Erik Weihenmayer to lead five Minnesota-based teams in 2011 STRETCH Adventure Team Challenge through Colorado Rocky Mountains

MINNEAPOLIS, April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Minnesota-based teams comprised of three able-bodied persons and two people with disabilities are training for a three-day, multi-sport race that includes mountain bikes, whitewater rafts, zip lines, climbing, and rappelling in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, June 24-29.  Ten other national teams will join the Minnesota contingency under the guidance of World T.E.A.M. Sports.

Leading the three-day event will be Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind man to summit Mount Everest, in cooperation with his nonprofit organization No Barriers USA (www.NoBarriersUSA.org), which helps people with disabilities to live fuller and more active lives.

Weihenmayer created the STRETCH Adventure Team Challenge for Minnesota-based Prouty Project, a global strategic planning and organization development firm that challenges organizations to push the limits of mind, heart and body to get more energized and think more strategically.

"This 13th annual STRETCH expedition is designed to break down barriers among people with or without disabilities, drive individual and team stretching, and support inclusivity to higher levels," says Founder and Chairman Jeff Prouty.  "We want to educate ourselves and the broader community about the opportunities and challenges present when one is vulnerable and taking risks that require a high degree of trust —regardless of ability, disability or possibility."

The 2011 expedition includes the following firsts for the Prouty Project:

• first year to work with people who have disabilities;
• first year to raise funds to support the participants and two nonprofit organizations, No Barriers USA and Courage Center, that help people to overcome disabilities; and,
• first year to conduct a STRETCH event in the United States.

The Minnesota-based team participants range from age 16 to 60, including world-class, award-winning athletes who are quadriplegic, paraplegic and blind-deaf.  Able-bodied people are training next to their team members with cerebral palsy, lupus, stroke, and other disabilities.

The 2011 STRETCH goal is to raise $150,000 for the event and supporting nonprofits.  A fundraising event that is open to the public is Saturday, May 7 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Bearpath Golf and Country Club in Eden Prairie, Minn. Contact Kari Baltzer, at 952.942.2922 or kari.baltzer@proutyproject.com about the fundraising event.  Visit www.ProutyProject.com for more information.

SOURCE Prouty Project

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