Saying goodbye to my first Half Ironman Race
It was bittersweet volunteering at the last Ironman Raleigh 70.3 race 2 weeks ago. In its inaugural year in 2013, it introduced me to long course triathlon. Little did I know I would be hooked from year one.
In 2013, I created a 3 person relay team where I did the swim leg of the race.
Anj, Nancy and Jen competed as a relay team in Raleigh 70.3 in 2013
In 2014 I was in 2 person team where I did the swim and bike.
Alesia, Heather and Jen at Raleigh 70.3 2014 – we all completed our portion of our relay and were waiting for our run teammates to finish!
Finally, I completed whole race by myself in 2015!
Jennifer crosses the finish at IM Raleigh 70.3 in 2015
As expected I went through all the emotions this as I volunteered during the swim that morning at Jordan Lake.
Paula, Jenny and Jennifer at the kayak launch site for Raleigh 70.3 in 2018
First of all it was a gorgeous, peaceful morning as the kayaks and paddle boards launched from the staging area.
Morning at the lake before Raleigh 70.3 2018
It was amazing to see the pros glide past us first. It was fun to be cheerleader as people cleared past the 2nd turn buoy on their way to the final leg of their swim. It tugged at my heart to see the Brent Peasy swim past with his brother Kyle pulled on a raft by him. Kyle was shouting out words of encouragement.
Brent and Kyle at Raleigh 70.3 2018
Finally I was sad to see the last few swimmers struggle to finish the course only to get DQd at the end of it. I love that the remaining spectators cheered at their finish though, celebrating the accomplishment of swimming as best they could!
Jennifer, Jenny and Paula as kayak volunteers at Raleigh 70.3 2018
Goodbye Ironman Raleigh 70.3 . Thank you for the gift of long course and for leading me down the path to new, wonderful friendships and amazing physical challenges!
Jennifer Finishes her first Half Ironman 2015
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