UP TO THE CHALLENGE: Chris Farquar, an engineer at San Diego Gas & Electric, raced his handcycle in this year's San Diego Triathlon Challenge, sponsored by Sempra Energy. The event raised more than $1 million for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

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Triathlon challenge raises
more than $1 million for CAF

If you're ever tempted to bet against Chris Farquar, don't. Odds are, you'd lose.

Farquar, an engineer at San Diego Gas
& Electric (SDG&E), just won't let the challenges life has thrown him get him down—ever.

Thirteen years ago, Farquar was injured on a motocross bike and became a paraplegic. But, he fought his way back, earning a college degree and getting a good job with SDG&E, a Sempra Energy utility.

Then, just last year, he suffered serious injuries when he was hit and dragged by a car while training for the 2004 triathlon.

Yet, there he was this past October, joining more than 100 other physically challenged athletes in La Jolla, Calif., for the San Diego Triathlon Challenge (SDTC) sponsored by Sempra Energy. The event raised more than $1 million for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). The CAF was formed in 1997 to support "the athletic greatness of people with disabilities by providing grants for training, competition and equipment needs."

Happy he's involved
Farquar's specialty is the handcycle, and he got the one he now rides through a grant from the CAF. In this year's triathlon, he finished the tough, 13.1-mile course in just 59 minutes and 39 seconds. That time helped his SDG&E team finish fourth in the event.

This year was Farquar's third time in the SDTC triathlon. And, if you wonder what pushes him to compete, it doesn't take long to find out.

"Taking part in these triathlons has helped me develop strength, confidence and friendships with others in similar circumstances," he says. "I'm really happy I've become involved."

Sempra Energy's also happy it's involved with the event and with the CAF.

Neal Schmale, Sempra Energy's current executive vice president and chief financial officer, who will become president and chief operating officer in 2006, took part in the triathlon's 1.2-mile ocean swim. He says, "Once again, I was honored to take part on the Sempra Energy team and to see that this event raised more than $1 million to help challenged athletes get the highly specialized equipment and support they need."

Not just talk
"Today, I am happy to be back in the game, and very proud to be employed by a company that can see the value of giving disability a chance," says Farquar. "By supporting the CAF, Sempra Energy is supporting the active lifestyle that CAF promotes. At Sempra Energy, diversity matters, and it's not just talk. At this event, Sempra Energy and its employees provided the opportunity for hundreds of folks with life-altering afflictions to experience a chance to say, 'Today I win, not the disability,'"