I'm a Copperman!!

and so is Mari!

As we took our places to start the race, Mari and I noticed this little twig of a girl standing in front of us in a floral bikini, with the number 13 (her age) on the back of her leg. Figuring that she felt out of place and had more goosebumps on her body than I count, I said hi and gave her a friendly warning to watch out for other people kicking and splashing in the beginning. She politely informed me that she knew, since she had done this before and went on to WHOMP on my butt all the way through the stupid race. Geez, how was I supposed to know.. I should have been asking for pointers.

Luckily I survived the swim through mutant algae and scary seaweed (it was so gross) and met Mari who finished a little ahead of me as we mounted our bikes. I was excited to know that the GUY who was set up in the transition area between Mari and I had not yet gotten onto his bike.. But it was short lived, as he past me a mile into the biking portion. The bike went well, didn't see any bears and not a ton of hills.

It was cool because I got to see everyone on the way out (even if they were coming back) it was nice to have something to do. lol. As I luckily passed a 10 yr old before the bike finish, I met up with Mari again for the run and managed to stay ahead of her for about 40 ft. and then WHEW -- she was gone...



But it was ok because I ended up running with this super cool girl named Abigail. We talked, walked and ran the whole 5 miles. Without Abigail my finishing probably would have been questionable, at least in under 3 hrs.

Believe it or not, I think Mari and I will definitely be participating in more triathlons. Maybe even more than one per year!! Imagine that. There was quite a turn out with Greg, Adam and all three of the dogs. Moral support is definitely a plus :) (thx guys)

Mari finished with the unofficial time of 2h 29 mins, and I was 10 mins behind her with 2h 39 mins.



As always you can find more pics at my gallery.