Evies' Triathlon

It began as a cool rainy disgusting morning. High hopes for good weather were gone as I looked out the big front window at our house to see an absolute downpour happening! My daughter was to compete in her first triathlon this morning an I was going to have to break the news to her that she'd be competing in terrible weather. As I explained the circumstances to her as she looked out the window she just said "ok daddy, I'll do my best"! I thought wow, she really wants to do this! I was already proud of her and we haven't even left the house yet. We arrived at the YMCA facility in the pouring rain and began locating the transition area in which I would place her bike and gear while my wife and Evie went to sign in and get ready. The transition area was on the edge of the main soccer field and was a sponge full of grass and mud! I hoped at that point that the rain would stop and maybe the kids would catch a break. As I finished placing her things in transition I noticed that the rain was indeed stopping and the wind subsiding slightly, I was pleased. Some freinds of ours started arriving along with grandparents who had come out to see our little athlete perform. We all gathered in the pool area to watch the start and being the good Dad that I am I was going to photograph the whole thing. I looked through the lens and it had fogged up from the heat and humidity of the pool and I thought "oh no, not good"! I was finally able to get the lens clear though and began shooting. Evie swam her heart out and as she got out of the pool I realized that she had possibly swam too hard, she looked tired. I took off with her as she ran toward the transition area trying to shoot pictures without much success. I was able to get some as she hurried her way through transition. It was a blast to see how determined she was as she made the changes from swim to bike and how fast she was, we had practiced the switches before to familiarize her and it worked! She snatched her bike off the stand and off she went running out of transition and toward the road through the water and mud. I was excited as she jumped on the bike and flew off down the road as hard as she could go! It would be several minuites now until she was around the 3 mile bike course and I now had time to get some other shots of some of the other kids. As Evie pedaled down the last stretch of the bike leg she was greeted by me with my camera and all of our freinds holding signs up for her as she ran with her bike back to the transition area for the last time! I notice that in the transition to the run that she was tired and I worried about her being to fatigued to run, but she took off again. Valerie took off across the soccer feild to encourage her while she ran her two laps around the course, Evie was tired and walked a bit but then gave one last push to the finish. I greeted her at the finish and told her how proud of her I was then Brady, our freind and Evies' favorite cycling buddy, came over and hugged her as we all celebrated her finish. She had done it, finished her first triathlon! Valerie asked if we should stay for the awards ceremony and I said that we should out of respect for the other athletes and support them and their efforts. I remember that neither one of us thought that our daughter would place and that it would be encouraging for next time so that she could see the reward of the hard work that it took to earn their medals. As we listened to the announcements of the places for overall and then age groups it came down to Evies' age and a bit of sadness came over me as her name was not called but I didn't let on. Then came the 9 year old age group, 1st, 2nd and third place the announcer said goes to Evie Seitz! She had done it! Wow! We had not realized that due to her late birthday she fell into the 9 age group and not the 8! She had placed as one of the youngest in her group, I was overjoyed and so was she! I was so glad that we had stayed for the awards even though we had not expected her to medal, it was as rewarding for me as it was her. A great day!