Ironman Chattanooga adventure started the morning we were supposed to leave….. I was heading out in the rain to deliver Clara Cookies to the last couple stores before we packed up the van….
Thankfully no one was injured, but we had to rent a van for our trip. That meant we didn’t have a bike rack. So inside our rental van we had my bike, Storm, Tom, me, and all our stuff!!!
Storm slept next to me when I was driving and Tom got the whole back seat. (He didn’t mind) and don’t worry, Storm has a seat belt.
We rented a house up on Lookout Mountain with a wonderful view
and had lots of fun with my Mom and Dad, my sister Kathryn, son Andre, nephew Stephen, and friends Kristin, Kelly, and Sara
We spent a couple hours at beautiful Rock City with the pups
My favorite picture of Kristin and me before the Ironman start!!! This was our second race together ( and we’re planning Ironman Maryland together next year Sept. 28)
Race day we started with a time trial bike start (The swim was cancelled because of e coli more than 20 times above the safe level.) The best part was that we got an extra hour and a half of sleep and didn’t have to wake up at 4 am!
My favorite part of the bike is always seeing my family and Storm on the sidelines for quick hugs and puppy snuggles. Then Daddy yells, “GO BECCA!!!” as I head off.
The bike was 116 miles of ALL HILLS!!!! Unbelievably, I had my fastest times yet and the hours went by faster than I thought. I spent many hours praying for all my friends and family. On to the marathon- and once again……almost all hills….
By the time I see my family at mile 13 of the run, I have to sit down and snuggle for a few more minutes!!
When I’m done with a 5 minute snuggle/refuel stop, I do the happy dance and keep on going!
(this is actually my Kristin impersonation)
Kristin stops to snuggle her pup, Malekai, too!!! So cool to have our dogs on the sidelines. Much needed pet therapy
After 13 more miles of HILLS, I finally reached the finish line!!!
Very happy to be done and overwhelmed that I more than reached my fundraising goal for Team Orphans. We raised $28,268 this year for adoption grants!
It was fun to have our middle son, Andre, at the race this year. This was back at the finish line later that night watching for Kristin to finish.
Thank you to everyone who prayed, donated, ran the Cookie 5K, volunteered at the Kids Run, baked Clara Cookies, and so much more. It’s a team effort to raise that much money. I just got these pictures yesterday of the latest kids home with the money we raised this year!!! ORPHANS NO MORE!!!! These pictures make it all worth it! See ya next year.