First Obstacle course 5k and Animal chase 5k

Thanks to the Furrows for suggesting this race!  Boy, this was so much fun.  We had had a very busy weekend and I couldn't imagine trying to fit one more thing in for the day but the boys were begging to run this race.  You don't have to twist my arm when it comes to running so off we set for Kingsport with 2 tired kids and parents.  Who cares tho, this race was EPIC for kids.  It was a 5k that went through 3 creeks, hay bale jumping and ended with a corn maze.  Really, this was super fun and will be on our schedule of events for the future.

Lucas and David finishing up the Animal Chase 5k.  We never pass up 5ks that are on the Creeper and go right by the house.  A perfect Sunday afternoon run.  Lucas and David had a great run and scored in their age groups.  Hunter and I ran together and he placed in his age group as well.  It won't be long before I can no longer pace this kiddo.

Rhythm and Roots 5k

Man, I wish this had been a clearer picture.  Theses boys are the greatest.  After a late night performance for the school at the festival they made the turnaround for the 5k the following morning.  We have always heard great things about this race but have never participated...this was our year to dominate!  Gavin was the winner in the 8 and under division with Blaine and Lucas on his heels.  Usually the little guys get grouped with the 14 and under so they never win a thing...they are used to this and understand they simply can't compete with teenagers at the ages of 5,6,7 but that never stops them from trying.  I wish I could have captured Lucas's excitement when his name was called for an award.

Our frist place age grouper in the 8 and under goes to Gavin!

Smiles all around from this group, who cares if the award is a gray coffee cup!

I think he has watched mom finish one too many times.  In my defense I do a victory arm raise after 4 hours plus of racing, not 25 minutes! Ha!

Buddies until the end.  I am sure Blaine and his never ending supply of energy is literally dragging Lucas to the finish line. I love watching their friendship grow stronger every year.

The Sullins team and their great coach leading the warm-up.

Sullins Academy and Rhythm and Roots

 The school had an opening act for a few of the shows at the Rhythm and Roots festival.  Thanks to our amazing music department and the direction of Mrs. Wishon the kids were a hit!

Sullins Academy Cross Country--First Meet

 I don't know who was more excited to run cross country, me or Hunter. I was so happy that they let him and at the rest of his fourth grade buddies run for the team.  It was a short season but it was oh so fun and Hunter loved, loved being a part of the school team.  The first meet was at Providence in Johnson City and the guys ran 1.8 miles.

 Evan was 9th and the 10 placed and were in the hardware.  Super proud of him for racing hard and he was the only 6th grader!

Hunter pushing up the last hill towards the finish line.  He was the second place finisher for Sullins and finished 20th overall including the 7-8 graders.

Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga, TN

 MY BIKE!!!  I could write a book on the 2 weeks of drama and this bike.  I owe my parents (as everyone does) the world for getting me my bike to race!  So, the nuts and bolts of the story goes something like this...

There was a two week turn around from the World Championships in Canada to the 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga.  I had used race day transports to manage shipping our bikes across the country.  We have a really big bike case and it is super expensive to fly so we decide to use Team USA's bike shipping company.  They promised they would have my bike to me by the end of the week at the latest!  WRONG!!!  They were awful to work with and I will never, ever, never, ever use them again.  EVER.  After two weeks of angst and Ken's bike shop loaning me a bike to race, MY MOM was able to get FedEx to reship my bike to Chattanooga.  My parents picked up my bike at 4am on Thursday before the race on Saturday and my wonderful husband put it all together for me.  I owe so much to them for making this happen for me.

 Here we are at the athlete's  banquet.  These are always a fun time and I enjoy seeing all the other athletes and listening to the history of the sport.

 Always the most represented!

 The bridge out over the river was decorated in all the flags of the many countries represented at the race.

T1 grab bag.  You had to grab your cycling gear here and then run with it up to your bike and the bag drop.  It was a little bit of a cluster, as it usually is for this type of event, and it changes with every single race...I don't understand this.

All the professionals were racing this weekend.  It was the first time Ironman separated the women and the mens race into two days.  The women raced on Saturday and the men raced on Sunday.  I didn't get to see the professional women race since I was racing with them but I did get to watch the men and it was so exciting!  Hunter waited patiently at the finish line and had a bunch of the professional men sign his hat.  He even snagged an autograph from Javier Gomez!!  I am super jealous of his hat!

A cute picture...

Someone lost their two front teeth and was super happy on the way home from tennis!  I love this picture....

I WON! and Trip home

Who knew this race was LONGER than the one I raced to qualify for it?  I guess Team USA had sent me a 100 emails about the course, including the distance changes but I never took the time to read them.  I am busy!  I am a mother, an endurance athlete, a wife, housekeeper, financial and social planner, personal taxi service, pet keeper, and on and on.....and in the summer when the kids are home lots of little details get overlooked. Oh well, I will adjust and see what happens.  I do better at the longer stuff anyway.  And you know what happened?  I WON!  I was the 35-39 World Champion and the second female amateur athlete across the line.  It was an overwhelming feeling and I was so happy to have David there cheering me across the line.  He is always a comforting site when I am racing.  I started to falter around mile 16 and he was there encouraging me to the end!!

I have pictures of me crossing the line and I will have to post them later.  I lost them due to a computer crash and I need to re upload them! Ugh!  But here, is a nice pictures of my tired legs back in the car 4 hours after the race to head back to Seattle.  It was a cluster of an afternoon.  We just raced 70 plus miles across Penticton and now we were in a race to get back to the States.  Once again I have to mention that I married the best man on planet earth.  He broke down our bikes and got them back to the bike transport company (more on that debacle later) and drove the 6 hours back to our hotel in Seattle.  We were exhausted and sore but overall happy with our experience!