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
Beth James riding with daughter Liza in the final stretch of Ironman Kona. 82
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
