Team Communication #3

Welcome to our inaugural blog post as a form of communication with the entire team. Scott Whyte, Greg Dawson, and I will be providing an ongoing stream of content, so it will be your responsibility to check back often for updates. I will, however, send an email advisement when a formal Team Communication is posted. 

As I create this blog post, we are a mere 150 days from our first Torch Run in Berlin and 147 days from Torch Runners arriving in one of the world’s most historic cities. Although our time together is short, collectively we will laser focus our efforts on spreading awareness for our amazing athletes, the magnificent stage of a World Games, and of course our LETR movement which has raised nearly $1 billion! 

Our days will be long, our sleep short, but our impact will be tremendous. I hope you are as excited as I am to embark on this incredible journey. 

By now most of you (if not all) have been contacted by your Team Leaders, who will begin scheduling meetings with you to get acquainted, provide information, and help answer the million questions I’m sure each of you have. I know each of the Team Leaders quite well and think we have one of the strongest group of leaders we have ever had. 

TEAMS 

We would like to welcome Nicola Tromba from Italy, who replaces Donnatella Frantini, who unfortunately needed to withdraw. 

Also, Dawn Ballas from Colorado needed to step away due to an unexpected death in the family. We are awaiting a replacement runner from Colorado and will introduce them to the group in the next communication.

 

TEAM ONE
Ben Sanchez	New Mexico
Andrew Hynes	Newfoundland
Brian Arnold	Arkansas
Ray Dirksen	Iowa
Matthew Fraize	Alaska
Andrew Manning	Delaware
Tiffany Monroe	Oregon
Jason Nilan	New South Wales
Panayiotis Polyviou	Cyprus
Maja Seidel	Berlin
Scott Waite	Arizona
Kelly Walsh	Connecticut

 

TEAM TWO
Diane Vanderkooy	Illinois
Stacy Hull	Maryland
Nicola Tromba	Italy
Meg Hammond	New Jersey
Doug Maifeld	Maine
Claudia Morgan	North Carolina
Dean Ray	Tennessee
Tyler Seymour	Georgia
Matt Volk	Victoria
Jeremiah Waters	Kansas
Lynette Wells	Newfoundland
Brandenburg 3	Brandenburg

  

TEAM THREE
Robin McNeil	Nova Scotia
Min Chen	Chinese Taipei
	Colorado
Lisa Bruschetta	British Columbia
Kevin Considine	Massachusetts
Vicky Gordon	Berlin
David Keigan	Florida
Alex Lee	Chinese Taipei
Darryl McDonald	Nevada
Dadi Thorkelsson	Iceland
Sean Wheeler	Michigan
Brandenburg 4	Brandenburg

 

TEAM FOUR
Ian Parkinson	Southern California
Courtney Davis	Kansas
Ross Christie	Scotland
Nathan Gifford	Idaho
Brittany Mahnesmith	New Mexico
Alina Niemeyer	Berlin
Amber Owens	Maryland
Scott Price	South Dakota
Nate Samples	Ohio
Matt Shaw	South Carolina
Orlando Viñas	Gibraltar
Stacey Ward	Queensland

 

TEAM FIVE
Ivan Shields	Northern Ireland
Dustin Edmondson	North Carolina
Barrett Brewer	Kentucky
Amanda Geno	Missouri
Vanessa Jackson	Alabama
Jong Hwa Kim	Korea
Matthias Kowak	Berlin
Petr Matlach	Czech Republic
Paul Montray	New Hampshire
Kim Robinson	Nova Scotia
Joel Wener	Wisconsin
Brandenburg 5	Brandenburg

 

TEAM SIX
Pete Sawyer	Delaware
Brett Laza	Southern California
Jay Bouwkamp	Ontario
Amber Dunn	Illinois
Daniel Ghavani	Berlin
Patrick Gilbert	Washington
Braylon Hyggen	Alberta
Michael Klose	South Australia
Ian Saville	Republic of Ireland
Fran Singleton	Oklahoma
Marcus Taylor	Nebraska
Kim Unland	Southern California

  

