Joe Cirincione: Everyone We Care About Is Behind Us
May 18, 2018
A version of this post originally ran in March 2017. In 2016 my brother, Steve, found out about The D10 and asked if I would be interested in competing. Steve and I grew up together and played countless neighborhood sports in addition to organized roller hockey, ice hockey, and high school tennis. Our athletics carried through college as well. Since then, we remained active in our professional lifestyles. We decided that The D10 would be the ultimate physical challenge. Additionally, when seeing the impact that The D10 has made thus far, raising millions of dollars for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, it put everything into perspective. Needless to say, we registered with great enthusiasm.
After 6 months of training and fundraising, the big day finally came. We raised more than $6,700 between the two of us and successfully completed The D10 after a grueling day. We set a number of personal bests. It was an incredible journey leading up to an amazing day on the field. The experience was all the more special as I competed next to my brother throughout the entire competition. Fast forward to 2017. We decided to compete on Saturday in the Team event, and we bolstered the Cirincione firepower even more. Steve and I recruited our father, Guy, and our good friend, Matt. "Team Undrafted" was born. When it comes to working out, my father taught my brother and me everything we know. So while he may have been the “seasoned veteran” on the roster, his presence on the team was invaluable. We knew we could rely on Matt for his speed and body weight control, and he surpassed already high expectations with 36 Pull-Ups and a sub-56:00 400 meters. Together, we were proud to exceed our fundraising goal and contribute $25,000 to MSKCC.
This year, with our father unavailable due to a scheduling conflict, we recruited our friend Andrew. We also raised our fundraising goal to $30,000, and with a few weeks to go, we're already 87% of the way there. We are excited and appreciative of everyone’s contributions and words of encouragement. As if we were not motivated enough, the thought of having everyone we care about behind us, is quite meaningful. It makes all the physical effort worthwhile. Hitting the gym on early weekend mornings to ensure we get the bench all to ourselves. Agility and speed training at the local tracks and football fields. Finding a way to power through a week’s worth of workouts even when we are working countless hours to further our careers. It takes time, effort, and extreme dedication, but we know, that come game day, it will all be worth it. The D10 has become a family affair for the Cirinciones, and for that, I could not be more proud.
Learn more about Team Undrafted here. Give Joe a boost on his Marquee Event, the Vertical Jump, by donating here.