After a few years of the St. George Marathon finish line I knew I would want to experience the finish line of Ironman. My 5 hour shift started at 7:00p. I was there for the countdown to the 17th hour and it was incredible.
Finish line volunteers were in yellow. Sometimes there were so many helpers the view from my post was a sea of yellow. My post was refilling the medal holder. As someone who doesn't like to be in the spotlight this was the perfect place for me. I took in all that was going on around me - the exhaustion of the finishers, the effort of the volunteers and the delight of families seeing their mom, dad, sister, brother etc. cross the finish line. The positive energy was completely inspirational.
The countdown to midnight was exhilarating. We knew there were 6 runners to cross before the 17th hour. You could hear the cheers all around. I wasn't up there but there must've been people lining the sidewalks of main street giving the runners that last bit of energy to cross the line. And cross they did. They even bent the rules for runner number six who crossed at minute 17:02 just as the fireworks were sparkling in the midnight sky.
The first annual Ironman St. George is in the history books. It was a wonderful experience. I admire the athletes whose passion takes them to this limit.
Swim 2.4 miles
Bike 112 miles
Run 26.2 miles
and do it in under
seventeen hours
Completely magnificent!
