Congratulations Bob & Melissa...and Tom &Chrissie

Ironman events take a long time. Watching large parts of Ironman Arizona today was the first time I watched the live feed from the WTC. My impressions in watching online are that it's great to watch the mass swim start, the pros coming into and out of transitions, and of course the finish. Of course, seeing your friends finish is very cool. Other than that, WTC does a good job of keeping it interesting by having other pro athletes talk about the competitors and how the pros handle these events. Thus, you could spend a full 10 hours that they have commentary, but that's a long time. So, I caught the start, transitions, the finishes, and some chunks in between. All in all, very interesting. I picked up some tips and got to know some of the background of some of the leaders. I also did chores around the house and stepped out to Home Depot for some supplies too.

As for the event, a few of us that know Bob & Melissa followed them throughout the day. As we expected, they did well on a challenging day that included rain, wind and cold. Not exactly what they expected for a race in Tempe Arizona. Congratulations to both Bob & Melissa. Bob finished in 12:44; Melissa in 13:03. Way to go guys! It was great to watch you cross the finish line.

Other than following our friends, it also was an exciting day to follow Chrissie Wellington and her boyfriend Tom Lowe. Tom was running his first Ironman event having done three 70.3 events previously. Tom comes in third overall in 8:11,with the fastest marathon time of 2:41. Not bad for a first timer. Chrissie, 3 time Kona Champion from 2007 through 2009 had to miss this year's Kona due to a virus. In order to not let her season end in a scratched race, she decided to do IMAZ. She absolutely killed the course. Not only is she the first woman, she breaks the woman's world record in Ironman by 11 minutes by finishing in 8:36. Congratulations to Tom & Chrissie. Nice way to end the season.