Just keep moving forward by Beth Buehler

After a life-changing car crash, athlete Beth James returned to marathons and triathlons, this time in tandem with her daughter Liza. Team Liza has since touched people around the globe.

By Beth Buehler

Humans express love in a million different ways. For one mom, Beth Hodges James, it takes the form of running, swimming, biking and climbing mountains with her 25-year-old daughter, Liza, and receiving a huge grin in return. This has also been a form of healing for mother and daughter since their lives were dramatically changed by a car crash in 2004. Liza was robbed of her ability to walk and left with a significant brain injury at the age of six.

Facing such an ordeal, some might just curl up and find respite under the covers. But Beth’s fighter instincts and her experience as a triathlete helped stop the blues from taking over and gave rise to the grand vision that has become Team Liza. Competing as a mother-daughter duo in races as grueling as the Ironman World Championship, Beth and Liza have drawn attention and inspired athletes around the world.

In 2014, ten years after the wreck, the family moved from Oklahoma City to Mt. Crested Butte. Here they’ve found resources to help Liza live a fulfilling life, plus a challenging and fun place to train and spread their message of hope and resilience. While Liza can’t speak, she clearly communicates her wishes and excitement. “Liza is healthy, happy and ready for action. She melts your heart!” Beth said.

TURNING HARDSHIP INTO HOPE

After graduating from college, Beth began competing in 10K running races, marathons and triathlons, and she conquered Ironman Florida in 1999. “Liza was healthy then, and I qualified for the 2000 Boston Marathon and had a blast,” she recalled.

Recently, at her parents’ home, Beth found an old scrapbook featuring articles about that year’s marathon, including several she’d clipped about Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father-son team who would go on to complete more than 1,000 races together despite Rick’s physical disabilities. “The stories about Team Hoyt touched me in 2000, even with three healthy children at the time,” she said.

When Beth clipped those articles, little did she know that four years later, as a single mother living in Enid, Oklahoma, she would face an extremely difficult situation as well. Heading home from a July Fourth gathering, Beth was turning left at a green light when two drag racers entered the intersection and collided with her car. Miraculously, Beth and her other two children, Alexandra and J.C., escaped with only minor injuries, but Liza was in a coma for two months.

On top of that, Beth was diagnosed with a noncancerous tumor a few months after the wreck. “The same neurosurgeon who saved Liza removed a golf ball-sized tumor from my brain,” she said. “I’d been athletic all my life, and I knew Liza and I both needed to pull ourselves up. It was time to start running again.”

Four months after the accident, Beth completed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. Soon after, she reached out to Dick Hoyt, who helped her find a jogging chair. He continues to stay in touch.

For Beth, the bottom line is that life is a precious gift, and Team Liza aims to share that message. Beth reflected, “I needed Liza, and Liza needed me. Life is full of challenges, and how we react to challenges defines us. We had a dark hole to dig out of, so I would love to motivate others not only for athletic challenges but for overall health and life.”

CRESTED BUTTE: A MOVE, A MARRIAGE, A MISSION

When Beth was a child of seven or so, she

Liza, Beth and David James, with cousin Abby at the Pikes Peak Challenge.

crashed on skis and broke her leg on the first day of a Crested Butte family vacation. But that didn’t crush her desire to ski or to return to Crested Butte. On the contrary, she developed a passion for the sport and harbored a fondness for this mountain town.

After meeting David James at a hot yoga class in Oklahoma City in 2013, Beth shared the memorable ski trip story from her youth, and the new couple decided to check out Crested Butte as a possible place to live. The visit struck a chord, and they relocated from Oklahoma City in October 2014 and married (in a blizzard) on New Year’s Day 2015 at the outdoor chapel atop Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Painter Boy chairlift. “We love it here and plan on being here forever!” Beth said.

Work flexibility helped make relocation possible. Beth owns an appraisal business, and David has been based out of a home office for years as an oil and gas attorney.

The people, activities, Adaptive Sports Center and Crested Butte Community School sold them on life in the valley, where they relish the world-class Nordic and downhill skiing, mountain biking and hiking. The James family also enjoys attending the Live! From Mt. Crested Butte summer concert series and wandering Elk Avenue to dine and shop.

Liza attended the Crested Butte Community School until turning 21. “There’s a beautiful school system here with beautiful people, which is very heartwarming. It’s very genuine and positive here,” Beth emphasized. The Adaptive Sports Center helps keep Liza active with outdoor pastimes like ziplining, water activities and skiing.

Beth stays busy training, attending classes at Thrive Yoga, and competing in events like the Crested Butte Nordic Center’s Grand Traverse, Gothic Mountain Tour and Alley Loop Nordic Marathon. “I wake up ready to train, thinking of Liza’s next event. I don’t want to enter one for me; I want to stay healthy for her next event.”

