Casey Gough: 100-Percent of My Motivation Comes From The Charitable Mission
April 18, 2019
The D10 Athlete Profile explores what brings competitors to The D10 playing field...and what they bring away from it. Casey Gough
Executive Director, Morgan Stanley
The D10 NYC
Fundraising goal: Individual (10K)
2019 Marquee event: Bench Press
What is your primary motivator for competing in The D10 events?
There is no better combination of charitable giving, athletics, and community on the planet than The D10. This organization is not a one day competition, instead a year-long effort of elite athletes, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs combining forces for the common goal of maximizing fundraising for Pediatric Cancer Research.
How much of your motivation for participating in The D10 stems from its charitable mission?
One-hundred percent of my motivation comes from the charitable mission. To be blunt, unless there was this higher cause of the fundraising attached to the competition there is no way I would be getting out of bed at 3:30am for training and giving up time with my wife and kids on the weekends. However, knowing that my efforts are contributing real dollars directly to such a noble cause has re-ignited my competitive juices.
How did you first get involved in The D10? Bloomberg ran a headline after the 2016 D10 with the clickbait ‘Wall Street Crowns Best Athlete’ It was by far the most read article for almost a week; I was no exception. I signed up the day registration opened for The D10 NYC 2017 and have been involved ever since.
Casey joined the vaunted ranks of the 10K Club in 2018, raising in excess of $10,000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
How has The D10 been different from your collegiate or high school sports experiences in terms of training and motivation?
While The D10 has done an amazing job partnering with gyms in the city that focus on D10 prep, for me, The D10 is an individual competition. Because of my work schedule and attempt to maximize family time, I train alone five or six days a week at the gym in my office or my local high school track.
Playing college football, we were always working out together and would feed off each other for maximizing output. My D10 preparation is more of a mental battle because I don’t have teammates or coaches in my ear encouraging that extra push. Instead I remind myself of the higher cause and my donors to fuel me through the training. This might come off as hokey, but being alone on the track on a Saturday morning repping out 400M sprints requires a new level of mental discipline and self-accountability.
In what ways has your participation in The D10 affected or enhanced your performance at work?
For one, The D10 has enabled me to greatly expand my internal network on a much more organic basis as I have developed more personal relationships with donors. A few of the donors have become mentors of mine and taken a more concentrated interest in my career success.
Have you made new lasting friendships, or strengthened your professional network, as a result of your D10 experience?
Yes, to both. Similar to how former athletes talk about the bonds formed with their teammates, The D10 Community offers a similar type of connectivity. Whether you are participating as an individual or with a team, the competitors are extremely supportive and encouraging throughout the entire process. We help each other fundraise, share stories on social media, and push each other on gameday. This has help create new friendships and because the competitors are professionals across a variety of industries, the professional network also gets a big boost.
Casey has once more set his sights on raising $10,000 for pediatric cancer research in The D10 NYC 2019. Support his fundraising efforts and keep him training like a beast.
