Elijah the Ironman!
As some of you know, my eldest brother, Elijah, and his wonderful family have been living in Germany for the past two years while Elijah has been working on his PhD in International Relations. What you may not have known is that this ambitious man has been intensely training to compete in an Ironman for the past year. For those of you who don't know, an Ironman is a race involving a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon all in one grueling time frame! Crazy, I know. This lifelong dream for Elijah became tangible when the Ironman Corporation opened a new course here in sunny St. George for 2010 and was one of the only Ironman competitions around the world not being held on a Sunday.
After a rigorous year of training, Elijah and his family flew around the globe to Utah two weeks ago and the very next day Lij and my brother-in-law Dan hoped on their bikes and did a smooth 60 mile bike ride to check out the loop Lij would be riding twice the following Saturday.
Unfortunately, the day of the race we were unable to be with Elijah's huge cheering section (Bush Family, Riding Family and Allred Family) due to double events with Burke's graduation, but we raced home from Cedar towards the end of his TWELVE HOUR race arriving just in time to see this....
He had already survived the taxing swim and bike portion and was on the last stretch of the marathon, STILL smiling and STILL running hard. I can't explain the overwhelming excitement and adrenalin our cheering section felt as we realized the incredible and seemingly impossible feat he was accomplishing! I turned to my Dad and said, "This is SO cool! Aren't you so proud of your son, Daddy." He simply got tears in his eyes, gave me a tight-lipped and nodded his head right as his oldest son came into view at the top of the road.
Although I originally thought my brother was insane for wanting to become an Ironman, I could not have been more proud of him as he crossed the finish line at 12 hours and 28 minutes! Out of 2,400 athletes (yes, there are that many crazy people who set out to run this race), he came in #341 - in the top 1/6! A big shout of to Elijah's wife, Marinda, and their boys, Jacob, Joseph and Hyrum who encourage and supported him even when it meant huge amounts of time away from the family.
But in my opinion, they look more like this...
4.jpg)
Congrats on your tremendous accomplishment Lij, Marin and Boys! So glad we could witness a portion of this adventure!
After a rigorous year of training, Elijah and his family flew around the globe to Utah two weeks ago and the very next day Lij and my brother-in-law Dan hoped on their bikes and did a smooth 60 mile bike ride to check out the loop Lij would be riding twice the following Saturday.
Unfortunately, the day of the race we were unable to be with Elijah's huge cheering section (Bush Family, Riding Family and Allred Family) due to double events with Burke's graduation, but we raced home from Cedar towards the end of his TWELVE HOUR race arriving just in time to see this....
He had already survived the taxing swim and bike portion and was on the last stretch of the marathon, STILL smiling and STILL running hard. I can't explain the overwhelming excitement and adrenalin our cheering section felt as we realized the incredible and seemingly impossible feat he was accomplishing! I turned to my Dad and said, "This is SO cool! Aren't you so proud of your son, Daddy." He simply got tears in his eyes, gave me a tight-lipped and nodded his head right as his oldest son came into view at the top of the road.
Although I originally thought my brother was insane for wanting to become an Ironman, I could not have been more proud of him as he crossed the finish line at 12 hours and 28 minutes! Out of 2,400 athletes (yes, there are that many crazy people who set out to run this race), he came in #341 - in the top 1/6! A big shout of to Elijah's wife, Marinda, and their boys, Jacob, Joseph and Hyrum who encourage and supported him even when it meant huge amounts of time away from the family. You may think that heros look this...
But in my opinion, they look more like this...4.jpg)
Congrats on your tremendous accomplishment Lij, Marin and Boys! So glad we could witness a portion of this adventure!P.S. For a more in depth account of Elijah's Ironman with loads of great pictures visit my lovely sister, Cassie Jo's blog, by clicking here.
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