Here We Go

A toast, for great races this weekend. Everyone's so serious, that's non-alcoholic sparkling juice. Well except for Jan on the far right, he's having his beer no matter what.

One last meal before the race. So remember the TAG (Tri and Give) triathlon group that I've been hanging out with? Their race is this weekend. Most of the folks are doing the race on Saturday which is the Olympic distance (1.5k Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run) and some are doing Sunday's Sprint distance ((0.5k Swim, 20k Bike, 5k Run). Not all are pictured, some have decided to be with their families. Noah the host, he's the guy standing making the toast, actually had a bunch of his family come down for the race; mother, nephew, aunt, and grandparents. A family event. It's a spectator friendly triathlon, great for family and friends to see you race. The swim area is visible to everyone, the bike path loops around six times and the run course loops twice. It's a pain for the racer but great for the fans. Treasure Island triathlon is unique in this way.

Sadly not everyone who started the program 10 weeks ago was able to make it in the end. We had a couple of people drop out because of injury. We got one who's sick. Actually this past week we've had a good number of them get sick. Were they licking each other's water bottles I've no idea. But the majority of the group is in. For most of these guys this is their first big triathlon, a few weeks ago they did a shorter smaller one for practice. They look good.

I'll see them all tomorrow hopefully. I'm doing the volunteer thing again. Originally I had planned on just coming down and taking photographs all day but the club really needed the volunteers. Volunteers are harder to come by this late in the year, lots of begging and cajoling from the race directors to get people to come out. I'm working in the Start/Finish/Transition area. We have to get there before the racers get in and do the final set up. I'm hoping to do "body marking" how fun would that be. Race numbers on one arm, one leg and age on the back of the calf. Maybe I can sign my work. The age thing is for the competitive folks and it works, I tend to chase harder when I spot someone in my age group. If not body marking maybe I can be one of the volunteers who help swimmers out of the water. Again another unique thing with this triathlon. Swimmers finish their swim at the bottom of a ramp, there are rocks that slow everyone down and volunteers help pull them out of the water to help expedite the whole process. How fun would that be. I don't have a lot of upper body strength but if I plant my feet just right I should be able to use my legs to do most of the pulling. We'll see.

At 12noon, after most of these guys are done the elite start their race - 15 Pro Women and 25 Pro Men. That'll be something, I'd like to see those guys loop around. Anyway time to chill a little bit before getting some zzz's. Another early day tomorrow. Graduation day for this fine TAG team.