01.09.05
Return to Vancouver
Well I am back in Vancouver. The week up in Penticton was great. The weather was warm including a few days over the 30 mark which unfortunately for the athletes included race day. The house that the heidens had rented had a spa so i spent a lot of time in the spa drinking a few beverages right in front of the boys as they prepared for their race.
Race day was a long one and supporting an ironman can be as brutal as racing. Well probably not that bad but brutal all the same. From race start at 7am through to 9:30pm when i couldn’t support anymore it took it’s toll. After watching the swim start at 7am it was to the cafe while 2200 people battled it out for 3.8k in the lake. With Coffee done we were just in time to see the first athletes out of the water heading out of town down one lane on main street. They only had one lane because the crowds took up the rest of Main Street watching them leave town. We then drove to about the 140k mark of the bike on the Climb up to a lake called Yellow Lake and were there for about 3 hours as riders busted themselves up the hill. Prior to them arriving we had turned our little area into the Australian HQ’s. See photos.
Then it was back to town where i borrowed a clunker of a bike from the house we were staying in and rode out along the run course. Lots of athletes had been reduced to a walk and it certainly did not inspire me to have a go at one of these myself.
Then back into town to see both Heiden boys finish just on the wrong side of 12 hours (a tough day out for both) and then continuing to support the constant stream of runners and walkers heading towards the finish well after dark. (Official race finish is Midnight).
Anyway now i am back in Vancouver and about to move into my new place and hunting for some work. Hopefully that won’t be too hard.
Some photos from Penticton and Ironman will be online shortly…
