Ryan's First Triathlon

Ryan did his first triathlon this weekend. It was called a sprint, so each of the distances were shortened from a traditional. He thought it would be a good way to ease himself into the triathlon experience. I also loved the venue - It was held at an aquatic center in a small town outside of St. Louis.

Here are Collin and Ryan wandering through the crowd before Ryan's start time.This is how Ryan wanted to be remembered for all posterity. Does that look like a weekend warrior or what? I LOVE the pasty, white chest. I think this picture also tells a good story about the skill levels of the athletes - Some guys were really into it. A guy from my parents' ward is actually doing the Iron Man in September. He got second place in his age division. But then there were many people like the man on the right of the picture - old, overweight, untrained, and competing just to finish. I was soooo proud of all them. Remember, I was the one on the sidelines.
Here's Ry in the first event - the swim. The swim was 1/4 mile and was in their Olympic-sized pool. Most triathlon swims are in open water, so that is another neat feature of this race.

Next was the biking. The bike part was 6 laps around a 2-mile loop (12 miles altogether). This is definitely Ryan's strongest event.
And the last part was the run. It was an additional 2 laps (for a total of 4 miles). He says if he were going to improve his time for another race, this is where he thinks he could gain some minutes.

His goal time was less than 1:30, and...

And his final time: 1:19:46! That placed him 54th overall (of about 500 competitors), and 13th in his age group. I say the top 10% is pretty amazing! Go Ryan!

This picture gives you an idea of Ryan's cheering squad. Because the course was lap-work, we got to see Ryan each time he came around. Collin recognized him most times, and often would say, "Dada!" It was adorable.

After the race, they fed all the athletes and their families: First course was pizza and subs (before the awards ceremony), and second course (after the awards, and unfortunately we were too full to enjoy it) was fried chicken, corn and salad. Then they opened the water park (the giant pool, toddler wading pool, and two giant water slides) to the families. It was a WONDERFUL day.

And in the Winner's Circle: Who's number one is this little guy's world?