COEUR d'ALENE - Every Ironman has a reason why they train for months to put their bodies through more than a half-day of grueling punishment to complete the race, but at least 150 of them are racing for a cause.

In an effort to give something back to the communities they take over in order to run their competitions, the Ironman Foundation not only donates $55,000 to local charities, it makes an effort to support the Ironman contestants who are giving back too.

On Friday, four Ironman Coeur d'Alene contestants held a press conference to explain why they are running for a cause.

Local Ironman contestant Shai Workman was unable to attend the press conference, but Foundation Director Dave Deschenes said he is planning to run for the Achon Uganda Childrens' Fund.

Workman, who lives in Coeur d'Alene, is raising money to help a Ugandan community rebuild a system of good health, improved education and self-sufficiency.

Ironman Kriss Dellota, said he is running for a brand-new foundation called Safe Kids. The foundation provides bicycle helmets to kids who wind up in the emergency room.

Dellota, who is an emergency room physician at the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collin, Colo., said he helped establish the foundation after suffering a severe head injury when he was hit by an automobile while riding his bike.

"On that day in 2005 I realized the true benefit of wearing a helmet," he said, adding if he hadn't been wearing his that day, he most certainly would not have survived.

Dellota has raised about $2,500 so far, and said that will buy 350 helmets.

Dave Downey, who moderated the discussion, asked Dellota what the trick is to get a child to wear a helmet.

"It's the parents," Dellota said. "Parents have to put their foot down and insist that their children wear them."

He said head injuries are the No. 1 killer of children coming through the emergency room.

He is just getting the foundation rolling this year, and he plans to expand it to other hospitals as it grows.

This is Dellota's second race, and he plans to celebrate that he is even able to do it.

Kristina Marquez did two tours of duty in Iraq as a respiratory therapist in a critical care transport team for the Air Force. She is raising money for the Wounded Warriors Project, which changed her life.

Marquez said she suffered from symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even while she was enlisted in the Air Force, but her symptoms got progressively worse over the years.

Earlier this year, she was training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in Buffalo, N.Y., when her symptoms got progressively worse.

She started to experience startle responses, insomnia and hallucinations during swims. She suffered through nightmares and flashbacks during her running and bike workouts.

Ultimately, she found herself dealing with irrational outbursts fueled by anger and fear, and she became suicidal.

"I needed a platform to deal with some of the issues I was dealing with," she said. That is when she discovered the Wounded Warriors Project.

They helped her begin to deal with her PTSD, and now she wants to give back.

She has raised $4,000 for the project to date, and said she has only just begun.

"Every dollar is special," she said. "No dollar is insignificant."

This will be her third Ironman race.

"This year, it's been a very different journey," she said.

Richard Cline nearly died of a heart tumor 10 months ago. He is now going to run for the Nick of Time Foundation, which screens children for risks of sudden cardiac arrest.

He has raised $4,000, and set his goal this year at $14,060.

"A couple of kids out of every 400 tested have something that could lead to sudden cardiac arrest," he said. "And one child dies every three days from cardiac arrest."

Cline said he discovered he had a seven millimeter tumor in his heart after coming home from a training session with a headache.

The tumor was shedding off blood clots through his system and causing the symptoms, but doctors caught the problem just in the nick of time.

"I was one of the lucky ones," he said.

He is running his first race despite open heart surgery 10 months ago.

"At first I was pretty wrapped up in my time goals, now I am just going go out there and have fun," he said.

Dominique Chipot is running for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which helps fight lung disease.

He is dedicating his race to a young man named Jake. He is a Gonzaga graduate currently on life support in Los Angeles awaiting new lungs.

"Jake only has a day or two left unless they can find him new lungs," Chipot said.

Chipot has raised $14,000 through pledges and sponsors who are going to give him $100 for each mile he completes. This will be his first Ironman as well.

He said Jake will be his motivation throughout the race.

"I will be thinking of him and waiting for the good news that his lungs are on the way," he said.

Deschenes said that each of their stories can be found on separate pages on the foundation's website. Donation can also be made on the site.

Learn more

Here are specific links to the Ironman competitors in this story:

- Dominique Chipot

ironman.kintera.org/coeurdalene2013/20130513221314715

- Kriss Dellota

ironman.kintera.org/coeurdalene2013/dellotaforsafekids

- Kristina Marquez

ironman.kintera.org/coeurdalene2013/kristinamarquez

- Richard Cline

ironman.kintera.org/coeurdalene2013/cline