STACY'S IRONMAN
On May 1, 2010 Stacy competed in the St. George Iron Man.
He was amazing!
He had trained for a year and was ready to run his first ironman or even marathon.
Every transition spot that we caught up to him he looked strong and awesome!
Here he is with his award winning smile.
A little anxious but raring to go!
The first event was swimming 2 1/2 mile in this freezing cold reservoir.
At 56 degrees, 2500 contestants had long sleeve wet suits on,
with the exception of Stacy and a hand full of others.
They look more like spawning salmon than swimmers.
The first 15 minutes of the swim Stacy was ready to give it up.
He finally convinced himself that he was not going die just
because his arms were cold. So he dug in and gave it his all!
They had rescue boats pulling people out who became hypothermic.
I kept an eye out for Stacy on one of those boats.
There were helpers at the water line unzipping the wet suits.
I saw one man make it all the way to the finish and then collapse in this ladies arms.
While four people were carrying this guy up the ramp
his legs are still kicking. It was a scary sight.
Stacy said he veers to the right when he swims
and the course they were swimming was all left turns.
Three times one of the kayak aids had to tell him to get back on the course.
He ended up coming in at 1 hour 40 min. which was really good time
When he came out of the water he looked up and there was Brent Phillips.
They came out at the same time!
His next event was the 112 mile mountainous bike race.
After the swim he was ready for it.
At least he wouldn't be freezing!
At the take off peoples teeth were still chattering
as they're getting on their bikes from the freezing swim.
While waiting for Stacy at the transition stations, we were watching the racers. So many of them were limping and hunched over or looked like they were going to die. Everytime we saw Stacy he looked strong. He looked like a CHAMPION! I was so proud of him.
The Bike took him 8 hours to complete!
Seasoned Ironmen said that this was one of the most difficult course they have every done.
The 26 mile Marathon was run through the town,
so we could catch up to him at different places. It was so fun to see him!
He even took time to pose with me. Made me feel special!
He completed the Marathon in 6 hours and 13 min.
At 11:30 that night after 16 hours and 21 minutes
Stacy came through the finish line as the announcer over the big speaker exclaims
"STACY SLADE 55 YRS OLD FROM LAS VEGAS NV, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!
It made me cry! I was soooooo proud of him!
Stacy, YOU ARE MY HERO!
I love you!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment