Thursday, March 4, 2010

Scenes from Ironman NZ 2010 (Part 3)

The previous posts showed photographs of what happened over the last few days. Today we registered, and got our red wrist-bands. The race package included a pair of Ironman slippers; mine was size 12 (choice of 10 or 12). There was no competitor t-shirt, and the rest of the freebies were a packet of electrolytes, bag of crisps, protein bar, and a banana. I hope that we get a great finisher's tee and medal at the end of the line.

Had the Carbo-Party this evening, and met many Kona-able (thanks to Clifford Lee for this term) participants: sub-11 and sub-10 podium-potentials. The food was standard race-grub, and I enjoyed the stage events, mostly. Mike Riley - Voice of Ironman Hawaii - was there to co-emcee with another Kiwi ex-pro. The highlight as a participant who belonged to the original gang of 12 in Ironman's infancy. His old photos of him racing in cuttoff-jeans was a laugh, but it humbling that these founders are fondly remembered by us 30 years later! It was humbling, yet a proud moment for first-timers and multiple-finishers.

More tomorrow, if I can. Race Day on Saturday. Check-in and race-briefing tomorrow. About a dozen Singaporeans and expats signed up and appeared. Good luck to them all! I am glad I can race, albeit carefully.

No comments: