LaGrange Park man conquers Ironman, continues fundraising in 2 marathons

By Jane Michaels
Doings LaGrange
September 19, 2014

http://lagrange.suntimes.com/2014/09/19/lagrange-park-man-conquers-ironman-fundraising-for-children/

LaGrange Park resident Ken Kaczmarz pauses in the kitchen of Brixie's Pub in Brookfield.

Conquering an Ironman Triathlon would leave most challengers exhilarated, but ready for a rest.

But LaGrange Park’s Ken Kaczmarz isn’t putting his feet up just yet. After successfully completing the Ford Ironman Sept. 7 in Madison, Wis., he has his sights set on finishing two more marathons by Nov. 2.

Kaczmarz also is extending his efforts to raise funds for World Vision’s Child Protection programs to combat child trafficking. He set a goal of $10,000 in June and exceeded it before the triathlon. With the generosity of more than 150 donors, he has raised $17,800, including $2,500 from an event Aug. 3 at Brixie’s in Brookfield.

“The Ironman went great,” he said after posting a time of 14 hours and 17 minutes. “My main goal was to finish, so basically anything that was seriously uncomfortable caused me to slow down.”

In addition to running a marathon of 26.2 miles, an Ironman competition includes swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.

Despite nausea and knee problems, Kaczmarz said he was pleased with his times. He completed the swimming portion in 1 hour 11 minutes, the biking leg in 6 hours and 53 minutes and the marathon in 5 hours and 43 minutes.

“I had a sore knee from mile 40 to 60 on the bike, and my stomach was upset from mile 10 to 16 of the run,” he recalled. “When I realized that I was going to have to run 16 miles with an acid stomach and nausea, I prayed. I probably walked at least half of the marathon, but finishing the race was paramount.”

Kaczmarz plans on running marathons Oct. 17 in Toronto and Nov. 2 in New York City. He is continuing to collect funds for World Vision at www.teamworldvision.donordrive.com/participant/ken_kaz.

While training for the Ironman, Kaczmarz said his reasons for supporting World Vision’s Child Protection program were highly personal. The agency’s funds benefit children rescued from child trafficking, child slavery, child soldiers and children in forced labor.

“One of the reasons I became involved was because as a kid, I was molested by a priest,” he said. “I was extremely active in the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests from 2002 to 2006.”

As one of the leaders of the group in Chicago for years, Kaczmarz said he later decided to channel his efforts in another direction.

“I had to get out of it. It was absorbing my life,” he said. “I’ve helped hundreds of survivors, so I saw what sexual abuse does and how it destroys lives.”

The first marathon Kaczmarz ran was the Chicago Marathon in 2011. He trained with members of his church, Christ Church of Oak Brook, and joined their team raising funds for World Vision.