TEAM SEVEN
Mike Tolson	South Australia
Lewis Fancher	Wyoming
Nikolas Angelakis	Greece
Kui Dela Cruz	Hawaii
Juris Dzērve	Latvia
Keith Groeneweg	Wyoming
Arthur Huijzer - Trommels	Netherlands
Frank Matarese	Rhode Island
Matt O'Hara	Minnesota
Diana Sanchez-Edwards	Louisiana
Jodi Williams	Northern California
Brandenburg 1	Brandenburg

 

 

TEAM EIGHT
Gwen Johns	Oregon
Viljar Koppel	Estonia
Ryan Lo	Hong Kong
Nicki Martin	Northern Ireland
Chris Newman	Western Australia
Margus Pala	Estonia
Laura Paschal	Virginia
Marc Schau	Pennsylvania
Michelle Walter	Texas
Jeffrey Wilson	New York
Brandenburg 2	Brandenburg

  

LOGISTICS
TEAM CAPTAIN			TORCH HANDLERS
Mark McCorkle	Idaho		Joe Carlone	Connecticut
ROUTE LEADER			John Clifton	Georgia
Greg Dawson	Arkansas		ADVANCE TEAMS
LOGISTICS MANAGER			Lisa Carlone	Connecticut
Scott Whyte	New South Wales		Kami Delamater	SOI
DOCUMENTATION			Danny Hall	Delaware
Shawn Byrne	Oklahoma		Gerri McCorkle	Idaho
Harry Drucker	Southern California		Bill Proll	Southern California
David Smith	Northern Ireland		Jason Schubert	New Jersey

 TORCH RUNNER SPEECHES 

We will be asking two Torch Runners from each of the eight teams to speak at ceremonies. When you meet, please advise your Team Leader as soon as possible if you are interested in speaking. The parameters of the speech are simple: you have a maximum of two minutes to share with the world how you became involved in the LETR, and why it’s important to you. We will provide you with a deadline for your speech. What we hope to do is be able to provide you with your specific speaking location, however that is always subject to change. Once you submit your speech, it will be translated into German for presentation at the ceremony. 

FUNDRAISING EVENT 

We had hoped to announce our Signature Fundraising event in this communication, but the holidays have caused a slight delay. As soon as it is confirmed, we will share the news with all of you and begin setting up our fundraising platform. 

FLIGHTS 

We also hope to have everything finalized by our next communication so that we can begin booking flights. Again, as soon as that piece solidifies, we will let you know. 

RUNNING       

We hope that you are piling up the miles in physically preparing yourselves for our daily runs. Although the individual distances are not lengthy, the compounded runs can catch up to you. As has been stated before, you should be capable of sustaining a 10-minute mile for three miles. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Team Leaders with questions or concerns.

Running Shirt Fitting Guide

 

FINAL LEG RUNNING SHIRT SIZING GUIDE

Torch Runners and Athletes on the LETR Final Leg team will be provided with four short-sleeve running shirts in a variety of colours.

The shirts are Augusta Nexgen Wicking Tees and will have the Final Leg and Games logos on the front and sleeve.  The image below is merely a representation of the shirt - it is not necessarily one of the colours nor the positioning of logos etc.

More importantly though are the Sizing Charts - please check the charts shown below and if you've gone too big or too small, send me an email detailing the size change you need to make - but make it quick - we'll be ordering the uniform items by the end of January.

Team Communication 2

 

2023 LETR Final Leg – Berlin, Germany 

Team Communication #2 

December 19, 2022 

Hello Torch Runners, 

I hope this message finds all of you healthy and happy. 

NEW TEAM MEMBERS 

We have some new additions to our happy Final Leg family: 

Donatella Fantini - Italy 

Jayson Bouwkamp - Ontario, Canada 

Sean Wheeler - Michigan, USA

I am really excited to introduce you to our first five Torch Runners selected from the Berlin Police Department. A hearty LETR welcome to the following host country runners: 

Maja Seidel 

Victoria-Marie Gordon 

Alina Niemeyer 

Matthias Nowak 

Daniel Ghavami 

Germany does not have an established LETR program, so for our German Torch Runners, this is a healthy introduction to who we are and what we do. I hope that the week we spend with our German colleagues will encourage them to lift up a program in their country, much like we have seen in Austria after our Final Leg visit there in 2017. 

