Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, May 3, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
A view from top King County Futures Citizen’s Committee tours Squak Mountain BY LINDA BALL
Ben Bigglestone of VO2 MultiSport , left, and Navin Singh said the facility’s technology and equipment have played a major role in the athlete’s training. JOSH
LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
The recovery process was indeed a slow one, starting with sitting upright and eventually getting out of the hospital bed. Singh suffered from severe muscle atrophy throughout his body, leaving his limbs frail and the rest of his body without the necessary strength to even remain rigid. “When I first tried to sit up, I just collapsed,” he said. “It looked like the skin was just hanging off the bones of my hands.” Singh moved from lying down in the ICU, where he spent six weeks, to sitting up and eventually sitting in a wheelchair. Crutches followed, then forearm crutches and finally a cane. But despite the long, difficult process to get back on his feet, Singh knew early on he wanted to do more than just maintain. While he was in the hospital, Singh watched the IronMan World Championships from his room and was immediately inspired by their feats. Like traditional triathlons, Iron Man competitions include a run, swim and biking portion to test endurance and overall fitness. The main difference comes in the distances, with a 2.4 mile open-water swim, 112-mile bike ride and
The King County Conservation Futures Citizen’s Committee, had a close up look at Squak Mountain this past Saturday. “They went into some of the forest, and got a good sampling of the area,” said Dave Kappler, the president of the Issaquah Alps Trails Club. As an extra bonus, Kappler said they had a great view that day, all the way to the Olympic Mountains. The committee, led by Terry Lavender, serves as an advisory board, making recommendations on land purchases to the King County Council. Also on the tour were County Council member Reagan Dunn along with Ingrid Lundin and Dave Tiemann, project managers with King County. The tour gave Dunn, Lundin and Tiemann the opportunity to see that Squak Mountain is the missing link between Tiger and Cougar Mountains, Kaplan said. Dunn is supportive of the efforts of Save Squak and the trails club to stop the potential clear-cut of 95 acres on the mountain. “It’s not real common to see council members on these tours,” Tiemann said. The competition for the money is fierce. Lavender said there are 42 properties spread throughout King County and 37 cities looking for funding. They range from a piece of waterfront in Seattle to riverfront on the Snoqualmie River to Squak Mountain. “How this will fit, we don’t know,” Lavender said. “We have $16.8 million in requests for conservation futures funds and we have $8.8 million avail-
SEE IRON MAN, 14
SEE SQUAK, 8
SUMAN, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
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Sammamish man overcomes Guillan-Barre with hopes of becoming an Iron Man BY JOSH SUMAN JSUMAN@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
A
s the director of coaching for the most recognizable triathlon training team in the region, VO2 MultiSport, Ben Bigglestone’s clients fall across a broad spectrum of athletic ability and come from varying histories in the sport’s three disciplines — running, swimming and biking.
But even for Bigglestone, a longtime veteran of the triathlon lifestyle as a competitor and coach, Navin Singh is unique. Now a 47-year-old Sammamish father, Singh was just out of high school and on the brink of his physical prime when his health took an unexpected and dramatic turn. After returning from a vacation, Singh began feeling flu-like symptoms that quickly turned into intense abdominal cramping. When he tried to make his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, things got worse. “My legs just shut off and I dropped to my
“It was always in the back of my mind. I finally realized I had nothing to lose.” - Navin Singh knees,” he said. “I made it to the bathroom and when I tried to splash some water on my face, I couldn’t close my fingers.” A trip to the emergency room followed, and luckily for Singh, the physician in the ER recognized the symptoms were likely caused by Guillan-Barre Syndrome, a rare affliction (roughly every one in 100,000) where the immune system attacks the nerves and can leave patients paralyzed. “That was a scary moment,” Singh said. “The doctors couldn’t tell me much. They knew it was a long haul, but they couldn’t tell me how long.”