Ironman Recap

What a weekend! Dad was working on Saturday so Mom and I headed to Coeur d'Alene Park for our volunteer orientation at noon. The park was in chaos. There were people running everywhere trying to find their specific orientation meeting (there are 3,000 volunteers). We finally found our captain and received our t-shirts and assignment. We then walked around the various tents and booths that Ironman had set up for vendors and sponsors.

As I observed all the athletes and staff, I considered how interesting it is that there are so many niche communities in the world that most of the time you never encounter so you're never aware of them. For instance, triathlons are a pretty big business with a community of athletes and their families who travel all over the world to compete. Because they run (no pun intended) in the same circles, they know each other really well. And there are thousands of other similar communities who know each other as a family, and yet outsiders are totally oblivious to this community. Because my Dad was involved in triathlons back in their infancy (i.e. no corporate sponsorship), my family knows a bit about the triathlon community but we're not a part of it anymore. However, most of the other volunteers we encountered had no idea what a triathlon was and were just there for the excitement of a big event in small CdA.

Anyway, we weren't able to get t-shirts for Mom and Chase because the run course had enough volunteers. But we lucked out because the next day the volunteer coordinator showed up at our corner and had two extra t-shirts for them so they could "officially" help out. We had a blast! Fortunately we were assigned a great corner where the neighbors were very excited about the triathlon. One neighbor actually set up a misting unit so we could mist spray each of the athletes as they ran by.

Chase pulled his car up to the corner and blasted AC/DC, Creedance Clearwater Revival and ZZ Top from his sound system. Then several families showed up to sit along the street and cheer the athletes. We had a regular party going on! It was quite the happening corner.

It was so much fun to interact with the athletes as they ran by and thanked you for spraying them and cheering them on. In fact, a few guys actually hit on me as I sprayed them with water (how crazy were they?!)! Looking each athlete in the face as they struggle for the finish and telling them you know they can do it is very rewarding, especially when you know they appreciate it. The nice thing about this particular triathlon is each athlete's name is printed on their bib number so you can cheer them on by name. They also appreciate it when you notice something about their attire, like a Canadian flag bandana, or a cowboy hat, or a Texas shirt. Dad said that when he was doing triathlons it really meant a lot to have someone single you out and cheer you on.

About 4pm our shift ended so we decided to go to the finish line and watch some of the participants finish. The finish line is a great experience because you get to observe these people who have physically exerted themselves for 11-14 hours as they collapse across the finish line, greeted by their family. We enjoyed watching the athletes we had earlier cheered on and sprayed with water come across the finish line; we felt like we knew them after they ran by us 4 times. I was disappointed to hear that Chris Legh had to drop out before I got to see him (he's the star of the CdA Gatorade commercial). But it was still exciting to see some of the world's greatest triathletes in action.

The whole family had such a great time that we decided to volunteer again next year. The volunteer banquet party cemented this decision. Ironman threw a really nice party for the 3,000 volunteers and gave away all sorts of prizes and a DVD recap of the triathlon. Now we're each deciding what we want to do for the next Ironman. Next year I'm thinking about being a body marker at the beginning of the race. Even though there are some cool jobs working in the VIP area, I really do enjoy interacting with the athletes on race day. So the countdown begins to Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2006!