You know you are an “Iron Family”, when even the baby reads “Triathlete” magazine!

Another thing I love about triathlons is the amazing people that you come in contact with!  As a spectator, you do a whole lot of waiting.  You watch your athlete take off in the water, and then you wait.  You watch them run by on the way to the transition area, and then you wait.  You cheer them on as they go out on the bike course, and then you wait a long time!  If it is an Ironman distance race, you get to wait for hours!  You cheer them as they come back from the bike and out on the run.  Then, you wait some more!  So, what do you do while you are waiting?  You talk to the other “cheerleaders” around you.

Last weekend, James ran in the inaugural “Bridge 2 Bridge” sprint triathlon at Oak Island, NC.  While waiting on him to finish the race, Aaron, Rylan and I met ½ of a really awesome couple!  Our meeting went like this:

Aaron said something like:  Remember, don’t pick up anyone else’s sponge on the run course!  It might have pee on it!

Young lady beside us:  (laughing) how does he know about that?

Me:  We were in Kona in October.  A woman told him not to pick up any of the sponges off the street because many of the serious athletes will pee in them, because they don’t want to stop to use the bathroom.

Young lady:  We were in Kona in 2010!

We got to talking about our Kona experiences, but were soon interrupted as her husband was the first finisher of the entire race!  (Way to go, Patrick!)  When James finished, I told him about her.  As we were heading to the car, we ran into them at their car.  Both wives turned to their husbands and exclaimed, “That’s the one I was telling you about!”

Their story was probably the most romantic Ironman story I have ever heard!  He had earned a spot as an age group athlete at the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.  So, on the night before the big race, they got married in Hawaii!  What an exciting way to start a life together!  They said they are hoping to go back for their 5 year anniversary.  I hope they are able to do it.  I wish them the best in both their married life and Ironman life!  

On a different note, they also got to start their married life by seeing Macca win the Ironman World Championship for the second time!  I have to admit, I was more than a little bit jealous!  (If you have read my blog, you know what a big Macca fan I am!)  Lucky them!  

One of the things I love about triathlons, is the “family” atmosphere.  I am not just talking about being there with the family.  Even though triathlons are competitive, you do not often see the “cut-throat” rivalry that you see in other sports.  For instance, in the NFL, would a Dallas Cowboys fan ever go to a game and cheer for the Washington Redskins?  Ummmm…no!  At a triathlon though, you will see this very thing.  As a “tri family” we go to cheer on James, but we also cheer on his competition!  Heck, he even cheers on his competition while out on the course!   

Even at the big races you see this.  At the Ironman races, the crowd goes crazy as the first place finisher crosses the line, and the crowd continues to go crazy, right up until the last finisher crosses right before midnight.    You often hear stories of the “pros” coming back out to cheer for the final finishers.   This is one of the many reasons we love being a “tri family”!