Swimmers and runners and gymnasts and pole vaulters and man I love those hammer throwers and volleyball players and divers and high jumpers and long jumpers and triple jumpers and horse jumpers and swimmers and vaulters and balance beamers -- I mean, can you even imagine? -- and hurdlers and sprinters and long distance swimmers and runners and badminton badasses and archers and soccer players for the love of mercy, and UConn hoops players and rowers and well, swimmers and runners and gymnasts. The most inspiring athletes and stories in the world.
Until yesterday.
Because nobody -- nobody -- is more inspiring than my sister Julie who spent the entirety of yesterday swimming and biking and running.
And nobody is more exhausted than I and my sisters and my mom and Julie's kids and friends are, after all that on-line tracking all day. Whew! That was hard work! As were on-site Sherpa-and-cheering duties for Julie's JK and his Dad.
Okay okay, maybe Julie is more exhausted than we are today . . .
And then she biked 112 miles in under 7 hours. 6:43:15. On her bicycle.
(Sorry for the quality -- it's a still from a video JK sent which was absolutely adorable. Julie. On her bike. For seven hours. And still adorable.)
And then? Well, then Julie ran a marathon. 26.2 miles in just under 5 hours. 4:59:06.
I mean, can you even?
And after all that, 13 hours and 17 minutes later, the finish line approached:
She was the 110th female finisher. Sixth in her age group. And 507th overall. Out of 1346 brave souls.
Courageous. Intrepid. Strong. Fit. Brave. Determined.
Inspiring.
IronWoman
No I cannot even imagine! It is seriously mind blowing.
ReplyDeleteBut I can relate to you and your sisters and your mom and Julie's kids and friends, after all that on-line tracking all day. Whew! That WAS hard work! I spent a few hours of the afternoon yesterday at the beach with Jacquie and her girl, and man,.... when that time didn't show up for that one marathon checkpoint? Excruciating, right? Where IS she? What is she doing? Is she ok?
There may have been some talk about bodies in ditches.
Heartfelt congratulations to you, Julie!! You are truly an inspiration.
xoxo,
b
Absolutely AMAZING! I have not combined to do any of that in my 47 years on earth..total! Maybe the running (by accident) but certainly not the swimming (I splash and float with an occasionally boogie board thrown in) or the biking (hate the seat part of biking) so she has earned the GOLD medal in my book!
ReplyDeleteAnd SILVER goes to her peeps!
It was an amazing day, so awesome to be able to track Julie all the day. I had to leave for awhile, I was so nervous. I went to the pool and swam two miles, or was it two laps??? So proud of our Julie, our own Ironman....
ReplyDeletexoxo mom
It sure was amazing. My favorite parts were when Julie was NOT dead in ditches. I very carefully calculated the time I should commence obsessing in between each split, and then started obsessing about 15 minutes before that time. So proud of our girl, she's the real deal.
ReplyDeletexoxox
Jacquie
Love you guys - you are so awesome to have spent your time tracking me! i can't believe there were ditch concerns. If there had been a ditch, I would not have been caught dead in it. No way, Jose. Worked too hard for this!
ReplyDeleteI wish we had know this beforehand, Julie. You would have saved us *all* a lot of angst.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Ellie
I just got to this today, but I got all the updates throughout the actually day. But I am teary and in goose bumps reading this and seeing the photos. You are inspiringly awesome, Julie. Way to go. I certainly don't know you like your family does, but I didn't have any "angst" because I was confident from all that I've ever heard about you. I was just waiting for the final results! You go, girl!!
ReplyDelete