We anticipate having our other five runners from Brandenburg, Germany sometime in January. 

MANAGEMENT & LOGISTICS TEAMS 

I would like to introduce you to all the folks responsible for taking care of you while we’re in Germany: 

Team Leaders: 

Ivan Shields – Northern Ireland 

Michael Tolson – Australia 

Ian Parkinson – Southern California 

Robin McNeil – Nova Scotia 

Ben Sanchez – New Mexico 

Diane Vanderkooy – Illinois 

Gwen Johns – Oregon 

Pete Sawyer - Delaware 

Logistics 

Management Team 

Mark McCorkle, Team Captain – Idaho/Southern California 

Greg Dawson, Route Leader – Arkansas 

Scott Whyte, Logistics Manager – Australia 

Advance Teams 

Kami Delameter – SOI 

Lisa Carlone – Connecticut 

Bill Proll – Southern California 

Jason Schubert – New Jersey 

Gerri McCorkle – Idaho/Southern California 

Danny Hall – Delaware 

Torch Operators 

Joe Carlone – Connecticut 

John Clifton – Georgia 

Documentation Team 

Harry Drucker – Southern California 

Shawn Byrne – Oklahoma 

David Smith – Northern Ireland 

FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS 

We will be transitioning our mode of communication in the near future. We will migrate from an email-based system to a blog, where you can access information at any time. All previous communications will be archived, and we believe it will make the sharing of information not only easier, but more interactive since you will be able to leave comments and/or ask questions. We’ll provide further information prior to us hitting the “GO” button on the blog. 

The dates I provided in the last communication are still holding firm, however, we are not yet ready to approve the scheduling of airline flights. You will have plenty of notice when we’re ready to move forward. 

PHYSICAL FITNESS 

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of being in good running shape for the Final Leg – it is a run. While we don’t necessarily run at a blistering pace, we want you to enjoy every moment of the experience. If you’re sucking wind, you’re not having fun. Additionally, a number of our runs will be through parks, so vehicle support (also known as the “Sag Wagon”) may not be what it is on public roads. We also have precedence in previous Final Legs for having to “pick up the pace” in order to maintain our schedule. Bottom line, you have time to prepare yourselves, so please make sure you’re physically ready to go when we land in Berlin. 

Lastly, we hope to finalize our fundraising event by the next communication. If we are successful in locking-in our preferred event, I promise you it will be very unique, and an excellent vehicle to promote to all your friends, family, and Special Olympics constituents. 

Our next communication will be the second week of the new year. In that message we will announce the teams and hopefully our fundraising event. 

I hope all of you have a very joyous Holiday Season, and as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely, 

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY FOR THE 2023 SO WORLD SUMMER GAMES

The Berlin 2023 Games Local Organizing Committee, in conjunction with Special Olympics International have been working hard to develop policies that ensure the safety and protection of all people participating in the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

The policies apply to athletes, coaches, support staff, Special Olympics staff and other credentialed stakeholders, including members of the LETR Final Leg team.

Copies of the Games Local Organizing Committee Policy (dated 1 December 2022) and the accompanying Special Olympics International Memo are attached for information.

In summary, the LOC has determined that:

All delegation members are strongly recommended to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and up to date with COVID-19 vaccine boosters to attend the Games.

This decision was reached following consultation with medical experts and a thorough review of local and international guidance, along with a confirmation of a high level of COVID-19 vaccination by many Delegation members in a recent Special Olympics survey.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will NOT BE REQUIRED.

The pandemic will continue to challenge planning for the World Games, and the potential impacts of COVID-19 will remain a core priority. As new information on the COVID-19 virus emerges additional measures may be warranted. These COVID-19 prevention measures will be reviewed, implemented, and communicated in early May 2023 based on the pandemic’s development and evolving national regulations in Germany.

Click here to view the Games LOC Policy document

Click here to view the Special Olympics International Memo