2009 WI Ironman

This past weekend I met up with a number of my REGBRAI friends to cheer on two of our teammates in the WI Ironman. I can not express how inspiring it is to cheer on 2000 racers who spent the past year of their life getting ready for this event. If you have never had the opportunity to watch an Ironman you are missing out!

Consider yourself warned, there are two distinct moments in the race that will cause you to choke-up and give you chills. 1. The moment they fire the gun to start the race. The breath taking view of the lake with a beautiful sunrise, all the racers swimming at once and knowing that 2000 lives have just been changed at that moment is one word—Amazing! 2. After standing out on the course cheering these athletes on for 11-13 hours to experience them come across the line and the announcer yelling, “XX YOU ARE AN IROMAN!” Well, you know you were there to witness one of the greatest moments in that person’s life. Inspiring!

Last year I went down to watch 4 of our friends' race. The four of us spectating had so much fun that this year while they raced last years racers paid it forward 100%. Bob brought his bike/stereo which we blasted dance music and rang cow bells while the racers came by—it didn’t matter if we knew you or not, we were cheering for everyone. It was so much fun to see the racers on mile 22 run past us and do a little dance of their own—which only fueled us to yell a little louder. By the time our racers came though we were in full dance party mode.

Scott, one of our racers, had the support of his entire family along side us. Each one of them said in a choked-up voice that they were proud of him. The most touching moment was when I spoke to his father. He said knowing that his son had friends that came out to support him, like we did, made him even more proud of his son’s successes in life. It really drove home the meaning of success was not monetary it was your support system.

Once we got word that Scott’s average run speed started to slip we sent the family to the finish line while we went out to find him on our bikes. We all knew that this race for the past two years was extremely important to him. So, with music and cowbells in toe we stepped up our game and cheered him on at every corner. The last few blocks two of us were able to ride on the sidewalk next to him yelling “YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!”

Jared said in a later email, "The run was tough but seeing you guys always made me smile. I will never forget running out of the stadium (Camp Randall) and seeing the dance party. It was the best part of my run."

Now, the question: What am I or you going to do to inspire someone?