Anybody know what an Ironman is? Well its a ridiculously long triathalon that my husband, brother in-law and father in-law competed in. It all started out with them running marathons, but they got bored so they moved on to Ironmans. *Also note, if you don’t like bragging you should skip this post 
They have been training for months. This was my husbands 3rd Ironman, my father in-laws 3rd and my brother in-laws 2nd.
In an Ironman you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then run a marathon which is 26.2 miles! Also as another side, note this is the HARDEST course ever and it was in the high 90′s that day which means the athletes were all in over 100 degree weather because they are biking and running on pavement. Yikes!
Here they are before the race looking out at the Sand Hallow Resevoir. Maybe making sure they really want to swim that 2.4 miles!
After a practice swim a couple days before the race.
May 7th 2011 RACE DAY!
It was a beautiful morning! The sun was just coming over the mountains and the swimmers were getting ready to start. This is a treading water start so they don’t all run in and then start swimming. Although their first one was a beach start and I kinda think those are cooler.
We sang the national athem and then a few minutes later the gun went off and all you could see were thousands of splashes!
The calm before the storm
And they begin the swim. It took our boys an a little over an hour, which is a pretty good time.
Crazy right? Anyone want to be in that swim pack getting your goggles kicked off….people whacking you on the head…hitting your feet, etc.
Okay so sometimes details catch my eye. I couldn’t get over all the fun shirts the volunteers wear. Just incase your forget what your job is, it’s on the back of your shirt Ha. I think my favorites are Pointer, aka you point to the delusioned, exhausted athletes which direction they go so they don’t get turned around and of course the Swim Stripper!!!! The Swim Strippers are super strong you have to TRY-OUT for this volunteer position. They help you strip down from your wet suit because that can be really hard after swimming 2.4 miles.
This is the “time-out” box for athletes who break a rule like drafting, littering, riding or passing on the wrong side, etc. You have to sit in “time-out” for a few minutes and if you get penalized more then twice your out. Below is my brother in-law Greg, he was annoying me so I sent him to time-out. ha! Just kidding Greg.
And down the stretch they come! Ironman Dean, Ironman Jeff (my hubby) and Ironman Ryan. Ryan got heat exhaustion during the marathon but was able to finish! It was amazing to see him triumph and finish. That is what Ironmans are all about; pushing to your limits and beyond and finding strength to finish! A lot of athletes got pulled out because it was so hot. And quite a few pros dropped out because of the heat.
The Finishers!
And I think I’ll end with this picture because it makes me laugh. That is my father in-law with my nephew Jack. Jack looks a little confused… what are you so excited about Gramps? Did you finish an Ironman or something? What a cutie. We didn’t take our kids… I’m pretty sure they would have suffered heat exhaustion too and probably started a few bike crashes.
Congratulations Boys! You are all amazing and to my husband/business manager/web designer/everything, I love you, great job!
