Saturday, November 13 was the Ironman 70.3 World Championship race in Clearwater, FL and for the third time I saw the race from the vantage point of a volunteer. The first year, I was a "bike catcher" and for the last 2 years, I worked at an aid station on the run course.
Joe, our fearless volunteer leader and Ironman triathlete, did a great job organizing the chaos and we had a very successful day supporting the athletes with water, sports drinks, bars, gels, bananas, oranges, sponges and a huge helping of encouragement. I started the day at the swim start where I saw the pros speed through the calm water and exit the 1.2 mile swim in under 25 minutes.
By the time they hit our aid station, they'd biked 56 miles and run over 4 miles of their 13.1 mile journey. They run 2 loops, so we got to see them again before they headed back over the memorial causeway to Clearwater Beach for the finish. It was a fun day marked by plenty of sticky pink sports drink (Perform, not Gatorade) and the best of the best from across the world competing in this race.
I was even able to see my friend and co-worker, Larry, compete in the race and caught this blurry picture of him on his second loop of the run. Congratulations to the athletes who made it through the day and to the great volunteers I worked with that made it so enjoyable.
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