The plan for this race began quite
some time ago with some of my local Arab, AL training buddies. It has been my experience that the best races
always start out that way. A group of
friends planning, training, and completing an epic race together!! So, up front I have to give a shout out to
Joe Bennet, Ricky Morrow, Adam Goss, and the man, the myth, the legend: Mark
Dummer!!
The journey began on Saturday as we
departed from Arab just shortly after 6am. We drove the five and a half hour
trip without any problems and relatively few stops, which was impressive
considering we were extremely well hydrated!!
We arrived at our hotel in downtown Augusta and got checked in. We quickly headed over to the expo and even
though it was busy it did not take very long for us to get checked in and pick
up our packets and race chips. After a quick bite to eat we grabbed our bikes and
headed down to the transition area for check in to leave overnight. The transition was huge!! Lots and lots of bike racks!! We took a few
minutes and did a walkthrough of how the race would flow through and to get our
orientation to our bikes down. We all
went and grabbed dinner together at a nice local restaurant down by the river
walk. Then it was back to the hotel to
get everything ready for the race in the morning.
Race morning started at 4:45am EST. We all went down to eat breakfast in the
hotel at 5am. I had a quick bowl of
cereal and a cup of coffee. You could
feel the excitement of the race at breakfast as we all joked around as we
ate. We grabbed all of our stuff that we
would need in transition and made the short walk to the host hotel to grab a
shuttle down to the transition area. The
whole town was filled with people and bikes moving around getting prepared for
the race start! We made quick work setting up all of our stuff. They really squeeze those bikes close together
in these large events. After airing up
my tires, placing my bottles of sports drinks on the bike, and setting out my
bike and run shoes we all jumped back on the bus to head to the race
start.
The bus
dropped us off and it wasn’t even 7am yet.
Mark was the only one of us who was in an early wave (7:48am). Adam and Joe started about 10-15mins before
Ricky and I who were in the same 9am wave.
We wished Mark well and the rest of us went back to the hotel to wait
till 8am before heading back to the start.
After a few photos and seeing Joe and Adam start, Ricky and I hustled
down to join our wave of 80-100 guys. We
fearlessly pushed our way to the front of the group and when it was our turn to
walk out on the dock we found ourselves close to the center of the river!!
Figure 1: At the swim start. From
Left: Adam Goss, Timothy Pitt, Joe Bennet, and Ricky Morrow.
Swim: At 9am on the dot the air horn
sounded and we hit the water. It was a
non-stop fight in the water for the first 400-600 meters!! I got kicked and
pushed like crazy! I just kept my head down and swam on. This swim was fast, no doubt about
that!! It was down current with a wet
suit and straight as an arrow. I bet I only sighted six times. Before I knew it we had reached the boat
dock! I looked down at my watch as I was
walking out and was in shock to see 26:xx!!
I hustled my way to the wet suit strippers and the ladies applying sun
block. Swim Split: 27:04
Figure 2: 9am swim start wave. Ricky
and I are sitting at the far end of the dock.
T1: It was a long run from the boat ramp to the bike! I hustled the
best I could and got to the bike. I threw
on my helmet, socks, bike shoes, glasses, and race belt. I ran with my bike all the way to the mount
line. T1 Split: 4:16
Bike: It was great to be on the bike and heading out. We started
with a slight head wind and the temps were a little cool. I made quick work of my first bottle of
sports drink and had it down before the 15 mile mark. The bike course was nice with lots of rolling
hills. My only complaint was that it was
very congested. I tried to keep my
effort in check and stay consistent. My goal was to try and average 20mph over
the ride. Over the course of the ride I
pushed 5 gels down and 2 bottles of water from the aid stations. The bike went very well for me and I picked
up the pace over the last 15-20 miles with a slight tail wind that helped. Bike Split: 2:46:55 (20.13 mph avg)
T2: I made quick work of T2. I was
feeling pretty good and glad to be off the bike! T2 Split: 3:20
Run:
Ahh, the run. The best part!! I left T2 moving well and trying to make
sure I did not get carried away in the first 5k of the half. I did not have a
gps watch so I was just running off of feel being sure I was paying attention
to my breathing. The first mile marker I
noticed was the 2 mile and caught a quick glance at the watch and saw I was
averaging about a 7:15 pace so far and feeling great. Unfortunately, I had some stomach issues show
up before the 3rd mile. All said and done I had to make two quick
stops before I made it to the 8 mile mark.
I lost 3-4 mins total to those stops, but I stayed positive noting that
my legs felt great and I was moving well.
I came through the 10 mile mark, working harder than before, and noted I
was just slower than a 7:30 average with only a 5k to go. For the first time I
looked at my total elapsed time. I saw that I had 21-22mins until I hit the 5
hour mark!! I was already feeling bad and just quickly dismissed that thinking
that 5k was too far to put that pressure on. I just kept pressing at the pace I
had been running. When I hit the 11 mile
mark I knew it was still possible to break 5 hours, but it was going to hurt! I
needed to run 6:45s or better and I was already hurting. Ugh!! I went for it!!
I just ran as hard as I could, motivated knowing it was only 2.1 miles to the
finish line. Just like it had been since
starting the bike, the course was crowded! Maybe even more than ever. I was
weaving around people. Finally I made the final turn and saw the finish line.
Once my eyes focused on the clock I saw I had a min to reach the finish line
but it was still so far away (over a tenth for sure). I began sprinting as hard
as I could. Would I make it?? Run Split: 1:38:24
I finished.
It took about 20mins before my head came out of the clouds. It was worth it. Finish time: 4:59:59!! At the end of it all it really is about the
friends and family that share in the experience with you. Without them it would
be for nothing. Thanks to everyone that
was a part of the training and race!!
Each of us
had great races!! Mark Dummer
finished in 5:36:09 with Swim Split
(28:09), T1 (5:48), Bike Split (2:48:52), T2 (5:04), and Run Split
(2:08:16)!! Joe Bennett finished in 5:38:41
with Swim Split (29:06), T1 (3:50), Bike Split (2:56:00), T2 (2:57), and Run
Split (2:06:48)!! Ricky Morrow finished in 5:44:31
with Swim Split (27:30), T1 (5:36), Bike Split (2:57:51), T2 (6:53), and Run
Split (2:06:41)!! Adam Goss finished in 6:03:38
with Swim Split (28:20), T1 (7:55), Bike Split (3:06:02), T2 (6:46), and Run
Split (2:14:35)!!
Figure 3: Glad to be done!!