IRONMAN Lake Placid 2017- Part Two

 Part Two of the the Ironman Story:
(photo heavy- big story)

First of all this event starts 

VERY EARLY in the morning.

The athlete and his parents 
left the house at 4:15 AM.

It was DARK then- 

the later crew saw this sunrise.

Cotton candy skies 

hovered over the bike transition area.

Dan spotted where we were 

and was able to greet his little family.

                                                                             photo credit- John Denninger
There is something iconic 
about the Ironman at the 
Lake Placid Olympic site.

Sister Sara and Levi 

joined the family photo group.

Root and Toot

 make out their secret cheer plan.

 The Professionals get in the water
 at Mirror Lake first.

Then you try to pick out your athlete out of 

1000's of black wetsuits.
Professionals wear silver hats.
Men wear green.
Women wear pink.
It is now a rolling start event.
Dan was in the early group
 of faster swimmers.

Then they swim 1.2 miles

 and get out of the water 

and run a half-circle on the beach 

to get back in the water to do that AGAIN.

And you finally just say you saw your athlete

 and start cheering and yell- GO DAN GO!

And ring a cowbell for good measure.

Then you give a whoot whoot 

for a swim time of 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Right on projected swim time.

AMAZING- because you get kicked.

 punched, and pushed in this swim.

It is an open water swim with 2,900 others.

Next you take off walking

 to Papa Bear hill to cheer on the racers.

It is suppose to be a "Bear" of a hill.

Our  "guide" said it was about a mile walk 

and then 1/2 hour later 

 said it was only 2/3 of a mile.

We sat on a rock by the road

 here for a long time.

But, they were playing loud 

classic rock music so it wasn't so bad.

 You make friends

 with the State troopers.

                                                                                  photo credit- Jessica Meier

The NEXT time you come,

 you will bring chalk to write words

 of encouragement 

to your athlete on the road.

                                                                                                                                      photo credit to Kathy Meier

And in the split second 

you look down to get your hat -

YOU MISS HIM GOING BY!-

after waiting a LONG TIME.

So you get a photo from his momma.

And then his dad loses his voice

 from shouting at the bikers-

"You Got the Bear!"

So you start walking back

 and pick out your someday house -

 all because of those red Adirondack Chairs.

You check the air temperature 

with your tongue.

Early morning temp was 55 degrees.

Afternoon was about 71 degrees.

Partly cloudy with a great breeze.

A perfect Ironman weather day.

But we spotted you this time 

around for a thumbs up.

5 hours 35 minutes to ride 112 miles.

                                    photo credit- John Denninger

Dad- Peter-

"Ironman Traker App on your Phone" Expert.

The technology today 

lets you know exactly 

where your athlete is 

and projected times for each event. 

Time for the race support team

 to go to Starbucks.

Later, we spot our runner 

and give high fives and shout outs.

He asks,

"Where's my boy?"

The next time through he heads 

over to the MMRF 

(Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation)

Cheer tent. 

Now he is fueled with a quick hug

 and squeeze from his little family.

Time to head over to the 

Finish Line Cheer Square.

A wonderful perk for his 

fund-raising efforts for MMRF.

Ironman etiquette?

You cheer on EVERY athlete.

This crew worked hard 

on a long day with 2 one year olds.

When married to an Ironman athlete-

Jessica- YOU ARE an IRONWIFE.

Jack- YOU ARE an IRONSON.

In this place- everyone knows

 about the sacrifice and time given 

to train for this event.  

Down the home stretch.

Cheered on all the way.

                                                                     photo credit- John Denninger
Greeted by the recovery team.

Finish Time

10:42:18

19th Place out of 176

M 30-34

111st  Place out of 1,575

By Gender

120th Place out of 2,199

Overall

(lost about 700 athletes 

since this race started)

 The Ironman out of the recovery tent.

DAN MEIER- 

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

And when you finish first for MMRF team

and raise over $10,000 

for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation-

you are a ROCK STAR.

Thank you to all who donated-

what a blessing.