Very briefly, my friend and training partner Teaka was having a great race until the back half of the bike when she suffered four flat tires (rumor is that some asshole tacked the course but it may also have been something wrog with her wheel - we'll find out more later), putting her at least an hour behind time.
Add that to the 33 minutes lost because of the time trial swim start - time that isn't added to the end, and she only made the bike cutoff by 40 seconds. The emotion of seeing her roll in when we thought all was lost was some of the highest highs I've ever experienced.
But she'd redlined to make the cutoff, pushing her heart and body to it's athletic limits just to get in on time so had nothing left for the run. She made a respectable time for the first loop, but I always knew that a 5:40 marathon would be tough after everything she'd been through and she didn't make the cutoff for the first loop of the run.
They took her chip. Her official race was over. But because Teaka's heart is as big as the moon, she set out to finish the marathon. Her amazing friends waited at the finish line and her amazing husband borrowed a bike from an amazing stranger and cycled out to meet her. She finally crossed her finish line at about 1:15 in the morning - nearly 18 hours after starting her race. She was crying, we were crying. A race official ran to a truck to bring her a medal and finisher's cap (which I hadn't expected since the sweep vehicle hadn't been behind her and so she was now so unofficial that she may as well not have existed) and all the workers stopped to clap and cheer her in.
I never ever would have though that anything could cap the drama of the final two minutes of IMLP, but when it's your friend hurting and pushing through out there? Indescribable.
A 23 hour day yesterday with five hours of hard yakka catching athletes at the end (and many mote stories there!), 3.5 hours of sleep and now we're heading home on a 10-11 hour trip.
Holy cow thus Ironman thing is equally addictive and gutting at the same time.
Sent from my iBlanche
3 comments:
Absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing Teaka's story. She is incredible and such an inspiration.
Wow, wow, wow. Talk about determination. Makes me think any bad day I could have is nothing compared to picturing the frustration and heartbreak of charging through not just -one- but FOUR flats. I don't know where she mustered up the inner strength after the third flat, but she clearly is more than an IronWoman. Safe travels back to you all and welcome back home.
Teaka, I knew there was something special about you, but now everyone knows... WOW!
You are an inspiration for the training, the ironman, and the sport for everyone!
Thank you, for you!
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