I can't believe I'm in Kona for Ironman....

No alarm clock needed this morning....I was awakened at 5am by the sound of the loudspeakers in transition blaring instructions to athletes. Ahhh...the sweet sounds of nervousness, anxiety, and straight up panic from the crowd. It was actually rather nice to be on the spectating side of an Ironman this time. I headed to the seawall and secured a front row seat to the swim start off the pier. The pros lined up first for a deep water start and the age groupers followed 15 minutes behind. I nearly cried during the national anthem, remembering my own Ironman morning like it was yesterday. I wished badly that I was out there, treading water and getting ready to start a long day.
I stayed on the seawall long enough to see most of the pros exit the swim and then headed over to the volunteer area to begin my morning shift. We set up the medals tent, organized all of the pre-swim bags, and basically worked our butts off all morning. I didn't realize volunteering would be such dirty, sweaty work! Things slowed down around midday, just when some of the pros started coming back into T2. It was so cool to see them all zoom in on their bikes, head into the changing tents, and then zip back out to start the run.



The fun really started in the afternoon when the pros started finishing. I was working the medals tent where athletes picked up their finisher medals, t-shirts, and pre-swim bags. By some stroke of luck, I secured a seat handing out medals for athletes numbered 1-200.....otherwise known as the pro men (1-100) and pro women (101-200). This meant I got to talk to, drool over, and basically lose my cool with every pro that came through. The highlight of the day was Chrissie Wellington, who didn't just cruise through to get her stuff, but actually stuck around and hung out for a bit. Yes, she is really THAT nice in person!

I worked my post until around 10:30 pm and then headed to the finish line for the most inspiring part of the day....cheering in the last minute finishers. Ali'i Drive was a huge party, just packed with spectators as far as you could see. I wiggled my way through the crowd until I was up against the barrier, right at the finish line. AMAZING!! We (the crowd) sang, danced, and cheered until the last finishers came through right before midnight. At the 17-hour mark, Hawaiian fire dancer guys came out and did a performance up and down the finish chute. Lucky for me, when the party was over, my hotel was right there and I literally crawled into bed, wiped out. I am praying for the day I can come back and crawl into bed at midnight after DOING the race here!!