Dear Friends, Have you ever heard of an Ironman race? A 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km bike ride and a 42.2km marathon run. All in just 10 hours!…and have you ever heard of someone training for an Ironman race on a tiny island in the Maldives? 2,5 km long, 0,5 km wide, without roads and traffic! I have committed to myself to make both happen. After my first Ironman race last year, I am going back to training and I am doing this again on the little island Reethi Rah, where I live and work. There are no lap pools to swim; I swim with sharks and turtles in the Indian Ocean. There are no wide and well paved roads to cycle; I cycle on a stationary roll in the gym. There are no measured tracks for running. I run on sandy paths under tropical palm trees. When people think of the Maldives, they imagine paradise. No one would ever dream of endurance racing. Indeed endurance races do not have a history at all in the country. But if we wait for the perfect conditions, we will never start. Even though I am the only triathlete in the entire country, I am sure I can achieve my goal. I know that my road to success is not marked by perfection, but by my ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure. My success is the sum of small efforts I make day in and day out. I would like to dedicate the next six months of training and the upcoming race to the children of Brazil. Having in mind the soccer World Cup in Brazil this coming summer, I feel that we must not forget those, who live in poor conditions far away from stadiums, parties and celebrations. By supporting my cause, some of the poorest and weakest can be provided with a home and the necessary education to start a better future. To know that some of the children will be able to practice their own sports one day inspires me and motivates me to give it my very best during the race. I will keep on training every day to get to the magical moment of crossing the finish line at Challenge Roth on July 20th. I want to put action into my dreams and I want to inspire my colleagues and friends worldwide to do the same. Thank you for visiting my fund raising page https://www.simplygiving.com/johannes and for supporting underprivileged and neglected children in Brazil. For more information, please visit http://www.armemenschen.de/en/home.html?langId=2. For every 1000 Euros raised, I plan to finance the entire studies of one talented child as well as improve the overall learning conditions in local schools.