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO COMPETE

Beth learned about the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), organizers of the San Diego Triathlon Challenge. “It takes a team to do these events, and thanks to David, San Diego was our first triathlon in 2015. From then, it was one step after another,” Beth said. “David is our backbone and teammate from every angle and provides so much love and encouragement. He has been very athletic all of his life, with marathons as his main focus.”

In 2016 and 2017, Team Liza took on the Redman Triathlon in Oklahoma City, and they worked their way up to half-Ironman events in Boulder, Colorado, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Lubbock, Texas. Next, it was on to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2018 for a full Ironman race. An Ironman covers 140.6 miles, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

David commented that at the Ironman Wisconsin, Beth and Liza became the first mother-daughter duo team to finish a full Ironman. “This is significant in many ways but most importantly, a duo team does not

receive any special favors. Team Liza’s total time in Wisconsin was 16 hours and 30 minutes, beating the 17-hour time cutoff by 30 minutes. NBC Nightly News had a film crew present to record this accomplishment.”

A pinnacle moment for the motherdaughter team came a year later when they were invited to race in the 2019 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Physically challenged teams have to enter a lottery, and it was the second time Team Liza had tried. “It’s the Super Bowl of triathlons, a world champion event. Every athlete has to qualify to go there, and there are [qualifying] Ironman events all across the world,” Beth explained.

In Kona, Team Liza finished the 2.4mile swim in choppy ocean waters with time to spare, but the bike course proved much more difficult; it sent riders through lava fields where they experienced extreme heat and devastating winds. “Beth had a grueling 112-mile ride pulling Liza, who weighs 100 pounds, and the racing chair that weighs an additional 21 pounds,” David said. “I’ve pulled Liza in events on my bike, and I can testify it’s very difficult. Beth and Liza missed the time cutoff for the bike portion by a mere eight minutes and were not allowed to continue with the run.”

In the transition zone at triathlons, teammates are allowed to help athletes manage their equipment and clothing. The timing is critical. Both of Liza’s siblings, Alex and J.C., help out as much as possible, as do the four oldest of their five children. The accident motivated Alex to get a degree in special education and become a special education teacher and counselor. Liza’s cousins, Abby and Alli Hodges, also have assisted Team Liza.

Washington-based Adaptive Star Mobility, Inc., makers of alternative mobility products, is at the forefront of Team Liza’s equipment, and owners Teri and Greg Durrin have become great supporters. The company designed the carbon-fiber chair that has made it much easier for Beth to pull Liza on her bike, and the Durrins were part of Team Liza at the Ironman World Championship. They had planned to go to Germany with the James family for the 2020 Challenge Roth before the popular European triathlon was cancelled due to COVID-19. (The 2021 event is scheduled for September.)

“We’re comforted to know that our immediate and extended family will continue to give Liza love and support forever,” Beth said. Creating Quality Architecture in Crested Butte for 28 Years

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Liza and Beth doing the 2.4-mile swim at the Kona Ironman and completing the Boulder half-Ironman; Liza with David in their Challenged Athlete Foundation team shirts; Beth training in the Endless Pool in her Mt. Crested Butte home and skiing with Liza on the Town Ranch. The story of a mom determined to give her daughter the thrill of competition and the freedom of outdoor adventure has touched racers, spectators and media far beyond the race venues. In addition to coverage by NBC Nightly News, Team Liza has been featured on Today and Good Morning America, as well as radio stations and newspapers around the country.

Beth and Liza also educate and inspire people with their “Yes you can!” motto through speaking engagements. “Healthy Kids Running Series invited us to Philadelphia, and we were so honored to be there,” Beth said. She and Liza also have presented to Ironman athletes at various events and served as ambassadors for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Before the pandemic shut down much of the world in March 2020, Team Liza took part in the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon with the Kyle Pease Foundation; this organization was created by brothers Kyle and Brent Pease, who in 2018 became only the second wheelchair duo assist team to complete the Ironman World Championship. Team Liza was invited to participate in several races in 2020, including Germany’s Challenge Roth, CAF’s Million Dollar Challenge (a weeklong bike ride that runs 620 miles from San Francisco to San Diego) and Ironman Cozumel. Some races were cancelled and others happened, but Team Liza hunkered down in Crested Butte to stay safe. Beth hopes they’ll be back on the road for the 2021 events.

Team Liza took part in several virtual events during the pandemic, including ones organized by Ironman, CAF and Challenge Roth. Like many Crested Buttians, the James women also charged ahead with a regular fitness routine during the pandemic. Beth confessed they probably could be in the home gym business based on all the equipment they own, including an outdoor Endless Pool with a hot tub installed in 2020. Liza does physical therapy in the hot tub and walks on a treadmill in the pool. “She loves every moment…we can walk, sit and watch the sunset,” Beth said.

What fuels Beth’s dedication? “I want to keep Liza healthy and happy but also to motivate other families and individuals to just go for it. It can be a walk around the park or a basketball game that gets you off the couch and pulls you out of something difficult to move forward.” b