Spudman Triathalon

Months ago we found out my brothers Jason & Scott were competing in a triathalon in Burley, ID which is just about 3 hours away from us. Marc & I decided that we'd love to go watch them and would make a fun weekend out of it. As time got a little closer, Marc was a little envious that he wasn't running the race, so he e-mailed the registration coordinator and asked if he could take the spot of one of the contestants that did not start the race. They wrote back that he should bring up his gear, cross his fingers, but they wouldn't be able to tell us anything until the end of registration. We set out on Friday after work, hopeful, but not sure what was going to happen. To our surprise, he was accepted into the race!

All of us camped that night at an RV Park on the other side of the river where they'd be racing. We had a patch of grass right next to a very busy road underneath a street light. "What's one night?" we all asked ourselves and tried to make the best of it. It took a long time to get all 10 kids settled down and asleep, finally it seemed like the majority of them were sleeping. I think it was one of the worst nights of sleep we've ever endured! Between the trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, trains, cars with super loud music, it was pretty difficult to block out all the sounds. Then it never got dark because of the stupid street light....I've never felt the urge so strongly to shoot a beebie gun at something! The heat was the next thing to overcome, but it finally started cooling off about 1:30 when the winds started ripping through the tent. Lexi woke up at 3:15, ate and refused to go back to bed. She was too distracted by the flapping of tent canvas, and all the other noises. I finally took her outside the tent and she fell back asleep about 5:00 after I paced out in the grass for awhile. 30 minutes later the men were waking up to get ready for their race and shortly after the twins were awake and excited for the day. It's not about the sleep, its about the stories to tell afterwards right?

The guys started their swim at 7:10 am down the Snake River. We were able to watch them come out of the water and head into the bike transition. Unfortunately, spectating was really difficult, but I managed to take a couple of pictures:

Marc coming out of the water:


Marc in the transition area:


Scott in the transition area:


We gathered up all the kids and headed out to the next spot to sit and wait. The nice thing was that we always had somebody to look for and watch. Jason was the fastest, then Marc, then Scott so after everyone came through we'd go to the next place and shortly after it would start all over again.

Jason zooming on his fancy bike:


The adoring fans waiting patiently for everyone to come through on their bikes:


Marc making great time on his bike:


Marc coming into the finish line:


The awesome, SPUDMEN!


1.5 K Swim, 40 K Bike, & 10 K Run...Nice joy guys!