Iron….People !

We were all up at 4-30 a.m. (me at 4-20 a.m. to put the coffee on !), apart from the youngest member of the team, and his guardian.. and as the nervous athletes stocked up on last minute food and drinks, me and Julia ,Luke’s wife, nimbly darted around them, seeking to re-assure and inspire them for the day ahead – we didn’t realise that it would be pretty  for us also !

So away from the property, on schedule at 5-15 a.m., on a cool’ish morning, and driving into Lake Placid itself, where we dropped Joseph and Luke off for registration and ‘marking’, whilst we parked and made our way down to Mirror Lake for the swimming to take place – a gentle 2.4 miles, in open water ! There we found Joseph and Luke, nervously awaiting the time to put their wetsuits on, and get into the lake..there were thousands of people there, competitors and spectators, a sea of people on the beach ! Soon they were into the water, ready for the mass start, of 2,855 swimmers, and at 7 a.m. the cannon sounded and they were off ! A seething maelstrom of arms,legs and heads bobbing in the water . They had to do two laps of the lake, and at the end of the lap had to get out, and run through a timing gate – we managed to see both Joseph and Luke going through the gate, ready for their second lap, and later moved towards the Main Street, to watch them running from the Lake to the changing area (transition zone), and onto their bikes for the 112 mile ride up,over and round the roads and hills of Lake Placid . We managed to see both of them, and also Joseph starting his ride , and then dashed back to the house,which was on the bike route, to see both as they passed us (twice), along with the thousands of other riders, puffing their way up the steep hill where we were, joined by Nicola,Thomas, the Union Jack, and various hooters/bells to entertain the athletes . The day was really hot, and heavy, eventually the lady owner of the property put the sprinkler on the roadway to cool the riders as they went along ,giving them some short relief – eventually both Joseph and Luke passed our position, so it was time for a quick bite to eat, before we drove into town, to watch the road race, of a marathon length -26.2 miles  . We struggled to get into town, eventually having to walk several miles, with Thomas in his pushchair, snoozing ! We did managed to see both Joseph and Luke on the marathon course a couple of times, before they both managed to finish in the Olympic Oval, and be awarded their medals...to be called ,by the announcer,YOU ARE A IRONMAN !!!

By the time we managed to locate them it was already 10 p.m., and we had to collect their gear, and bikes...and get back to the cars, so it was almost 11-30 p.m. by the time the two Ironmen,and ‘support crew’ arrived home, for a hot bath,cold beer and congratulations..

and eventually Jotown managed to get into bed at 1 a.m. ( he felt like an Ironman !!)

So, a long brilliant day for the British came to an end

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France

Mark Cavendish sprinted to win the stage in Paris

Joseph and Luke were both awarded ‘Ironman’ status

Goodnight !