* long post warning *
I am really tempted just to put links in to my fellow cheersquader's blogs but I won't...
Saturday 1 April - time for a road trip
What a long day and a fantastic start to the weekend. Was on a train at 6.12am (OMG) in order to get to Pennant Hills station around 7am where Go Girl was waiting to pick The Owl and I up for the start of our road trip up to Port Macquarie for the IM event on Sunday.
Look out Port Macquarie!
A fun trip - 2 stops for food (we are hungry girls!) and lots of laughter & gossip. Sorry, what is said in the car, stays in the car ;-) Just over 4 hours later, we arrived in beautiful Port Macquarie & settled into our room at a lovely B&B. Not long after, the local & soon-to-be-Ironman, Minersrun arrived to show us around town & catch up over lunch. We then headed down to the Expo so Miner's could check his bike in & we could check out the sights ;-) Oh yeah, and do some shopping! I bought a fuel belt - my first. On the way back to our B&B, we stopped to eat a Magnum at a beautiful look-out...
Go Girl, Minersrun & The Owl
and, in the process, interrupted one romantic interlude and a marriage proposal! (she said yes BTW!)
Yours truly, Minersrun & The Owl
It was then back to our B&B to await the arrival of Lulu and Mr Lulu (Wine Trail Runner). A walk down to the very windy (and quite chilly) beach -
Lulu, Go Girl & The Owl - told you it was windy!
- a glass (or two) of vino, and a lovely dinner with great friends, great food & great wine followed. Eventually crawled into bed at about 10pm - daylight savings chose a perfect weekend to end; I really needed the extra sleep!
Sunday 2 April - Ironman Port Macquarie
Despite getting up early for what turned out to be breakfast no.1 of the day, we actually kind of missed the start of the IM. Ok, we saw lots of people in the water before the start & then lots of white-water after the gun went off but we weren't quite in place. Opps.
After that lil stuff-up, we took up position at the end of the transition area and managed to position ourselves just in front of the pros bikes. Bonus points Cheersquad.
The Cheersquad in action: L-R: Me, WTR, Lulu, Go Girl & The Owl...
After we gave Minersrun a cheer, Go Girl and WTR set off on their long run while The Owl & I waited for (amongst others) Queen Bee to get out of transition. The Owl & I then walked back to the car in order to set off on our own run with Lulu (more about that later...)
A photo for Lulu ;-)
Lulu, The Owl & I then headed back to our B&B for a shower & breakfast no.2. The bike leg passed very close to our B&B so we spent an hour or so cheering on the competitors. Managed to see Minersrun here twice. The competitors certainly seemed to appreciate our efforts. We then all bundled into the car and headed into town for lunch. It's v. important when cheering at such a long event to keep your fuel and hydration levels up ;-)
The Owl (with pom-poms) in front of the Hastings Owl Centre :-)
After lunch we moved into position near Flynn's Beach where we spent most of the afternoon cheering the run leg which was so much fun. It is such an incredible event. Several people said to me that after seeing it, I would be inspired to do an IM one day. I left feeling v. inspired but not to do an IM in this life, or the next one baby. Sheer and utter madness if you ask me - but you gotta admire and respect the ones that do!
Once Minersrun passed us heading out on his second and last lap (looking much stronger than on his first lap), the cheersquad bundled into the car once more to head down to the finish to stake out a spot to watch the finish. Once Minersrun had finished just before 7pm, we quickly left the finish & headed into town for dinner. I always feel guilty about leaving people out on the course when I'm cheering. I don't know why.
After a quick dinner, Go Girl, The Owl & I bundled into the car for the long drive home, keeping each other awake by telling all sorts of secrets and stories (again, what's said in the car....). The girls dropped me home about 1am and I crawled (quite literally) into bed not much later.
An exhausting but fantastic & inspiring weekend spent with great friends :-)
4 comments:
Oh I waited too long this post!!
Great pictures, the cheersquad cetainly was the best, with runners on it!
Are you now visiting the Canberra marathon?? I am so jealous of you guys!!
Good Post Jen.
You guys look like you had a ball!
R2B
Hi Jen, Nice to meet you last weekend. Love the report and the photos. Definately a big weekend! I did a long run this morning and after carrying a water bottle for the 1st time I decided I need to get one of those fuel belts as well...but there's never an expo on when you need it!
ah ha - I've been waiting for this race report!! Fantastic effort, and so very, very much appreciated pussycat. Was lovely to have you there, and only wish the weekend was less busy, and the race was over a little earlier so there was more time for another magnum moment :)
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