Like all races, whether you are racing or spectating, you wake before sunrise! Jessi and I peek outside to see if we could see any Ironman activity. The street outside of our Suite had been blocked off because it was one of the main pathways to the race start, and already it was buzzing with athletes and supporters. Our adrenaline started to flow! Our race had started, and from that moment on, it was all about Roger and Sam, the two IRONMAN participants that we would be cheering for. We had one HUGE goal and that was of being the BEST support and cheering squad ever!
The swim started with the traditional Ironman Cannon blast, the pro’s at 6:45am and the age groupers promptly at 7am. That’s Roger front and center, he is the one in the light blue swim cap, and there is Sam 2 rows back towards the left, he is the one, well, in the light blue cap. 2,250+ athletes started the swim. It was one loop swim of 2.4 miles. Roger came out of the water in 56 minutes and was 55th overall, Sam came out of the water at 1 hour 10 minutes with a new PR and was 769th overall! WOW!
Everyone that Jessi and I talked to in the days leading up to Race Day told us not to even bother trying to see the guys on the bike course, they said it was too hard to get anywhere, too much work for a 3 second view as they flew by, too hot, not fun for the kids, etc. Are you kidding me?? That drove Kevin, Jessi and I to prove them all wrong. With Kevin as our driver, in Rogers new Ironman Subaru we followed the “entire” bike course! This was the most responsive we have ever seen Roger in an Ironman race, he was smiling, waving and responding to us at every cheer station, this was so rewarding to us that we were motivated to catch him as many times as possible. Roger was easy to spot because he had on his light blue Ironman Tri Costume, and he was passing everyone, he passed all the female pros except one, remember that the pros had a 15 minute head start! We were able to cheer for Roger 10+ times! Roger finished the bike in 5 hours and 13 minutes, which was a new PR for him, AMAZING!!
2 comments:
Wow... nice blog. It says Aug. 27th, but I don't remember seeing it. That sure was a lot of fun. I'm glad you guys were able to enjoy yourself as well. Seeing you guys all over the course definitely made it easier on the heart. There were times that I know that it helped me get to the next aid station... especially on the bike. It's one long day. I'm sure there were thousands of other people out there that you guys helped out too. So thanks a ton for taking the time to come up and enjoy it with us... even though you watched it a little differently.
My overall time was 9:48, which was Canadian, so it's really more like an 8:46 US time (10% less). I wasn't sure if I was supposed to tell them I was a US citizen or not. I thought they knew. Oh well...
It was cool to see Rog so responsive... smiling, high 5ing, actually talking... loved it.
I think when he watched my Ironman movie he was inspired... :)hee-hee
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