Coeur d' Alene Ironman

So it has taken me 2 1/2 months to post these pictures because I had tons to sort through and it was hard to decide on just a few. But here they are finally - pictures of Brett's Big Day!!

Hanging out at Lake Coeur d' Alene the day before the race. It was relaxing ... once we got there safely, but I'll save that story for the post about our camping trip.
The swim start - it was chilly for us and we were just watching. It had to be downright cold for the racers. The lake temperature was so cold that participants were allowed to wear booties which is not the norm. The weather was really good though - sunny in the morning, then it clouded up without raining.
We raced all over the place in order to catch glimpses of Brett as often as we could. We spent about an hour waiting for Brett's first lap of his bike. It was worth the wait. The kids and Brett were very happy to see each other and of course, I was very happy also - being the nervous anxious wife.
The lap of the bike
We saw him three or four times on the run and were able to hang out on the beach of the lake.

Hunter and Sabrina missed the actual finish. They were such troopers all day long. I forced them to skip their naps in order for us to chase Brett around the course. Sabrina was sleeping in the front carrier on me, so I didn't manage a good finish line picture. But Brett's official finish time was 10hours 16 minutes and 21 seconds. He finished 12th in his age group which he felt put him right on the fence for qualifiying for Hawaii. Neither of us slept well that night.

Monday morning we went down to the race sight about 10:45am. The top ten finishers in the Male 40 -44 age group were offered slots to Hawaii. When we got to the park six of them had accepted and signed the paperwork. This looked very good since there would be four slots to role down and Brett would be the second person offered a slot, but ... there was still time for those four people to show up.

Well, Brett got a slot for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. You can't see his face in this picture, but he was SO excited. I cried. It was a really awesome moment for Brett and for the whole family. We're Hawaii bound for 12 days. All six of us, my parents, Brett's parents and my brother will be in Hawaii for the race and relaxation afterwards. We'll post Brett's race number and how to track his progress as the day approaches.