acting insulin with a much more stable baseline, in the US this insulin is called Lantus. Most recently I began using a medication called Symlin which slows the absorption of food from your stomach into the bloodstream thus stabilizing post meal blood sugars. I have gone from rollercoaster Bloodsugars and an A1C of over 11 (5 years ago), due to my extensive exercise and work schedule, to an A1C under 8 this year. It has been a long process with my Dr as I continue to test the limits of what being a Diabetic with ultra endurance, obsessive compulsive tendencies really means.

I have been blessed with a wonderful supportive family, my parents and older sister living in Australia, my younger sister & her husband (who accompanied me here tonight) currently living in Germany and younger brother in Canada. They have all encouraged me to pursue my dreams and athletic desires, crazy as they are and have always been. I was until recently the only family member with Diabetes, my father was diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes late last year. Diabetes was a pretty foreign concept to my family and I, but we adapted. Over the years I have learnt to embrace it as a way of life. Since meeting my incredible husband Stephen I have become an ultra endurance cyclist (both mountain and road) and an avid Nordic skier. I also pursue many other outdoor activities that the mountain environment at 10000feet in Vail Colorado, has to offer. Stephen has inspired me to be the best athlete and the best person I can be and most of all has supported me in everything I do, even my ability to burn spaghetti.

Living with Diabetes is, to put it mildly - a challenge. Pursuing goals within an elite athletic arena as a diabetic is even more intimidating. The challenges have included experiences like being transported 15 miles out of the backcountry due to pump failure, high bloodsugar and the resulting onset of altitude sickness; learning how to stay on your bike in a 24 hour race when your bloodsugar is over 400 and you shouldn't really be out there; learning how to eat right for bloodsugar control and your own performance goals. There will be rough moments, but I take these as building blocks to make the next experience more seamless with less mistakes. The rewards have been bountiful - a passion for life, the euphoria of how good exercise makes you feel and the desire to be best person you can be.

As a diabetic, one of the greatest challenges I think most people face is the desire to be normal. Exercise has provided me with that feeling of normalcy, a spirit for freedom and the determination to show others that Diabetes should not be a burden. Diabetes - combined with exercise, common sense, self awareness and a little sense of adventure -is the ingredient to accomplishing anything you set your heart and mind to. DESA and LifeScan - thank you again for this incredible honor. I hope I can throughout the next year and those beyond continue to break down barriers for those who wish to conquer the challenges of diabetes through exercise, I would happily be an exercise research candidate for any of you who wish to study diabetes in combination with ultra endurance insanity

. Finally I cannot provide more accurate words than DESA in saying "Diabetes can be a motivator, not a barrier, to success".