Woodstock Woman to Race Across USA in Support of Veterans

Monday, 29 March 2021 at 05:34

Farah Foster Manning will cycle from California to Maryland in support of Operation Second Chance.

WOODSTOCK - A Woodstock woman is training to race across the United States of America.

Farah Foster Manning is one of 8 members on Team One Mile in the RAAM race consisting of 3000 miles starting in Ocean, California and cycling all the way to Annapolis, Maryland.

She says they are doing this ride to support veterans suffering from PTSD and the charity organization known as Operation Second Chance.

"This is to help the veterans struggling with PTSD and just living at this point. Every single day, 22 veterans take their life, that is my purpose for racing across America with this amazing, amazing team."

The One Mile Team consists of 8 members who will be doing the race over 7 days. Farah Foster says they will be doing it like a relay which each person doing 22 minutes at a time starting on June 19th.

"Our projection is 22 minutes on the bike between 4 of us for 13 hours every day and we picked 22 minutes for the 22 veterans that take their lives daily, our number is 22 with everything."

Farah Foster Manning is an Elite Triathlete, Canadian actress, Podcaster and author of a #1 international bestseller book. She is one of the only people competing in this race who is not a veteran. Farah Foster explains how she got involved.

"I have been a pro elite triathete for over 5 years now and through social media you connect with a lot of people. Mike Campbell actually reached out to me after seeing what I was doing every day, being a dedicated athlete and he asked me to be on the team and at first, I didn't even know what I was getting to. It's been really inspiring getting to learn about veterans in the United States and I feel like all these stories and all these reasons are just increasing my drive to get the race started."

She is currently in training and is expecting this to be gruelling but very rewarding race.

"I think the toughest part for me is going to be the climate and possibly the time zone change. I have been training on my indoor trainer for months, so actually getting on the road and going up a mountain or getting the heat and sun from Arizona, but I think our team was put together strategically, because we are mentally and physically capable to go through these conditions."

You can find more information about the race and how you can donate to the cause online here.