Turning Personal Challenges into Powerful Impact: Celebrating Our 2025 LRG Athletes
This year, five remarkable athletes took on personal physical challenges and transformed them into something even greater. They turned movement into momentum, endurance into advocacy, and individual goals into meaningful support for the rare disease community. Evelyn, Heather, Rachel, Natalie, and Toni proudly ran, climbed, lifted, swam, and pushed their limits as LRG Athletes, raising a significant amount of funds for The Life Raft Group and the patients we serve.
Click the image to see more of Natalie’s journey!
Each athlete brought their own passion, discipline, and story to the LRG Athletes program. Evelyn took to the water, swimming with strength and purpose. Heather channeled her power through weightlifting, proving that resilience is built one rep at a time. Rachel combined running and climbing, tackling both miles and elevation. Natalie embraced extreme hiking, navigating demanding terrain with determination. Toni logged countless training hours on the road as a marathon runner, pushing through fatigue toward a finish line that meant far more than a medal.
What made their efforts so meaningful was not just the physical feat, but the intention behind it. These athletes chose to dedicate their training and competitions to something bigger than themselves. Every mile, lap, lift, and climb became a way to raise awareness, funds, and hope for patients and caregivers navigating GIST and other rare cancers.
Click on the image to see more of Heather’s journey!
Athletic challenges are deeply personal. Training is often solitary, uncomfortable, and mentally demanding. That is exactly what makes it such a powerful platform for fundraising. When athletes share why they are pushing themselves, people listen. When they invite others to support a cause alongside them, communities respond. The LRG Athletes demonstrated how personal commitment can inspire collective action.
Fundraising through athletics does not require elite status or record-breaking performance. It starts with choosing a challenge that matters to you. A first 5K. A long hike. A swim across a local lake. A strength goal. What matters is the story you tell and the purpose you attach to it. When your challenge is rooted in meaning, it becomes something others want to be part of.
Click on the image to see more of Evelyn’s journey!
The success of this year’s LRG Athletes shows how accessible and impactful this approach can be. Friends, family, coworkers, and training partners rallied behind these athletes not just because of what they were doing physically, but because of who they were doing it for. Their efforts directly support education, patient programs, research initiatives, and the connections that help people facing rare cancer feel less alone.
If you are already training for an event or thinking about setting a new fitness goal, consider taking the next step and turning it into a fundraiser. Your movement can move others. Your challenge can change lives. You do not need to do it alone. The Life Raft Group provides support, tools, and guidance to help you succeed every step of the way.
Evelyn, Heather, Rachel, Natalie, and Toni remind us that strength takes many forms. Sometimes it looks like crossing a finish line. Sometimes it looks like showing up day after day. And sometimes it looks like using your passion to lift up an entire community. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and proud to celebrate everything they accomplished as LRG Athletes this year.
Ready to turn your next challenge into impact? Click on the image to see the journey of these dedicated advocates.
Join the LRG Athletes in 2026 and let your journey fuel hope for others – find more info here.
Click on the image to see more of Toni’s journey!
Click on the image to see more of Rachel’s journey!
