Well I will give a little report here of the IMSG. WOWWWW!!! Was it awesome. I had a blast at it volunteering. So I will try to break down the 21hrs that I was involved with it the day of. The expo was really cool too. So I will start there.
I guess the expo starts on Wed and went till Fri. And we needed to be there on Fri at 5:30 for a meeting. So got there 2 hrs early and hit the expo. It was really cool seeing all the different gear and such. And just looking at all the IM stuff. Got to the meeting with 4,000+ other volunteers. Kristi wasn't able to go to the race due to being really sick. Which was really tough on her and I. My Mom took her spot though for the wetsuit stripping. Got our tshirts and was told to be there at the Sand Hallow @ 4:30AM. So of course we needed to get up bright and early. Got up at 3:10 to get ready to leave at 3:45 to get there on time. We got there in plenty of time and it was nice and cold. Bit breezy but still great.
So here we are at the Swim @ 5-5:30 the buses started pulling in with all the racers. Ran into someone I knew from the Desert Sharks and helped out first with doing the body marking. And got alot of great advise about the races and T times and such. So it was great along with helping everyone get ready. It is a lot different then a normal tri. There was 2,000 or so doing it. So tons of bikes. And was different sections. So we as markers were 20 strong marking everyone that hadn't been marked yet. One of the gals that was there marking also was a Pro and also is the one I think I will hook up with later to get some swimming lessons from. So got some great advise from her too. The pros start at 6:45 and the age groupers(AGs) start at 7. So we were suppost to met at 7 for a meeting. As the time got closer there were alot of people still not in there wetsuits or dropping off there drop bags. So Bill and I started running around and helping those people zip up there suits and dropping off there bags. It was just crazy crazy crazy. I learned a good lesson there not to be in that situation. Bill kept saying. You dont want to be in this situation. They should of been done at the PoP 20 mins ago. They should of been here 15 mins ago. They should of been down to the water 20 mins ago. Just giving me a ton of great info. And I was seeing the panic there. We helped all the people we could before making our way to the start of the swim for the AGs. And watched as the cannon went off and all the white water. It was so exciting. There was a few thousand people there for support. WOW!! So off to our post at the Swim OUT.
So we found where we needed to be and the sun was just coming up. They had one loop around the lake to get in the 2.4 miles. Meet up with my Mom, Bill and Keith(Husband of one of the women in the race and in the club with us). So we had a few mins before the Pros came in. But then we saw a few older people coming over. It was odd. I guess they either got pulled or something happened. But they were done already. Then the first guy got out of the water. He didn't need our help at all. We were about 20-5 strong for the strippers. And he just flew by us and was into the change tent and on his bike before the next guy even came past us. He was fast and strong. And most of the first AGs didn't want help either. The bulk of them came at 1:15-30 and it was crazy and busy. Water and people going this way and that. Some knew what we were there for. Others were dazed and need some help talking with to know what was going on. It was alot of fun trying to help as many people as I could. Did some by myself later tag teaming with 1-2 others. Lesson learned for sure. Don't put your watch on the outside of your suit or your timing chip. It was interesting also how people were coming in waves almost. Alot of grouping up for sure happened here. And as it got closer to the 9:20 cut off time. They were getting more dazed and slower coming up to us. They were cold and some we would send to the warm up tent to get warmed up. And it was really sad as the time got closer to see them struggling way out there. And knowing they were getting to close. And some weren't going to make it. The last guy of the 4 that didn't make it was only 6 mins short. Then the ones still in T1 had only 10 mins to get out of there or they were done.
We were able to leave around 10am and followed the last of the riders out. Figured it was going to take a few hrs still before they get to the running part of the race. The bike is great and all but hard to cheer for people on that part of it. So we took a break and got in a shower, washed up our wet clothes. Dad wanted to come at this part and so at 2 we headed for the T2 and Finish area. Saw what a cluster it was and decided to just go up the route some where they were 3 lanes of traffic. Closest to us was the bikers coming in to T2. Then the mile 1 or 14 going out and then the farthest lane over was the runners coming back in. Mile 12 or 25. So we hung there and cheered for bikers and runners. We were able to catch the finishers coming in and I was able to see all the different people I knew finally. My poor hands were chapped from all the clapping. At 5:30 was the cut off for the bike. And as that got closer you would see people coming in more and more frantic. As they knew they were getting close to the cut off. And there was alot more that didn't make that cut off then the swim. We crossed over the street at that point and was just cheering for all the runners. This time we were close enough to see that their names were on there bids just below their numbers. So I would call out there names and boy then they really started to respond alot more. A few of the other crowd came and asked how I knew so many people. So then pointed out to them about the names. Which really gave the runners a added boost. It was like a death march for some of these guys. They were just walking. Some would pick it up after some encouragement. And others were in a zone. I had to cut that cheering section short.
At 7:45 PM was when I needed to get to my pick up point to get shuttled up to my aid station 4 shift from 8 to 11pm. They had a aid station about every mile. So I was at mile 4, 17. And they would be passing us on the other side of the road 9 and 22. Boy was it getting cold at this point with the wind. We had 6 tables with different stuff at each. I was at the 2nd table with water and ice. And again this is on a uphill part so they were mostly walking into the aid station and very tired. They had already been out at least 13hrs and still had at least 1-4 more to go to make the 17hr mark which they cut them off at mid night. It was fun and exciting to help everyone. And help pick people up. I would ask them by name "Jason you want water or ice??", "Jennifer you want water or ice??". Great job and keep it up. The others on the other side of the road I couldnt see there names as well in the dark. And would just cheer for them. As the clock was ticking closer and we stopped at around 10 with the last of our people coming. I just cheered for all those going back down. I also ran with my companion from the MTC for a while and gave him some more encouragement. Haven't seen him for 18 or so yrs. He was really surprised that I was able to pick him out of the crowd.
So we cleaned up our aid station and watched as the last runner passed and left. They let us take what was left of the bananas, oranges, power bars and etc. I just took some bananas and a box of power bars. And headed back to the finish area. I had at least a mile to walk to my car. And passed by the finish line to get there. There was still 20 mins left till it was midnight. And I really didn't want to stay around there. I wanted to save that experience for when it was my turn. When I would hear. MARK OWENS YOU ARE A IRONMAN!!!!! There was a huge crowd there. At least a thousand strong at the finish and more up along the streets. It was awesome experience. And has only made me want to do it even that much more.
It was exciting to volunteer at my first race and it being a Ironman that much better. I learned alot of things from it. And I am proud that I was part of it. | 