When a Tooele teen decided he wanted to start his own non-profit motocross team, his parents suggested he wait until he was a bit older.
Six years later, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is glad he didn’t wait.
Riley Jensen was just 10 years old when he founded Type1Racing, a Tooele-based non-profit motocross team dedicated to advocacy and fundraising for Type 1 diabetes — a condition with which Jensen was diagnosed just after he turned 10.
Jensen started riding motorcycles at age 6 and began racing at 9, so when he first heard his diagnosis, he said he feared he was going to be unable to continue doing what he loved — racing motorcycles.
Shortly after receiving his diagnosis, a representative from the JDRF visited Jensen with a Bag of Hope containing the equipment he would need to maintain his health for the rest of his life.
While conversing with her, Jensen discovered that she was a professional rock climber. The discovery not only gave him hope for his aspirations as a motocross racer, but also gave him a new direction.
Though his parents thought a 10-year-old was a little young to head a non-profit, Jensen had Type1Racing off the ground in less than a year.
Now 16, Jensen continues to devote his time to running Type1Racing, an 11-member motocross team that hosts its own annual race at Rocky Mountain Raceways. The race not only raises funds to allow Type1Racing to continue its diabetes outreach and advocacy work, but also for the JDRF. Each race typically raises about $10,000, most of which goes to the JDRF’s research efforts.
Additionally, the Type1Racing riders, all of whom spend at least six months undergoing a rigorous training and testing phases to build their knowledge of Type 1 diabetes, frequently go out of their way to meet and encourage other kids with Type 1. Occasionally, Jensen said, they even teach kids how to ride.
“We bring the hope to whoever we can,” he said.
But it was his success as an advocate that most impressed the JDRF and lead them to award Jensen with the Children’s Heart award last month.
“We have many young people who are extraordinary, but Riley Jensen is truly the best of the best,” said Laura Western, executive director for the Utah JDRF. “He and his family have truly risen up to set an example that Type 1 diabetes does not have to limit dreams.”
The Utah JDRF gives the Children’s Heart award to one young person each year to honor them for their contributions to the JDRF’s mission, Western said. The award includes a special plaque designed by child artists with Type 1.
While many young adults have received the award, Western said Jensen was extraordinary even among the award’s recipients.
“He’s done some amazing work and is really an incredible example that other young people with Type 1 can accomplish anything they set their minds to,” she said.
Jensen, however, was unfazed by the praise.
“The awards are great, but I don’t do it for the awards,” he said. “I do it for everyone else.”
Jensen currently takes high school classes online and, when he’s not busy overseeing Type1Racing, he works for his father at a tire center in Salt Lake City. He puts in five to ten hours of practice on his bike on the weekends, Jensen said, and although he isn’t considered pro yet, he expects to reach that level of racing within the next year or two.