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Blueprint for Athletes Austin Rattler MTB Participants Raise $10,000 for Fellow Rider

Kara after claiming the women's champion title at the 2015 Austin Rattler MTB
Kara after claiming the women’s champion title at the 2015 Austin Rattler MTB

Athletes racing the Blueprint for Athletes Austin Rattler MTB and Blueprint for Athletes Leadville Race Series are not just part of a unique endurance community — they’re part of a family. This proved true at the 2016 Austin Rattler MTB event in Smithville, Texas where participants showed tremendous support for fellow rider Kara Uhl and her family by raising $10,000 for unforeseen medical expenses following emergency surgery to deliver twins.

Kara is the 2015 Austin Rattler MTB women’s champion and assistant coach of the Union collegiate cycling team in Kentucky. Her father, Paul Uhl, is the local race promoter for the Austin Rattler and manages races at Rocky Hill Ranch (the Rattler venue).

Three weeks ago Kara flatlined while undergoing an emergency C-section to deliver her twins. The medical staff restarted her heart then placed her in intensive care, where she stayed for three days unable to see her newborn children. Hospital staff revived her after she flatlined again, ultimately saving her life and the lives of her twins. Though she is now healthy and thankful for the chance to raise her children, she faces substantial medical costs.

Inspired and wanting to help, Austin Rattler staff auctioned off a qualifying coin for a last-minute entry into the 2016 Blueprint for Athletes Leadville Trail 100 MTB race, raising $3,500. Two more athletes subsequently stepped forward to donate their LT100 MTB coins, which sold for $3,500 and $3,000, respectively. Thanks to the generosity of her event family, Kara now has $10,000 to put toward her medical bills.

“Austin Rattler athletes proved how important family is today,” says Josh Colley, Race Director for the Leadville Race Series. “Our events are built on the principal that once you race with us, you are forever part of something bigger than yourself.”

Our sincerest thanks to all of our riders/family members for supporting Kara and her twins.

— The Leadville Race Series family

Kara Uhl 2
Kara back at home with her twins Holden and Kasen
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