L to R: Brooke Leigh , Heather Cribbs. Myself, Coach Rebecca Adamson; Sarah Cook
This past weekend, I had the honor and privilege of heading down the road to Augusta, Georgia to the Augusta 70.3 Iron-man race . I was going to be a Sherpa for the weekend. I wouldn't be racing, but I would be there for moral support and in case trouble arose. I would be on the sidelines watching, & tracking at the same time. More importantly, I would FINALLY be getting to meet some of my KREndruance teammates whom I have talked with forever and now finally get the chance to meet a few.
I got in late Friday night after enjoying a baseball game. Saturday, I met up with the team. It was instant mojo. Like , we all knew each other. We do because we are so supportive through thick and thin. But to get to meet these folks face to face adds a different element too it. I love it.
We went to dinner and literally sat and talked for 3 solid hours. Like family. We are a family. It was beautiful. Finally just getting to sit and talk and talk about life, ups and downs of training, etc, was just frankly , BEAUTIFUL! That's the best way I know to describe it.
After dinner we split up , and made plans to meet back up on Sunday at the athlete village to watch our athletes take on the course.
Sunday came early. Once we got down there the intensity was already there , but so was the excitement. We had our first teammate go out with one of the charity waves and then the others soon followed. Once our teammate was in the water, we booked it a mile and a quarter down the road to transition. For this race, there was 1 transition area for both swim to bike and bike to run. We were able to get a spot right on the rail to see our teammates , all of them come out of the water. During the swim, I was actively tracking the athletes on the app, and then posting updates to our team page. In no way did I have much free time. I was right there keeping an eye out for our athletes, or watching trackers. We were yelling and cheering. We then moved over to the bike exit to watch them come out and head out of town on a bike ride.
Once we cheered on everyone, we headed back downtown, to grab some food, and then to setup for the run. It was probably about 2 hours after we got downtown that we finally saw our first teammate , Coach Rebecca. She looked PHENOMENAL! We exchanged a few words, then me and Brooke split. She went over to check in on one of our other athletes, while I held the fort down and kept an eye on trackers. This would be the way things would work for the rest of the afternoon as we kept an eye on our team . We were positioned in a spot where we got to see each one on the course at least twice. and were between both sides of the run where we could run and check on them if needed.
It was about 230 or 3 when Coach Rebecca made it down the finish shute. So proud. We were then joined by her for the rest of the afternoon. It made watching each teammate come in more and more emotional. You sit there and you watch these athletes lay there heart and soul out there. Us Athletes go through so much training, and so many sacrifices , and just to see so many get the reward, its very VERY Emotional. It leaves you speechless in many cases. It really does.
I was able to sit and talk with the team after everyone had crossed the line. They all made it safe and sound. It was PHENOMENAL!
One thing I can say about the weekend is the fact this did make me more interested in Tri's and the work that goes into them. I am not saying now or later, but it is something to look at.
I did wind up taking a ton of pictures. You can follow this link to see some of those. https://www.facebook.com/john.rausin/media_set?set=a.10207764525709595.1073741849.1787389770&type=3&pnref=story
Overall I can't put into words the amount of love and pride in this team. Its beyond anything I have ever come across and I couldn't be prouder to be a part of this team.
In closing, I want to thank Rebecca, Heather, Sarah, Brooke, & Scott for allowing me to run around with them all weekend. It made this a truly memorable 1st Triathlon experience and one I will never forget. Getting to meet everyone was truly the icing on the cake this weekend. I know I have said it before but this is the BEST. TEAM. EVER.
- John -
