It gives you time out of life
a time of complete focus
Even as a spectator this year
I was focused on the athlete
the individual swimmer who was cramping
and screaming in agony as he clung to my kayak.
I sounded three whistle blasts to
summon a boat to pull another wretching,
pale athlete out of his Lake Monona misery.
And then, with the majority of the athletes out of the water
came my favorite part of swim support...
.
We got to adopt a swimmer
I shadowed #1820 from mile 1.9 to mile 2.4
He'd poke his head up every once in a while
and I'd point him in the right direction.
In those 25 minutes, getting #1820,
- a complete stranger -
back to the beach
was my mission in life.
Seeing him crawl out of the water and stand on the beach
at last
and hearing his name
Rogelio
was sublime.
Our time out of life continued in Verona
where my friend and I were completely absorbed
in watching those Ironbikers roll on by.
We saw and clapped/shouted ourselves silly for...
- A friend who had hypothermia at last year's race and spent 40 minutes in T2 - a deathknoll to her Kona dream. She finished in 11:25 yesterday.
- A smiling Rural Girl who whizzed by so fast I could barely identify her. By her second time through, we had learned to watch in fast forward and cheered our lungs out for her. What a racer!!
- Bubba in his Spiderman shirt. No mistaking him!
- Steve, the hairless wonder. He rode Rhonda fast and true.
- Trigreyhound who I first was sure of after seeing his name on the back of his bib. Even belatedly though, he heard me yell, "Go Greyhound!" and - class act that he is - took the time to lift a hand off of his handlebars and acknowledge my yell with a fist pump.
- TriShannon who turned around with this huge smile when I yelled her name - but is probably still wondering who the heck I was. :)
- Erin - truly "The Smiling Girl" - she knows the way to do an Ironman.
- Pharmie - who heard us the second time we yelled, "Go Pharmie" and burned us with the brightness of that smile.
- JWM - Who I thought was so focused that he didn't even realize that this crazy lady yelling "Go JWM! Go JWM!" was talking to him. Later I found out that he'd been looking up for every "Good job" thinking it was "Go JWM" and his neck was getting tired. So, "Go JWM!" anyways!
- IronWil - who I also only recognized after she'd passed. But cool x 10, she acknowledged my yell with a fist pump and a smile.
As you can see, smiles were a common theme yesterday. All of these people were happy to be doing 140.6. Wow.
Heartfelt congratulations to all of you Ironmen out there! You are inspiring.
16 comments:
Nice re-cap of a spectator's point of view..glad you were there! It was even exciting from my desk chair at my computer...so I can only imagine what the "real thing" was like!
It was an amazing day to watch our bloggy peeps race, wasn't it? Especially after witnessing last year's weather ruin so many people's day.
Thanks for the support out there in Verona, I thought that was you..
I was hoping to say HI to you in your Kayak, but then again I would have needed help if I did..
Thanks for being out there..
Now when is yor turn again?
First, thanks a million.
Second, if you were saying "Go JWM" and not "Go Jeff", then I was just in the zone.
Third, while I may have zoned on you cheering for me, I heard the collective you. That support made the race.
Did you get inspired and become one of the 08 participants?
-jwm
I spotted you briefly in your kayak during the swim, but opted out of waving for fear of being trampled. Glad I got to see you on the bike, though. Thanks so much for being out there!
So awesome Teach - I'm collecting my own thoughts on a great day of volunteering. Now I know you said one and done but...can I do NOTHING to get you out there with me in '09????
I was thinking of you as I was being pummeled in the swim. Thanks for being there.
That was you?? I wish I had known. I was so dazed, I'm not even sure whether I met you face to face or not.
Thank you SO SO SO much for being out there. It really did mean a lot to have so many friends cheering us on!
I spent a lot of the afternoon cheering from my favorite spot with my laptop. It must have been AWESOME to actually be there.
You guys were AWESOME out there!! Thanks for the report!
Nice job! See you in 08!
You're awesome. I love the idea of a Spiderman jersey. Like a superhero! B/c that's how it feels. It's so great to have wonderful volunteers like you. Makes an amazing difference to the experience each athlete has.
TT,
Nice job out there. I am sure the swimmers appreciated it, even if they couldn't say 'thanks' whist swimming.
(Maybe glub tha(glub)nks glub?
the fool
Thank you SO much for everything you did out there that day - I totally remember that yell and it really kept me going! You just rock :)
I was there too!! How cool
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