Category — IronMan Florida 2007

I went to IM Florida to cheer on my friend Duncan, to volunteer body-marking and “parking bikes”, and to see how an IronMan differs from other races. What an amazing experience. I can’t even explain how electric the environment is at an IronMan race. During the body-marking, some of the athletes were so nervous, they were shaking. It was great to be able to give them words of encouragement.

The swim start was amazing too. 2000+ athletes all lined up on the beach to begin. I was so nervous, and I wasn’t even doing the race! The water was very calm that day, so a lot of the athletes had a great swim. I will upload the photos when I get a chance.

Running the bikes in T2 was a lot of fun-and great exercise. The athletes were so thankful that we were there to help them when they got off of their bikes. This, to me, is one of the great things about the IM. You don’t have to get or re-rack your bike!

Then finally, the day after the race, I waited in line with a thousand of my “new best friends” to register for IM Florida 2008. The IM race director instituted a new program that gave volunteers their own line to register for the race next year! I was 2nd in the volunteer line. When the opened the doors for registration, I was literally shaking. I can not believe I just signed up to do the race next year!

This will be my first IM, and I am so looking forward to the journey. Thanks to Mike, Barbara, Duffy and Chris for making the waiting in line so much fun. I’m so glad to have met people that I can share this experience with over the next year.