Tri to Beat Cancer a Huge Success
I am still so excited about the inaugural Tri to Beat Cancer sprint tri I can hardly stand it…but not for the reasons you might think. Personally, I had a pretty crappy race with a series of crappy weeks leading up to it. I wasn’t mentally prepared to race, I’d been fighting a stomach bug all week — all the usual life stuff that can get in the way of a good day. It happens…whatever.
What I’m excited about it the way people embraced this event and cause. I’ve always love this town for the abundance of athletic opportunities — as a participant or spectator Athens has a lot to offer by way of sporting events. Given the number of runners and cyclists in town it was only a matter of time before triathlon made its way to the classic city; Sunday marked its arrival with a bang. A BIG bang.
On Saturday I volunteered for packet pick-up at the expo and was suprised to see it was a legitimate expo. It was fantastic! The room was filled with DBT team members and vendors including Bree & Ryan (Athens Personal Fitness), Ryan (Tri It Wear), one of our sponsors (GA Cycle Sport), Tami (Classic City Triathlon Club) and Kim and Nick with our own Dream Believe TRI. Usually athletes trickle in mid-way through the expo to retrieve their packets — not here, when the doors opened we were swamped. And they kept coming! By 5:00 we’d had a constant line of people and only half the packets had been handed out. Coach Kim gave an instructional talk to beginner triathletes that afternoon and the room was full. I loved it! It was so great to see all those people so excited (and nervous) about the race.
When we reached Sandy Creek on Sunday morning the energy was palpable. Volunteers were everywhere, atheletes were everywhere — when we lined up for the swim the beach was covered. Throughout the race I was amazed at how many volunteers were on hand directing us out of the swim, steering us on to the bike course, all along the bike course, handing out water on the run course, etc. Volunteers were everywhere! When we reached the run course, spectators were everywhere! It was a sight to behold.
The most amazing part of the day was sitting in the grass during the awards ceremony surrounded by atheletes, volunteers and spectators. It was a packed house and a proud moment to see so many team mates, friends and business associates take the podium. Next to me was my friend Clare — she is 58 and this was her first triathlon. That was the situation for most of the participants…virgin triathletes celebrating their first finish line.
I would imagine this race will become an annual event considering the money that was raised — $15,000 more than they were hoping for. Locally, this is a big moment for our sport and I hope the momentum will stick around for awhile. It truly was awesome.
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