Tenby Wales. The day before Ironman Wales. A giant IronMan logo and messages of support scratched into the sand.Leaving London from Paddington Station. Shall we talk about overpacking? We will.On the train to Wales. Early ticket purchases meant we enjoyed first class travel. Complete with a comfortable waiting room at Paddington Station and a nice roomy four top on the train.Tenby! In the sun! With good friends!
So how do you become an Ironman volunteer? Or, to take a few steps back, how did we end up in Tenby Wales for IM?
First, take a junior year abroad to St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1984.
Tenby, ready for her close up.
Second, meet a wonderful friend and stay in touch through the years. Write many letters back and forth, make occasional expensive phone calls when we know each other will be at parents’ houses and therefore reachable at a known phone number.
Rich and Hannah enjoying the lovely evening.
Third, make every effort to connect over the years. Go camping, visit parents houses who become like extra parents to each of us. When we’re getting married, be there at each other’s weddings. Take vacations to each other’s countries and meet up. Keep those ties strong.
Be lucky enough to be a Godmother to your friends’ first child, on the right, Finn. Finn, he’s not only a professional triathlete but a talented coach, and writer as well.The beloved family dog, Viking. A bit grey like all of us.The day before IronMan we head out for a coastal walk. Heading out in the sunshine. Mike, Kathy, and Rich.The view back to Tenby. Clouds gathering.Rain jackets on. Wind and mizzle. Saved by the turn off to the Farm Shop.Tea, coffee, and breakfast sandwiches. Delicious breakfast sandwichs.Tenby Harbor at low tide. The day before IronMan.
Our friends were so generous to include us in their IronMan plans. Having four extra folks, four Americans to boot, tag along for an action packed weekend of activities is no small lift. Our friends Hannah and Erik already had their hands full with family (two sons doing the IronMan) and friends, and two houses to stock and manage. Their own home and the holiday let they filled with loads of happy family and friends.
Up at 5:30 am to get a good spot to watch the swim start. Rain was expected and arrived.In place for the long wait for the 7:20 am swim start. We were lucky enough to be included in the secret spot crew. What a view on the zig zag where the swimmers walk down and will run up to Transition 1.And what a viewing spot! There’s Frank stopping to wave hello. He’s recovering from a broken collarbone so much concern all around for his swim. And bike. The Arentz brothers. Ready to go. One in the pro start and one in the age groups.Professionals wear pink swim caps, all the others wear green.Proud and concerned Mum Hannah watching for her boys. Each athlete grabs their pink transition bag as they head up the zig zag after their swim.We had to carefully work our way off of our perch. Look at all those bags still hanging, each representing an athlete still in the water. Working our way to East Rock House, a holiday let full of friends and family. Look at the crowds. The shoe pile at East Rock.
After a break for some breakfast and tea, we say yes when Hannah says she could use some help with her first volunteer shift. This is how you become an impromptu IronMan Volunteer- after all those other steps- say yes! Be helpful. Mike, Kathy, and I head out with Hannah while Rich stays with Erik to watch Finn come by on the bike.
Every athlete has a bag with their number on it. Into this bag they can put anything they might want to retrieve during the run portion of the triathlon. The loop route of the 26 mile run means they will go by three times. The bags need to be arranged numerically so the volunteers can find the bag, hand it to the runner, and put it back in its proper place for the next loop.
Not an easy task. The giant bags of bags are grouped by number, but it’s a lot of work to get the smaller bags arranged correctly.Mike taking it all in. Kathy in her organizational element! Me, Liz (a long time family friend), and Abi, Hannah’s sister.Three random Americans who became volunteers. Look at that long line of bags. Meanwhile, Rich and Erik were watching Finn zip by on his bike. In the wet conditions the biking was a nail biter. Seriously dangerous. We headed back to East Rock, which is on the run loop route, to cheer on Frank after catching glimpses of Finn earlier in his run.Cowbells at the ready. Finn came in #11 in a professional field of 50, just 8 seconds behind his friend Michael. Frank’s friends get ready to support him with a Viking row. Abi and I having fun.Hannah, relieved both boys are off the bikes and one is done with his run.Erik and Hannah. Supporting one triathlete is a job, but two this year! One professional and one still recovering from a broken collarbone. Erik and Rich.The siblings. Find me a more fun bunch of great people. Viking row on lap 1.Ready for another Viking row for lap 2 or 3.
We all joked that we were exhausted after a day as spectators. Hannah and Abi went on to volunteer at the personal needs station and then on to the finish to cheer on the final arrivals during hero’s hour. The exhausted Americans went to bed.
And we’re off by train to our next destination- hiking the southern half of Offa’s Dyke. We’re enjoying warm Welsh tea cakes delivered to the platform by Erik on his cargo bike. Yay Transport for Wales.
If you can’t follow these steps to become an IronMan (volunteer) I highly recommend keeping your friends close and having your own unique opportunity thanks to those friends. A huge thank you to Tenby Wales and all our friends there.
