Race Day
The Fresno Bee came the week before the race to interview us, creating a sense of pressure for us all to complete things well. We left Friday after school in rented vans with Fresno PAL and got up there fairly late; barely enough time to set up tents — for many it was their first or second time camping. Dustin at one point took a skateboard down a hill and got a nice scratch on his knee that he has the scar to this day apparently. Fresno PAL had connections with a local outdoor group that provided us with all of the necessary camping cookware and tents; we had brought blankets and sleeping bags but weren’t 100% ready for the rain!
Finally, race day morning. The wetsuit we’d gotten for one of the kids ended up being too small, so I gave the one I was going to wear to them. The water temperature was something like 58 degrees I think and I was the only person that I remember seeing without one… There were three relay teams of kids, myself, Sgt Doyle, and Dustin racing.
I’d heard jokes about it as the above Cliff Bar commercial shows, but the swim start was as intense as they come as people run into the beach then in the shallow water of the lake heading out. The swim though was/is still one of my favorite parts as a long time recreational/competitive swimmer and water polo player. It’s all about high elbows is all I’ll say! I do remember coming out of the water with my lips so cold I couldn’t talk.
The bike was fine but it was the part we’d practiced the least for, as well as me not having a road bike so doing it on a road bike with slick tires. (Now, cycling is probably almost tied for swimming as my best leg). On the run, I remember Dustin and Sgt Doyle passing me on an uphill as a I cramped, but I sure tried to keep going!
One of the relay teams, Dustin and Sgt Doyle got plaques. Everyone was happy. The teens were so excited just to be there and amazed at how fit some of the people there were. For me it was a huge relief as well. My parents had traveled all the way from Fremont to see the race, and we got to hang out with them but I don’t think we’d all realized/considered that I was essentially also parenting nearly a dozen teens who were nearly the furthest they’d been from their parents so I felt bad not being able to hang out longer (sorry mom and dad, but thanks for coming!).
At some point we ate, packed up camp and headed home. The following week would see the Fresno Bee article published and donations start to happen… we hadn’t really planned to do more than one race, but having already collected some donations and seeing how much the kids got into it, we started talking about it becoming a true triathlon club — one of the kids who went named Albert in particular. We set our sights on what was then called the Sierra Kids Triathlon a couple weeks after that first race.
Next: What happened after the race…
