Market:  New York
Athlete:  David Wood, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

I can already feel the intense fluttering of butterflies in my stomach as I gear up for my first D10 experience on June 11, 2017. From the moment I heard about the event, I knew I had to be a part of it.

My memory recalls the voice of my football coach, "Men, just wait until you have to wake up every single day and head to work, then we’ll see who the real tough guy is.” We received no sympathy from complaining about 5am wake up calls to begin our weeks of “two-a-days”. Of course in my naiveté, I didn't think anything could be harder, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Training for The D10 while working at Merrill Lynch on the Stellingwerf & Associates team has been harder than any two-a-day practice.  Having played both football and baseball at Elon University, I learned first-hand the rewards of dedication, a strong work ethic, and discipline. The quotidian of being a student-athlete even led me to work out with the New York Giants before my athletic career came to an end.

The D10 will not only give me a new opportunity to relive my glory days, but it also gives me purpose and a cause for why we are fighting.   The event in and of itself is bigger than any sport. To be able to use my athleticism to impact a child’s life supersedes any sports related activity from my past. Thinking about an innocent child battling cancer is beyond comprehension. There are many faint and blurry mornings after a long day of work and treacherous training where I have to remind myself how fortunate I am to have my health. These children fight every day, but for them, they are fighting for survival.

This kind of determination from cancer patients has aver me to fight for them in a competition that is so special.   My most memorable moment from this experience thus far was the first training session with my trainer Rich Sadiv from Parsi. His first challenge was to get to the gym at 4:30am to see my ability.  I was introduced to the row machine and it was evident that we had our work cut out.   

We are now roughly a month away from the event and my "game day jitters" are creeping up. The past couple of months have been grueling, yet so exciting and full of promise. To partner with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and to apply my training to raise funds for research that will make a difference in a child’s life is beyond rewarding.

With that perspective, I know that on June 11th, I can’t and won’t lose.  

Bring it,
David

Editor’s Note:  David Wood finished 13th overall at The D10 New York 2017.