Lake Padden Triathlon

June 25, 2005. At 6:00 a.m. the rain was misting quite heavily. The type of mist that soaks your clothing far sooner than you might think it would. The kind that does not pound on the skylights but simply splatters softly. Needless to say, there were plastic bags on the bike seats during the drive to Lake Padden.

Upon arrival, there were many comments about thunder and lightning canceling the event, but this Washington rain is almost always unaccompanied. Despite the weather, there were large lines at registration, and even a few smiling faces.




The start time was delayed by about 20 minutes, and that was all it took for the rain to ease up.

Waiting...

Go!!!

Kristina, charging out of the water. She makes the swimming look so easy!










































Josh, making his way out of the water. Check out the neon!























"Ah! My back itches!"























Adding uh... injury to... um... more injury, the swimmers were forced to climb an embankment. Don't worry, there was plenty of time for insults later.
















After possibly the longest transition time recorded, Josh is off on the bike. Finally, something to smile about! Josh pedals along Samish Way. How long until he catches Kristina?



















WHIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Josh flies down the winding hill toward Lake Samish.















Kristina climbs after circling Lake Samish. "My average speed is 15.8!"






















Josh nearly summits one of the several hills on the 21 mile course, at this point 4 minutes behind Kristina on the road.






















After driving to the Parkway Chateau and visiting with Grandpa John, Grandma Flo and I missed Kristina and Josh by what could only have been a few minutes.

I saw Kristina begin "the little fun hill" but was unable to snap a photo. I was in position to capture this shot of Josh as he came around for his second lap around Padden. If you look closely at the bench on the far left, you can see the dry spot that I created while sitting and cheering on all the competitors.













Cheering everyone on was a true "Stargirl moment", and someone even complemented me on my cheering after the race! I also had time to create some art:

While playing with the new camera, I caught Kristina looking "artsy" in black & white:

And here comes Josh, down the finishing straight!

If you were to listen, in the background you could hear a volunteer continually yelling: Clear the course! Clear the course!

Kristina sprints for the line...

and finishes!

The classic finisher's picture:

"If only I swam just this much better!"

As always, Alex was playing with the camera's features:

The post-race burrito was something that all three of us enjoyed. Too bad we didn't get a picture of that. Hot Flash salsa! Yikes! The trip concluded with new running shoes and plenty of poster-hanging for the ALS DoubleDay ride.

More adventures to come!