Sunday - Race Day!

We arrived shortly before dawn to set Ryan up for the race.



The Intermediates (ages 9-11) line up for the start of the race.

Ryan running from the pool into the transition area.

Ryan on the bike course.

Ryan (background) leaving transition area for the run course.

Ryan starting his run course.

The finish line is just around the corner!

The finish line.

Ryan poses for a picture with my parents.

I'm not sure the final number of kids that raced, but I know it was around 900. The event was extremely well organized and other than an initial 15 minute delay to the start of the race, the day went off without a hitch. All the kids had their name announced as they crossed the finish line (thanks to the timing chip) and received a medal.

Ryan is now an Ironkid and is looking forward to training for next year. I don't have his timed results yet (I didn't hang around to wait for them). But, they will be posted on the website so he will have a baseline to work with if he chooses to continue with this sport. I'm not sure if Nathan will train for this next year or not. He is not much of a distance runner since he broke his leg snow skiing about two years ago. I might try to find a sport or race that is more suited for his interests.

Busy Weekend

We are in for a busy weekend. David will be attending a Rappel Basics Class. This is the first class in a series working towards a Master Rappel certification. He will have to wait until he is 18 to take classes 2-3 and must be 21 years old to complete the certification with classes 4-5.

David will be in class all day Saturday and plans to spend the night/camp with one of the instructors and then go to church and rock climb on Sunday.

Meanwhile, once we drop David off for his class, the rest of the family is traveling to Atlanta for the Ironkids Triathlon. Nathan has decided that he is not ready to compete, which is fine. However, Ryan feels he is ready and is very excited about the race.

We will arrive at Wills Park in Alpharetta on Saturday to check Ryan in, get his racing bib, timing chip, t-shirt, etc. We will also get course information and racing tips from the volunteers. This is great, because we are not familiar with the intricacies of this sport.

DH and I both have family in Atlanta, so we always have a place to stay when needed. However, we still have to get up before dawn on Sunday, to set Ryan up for the race.

Training for a triathlon

Nathan and Ryan continue to train for their upcoming triathlon. Today, I took them up to our local recreation center to run on the track. I don't think they are worried about any of the individual events (swimming, biking and running). But, after doing all three events back to back to back, I know they will be exhausted! They are somewhat competitive with each other, but are not trying to break any records. Their goal is just to finish the race. Plus, it is something that their older brother has never done. So, that alone seems to be enough incentive for them - along with the t-shirt and medal everyone receives for finishing the race :)

David can't participate in the race because he is too old. His birthday is four days before the cut-off date.









Countdown to race day: 11 days (September 13th)