The family headed North to New Hampshire for the weekend of August 18-19 to participate in the Timberman Triathlon festival.
Shawn left at 3:30 AM on Saturday morning to race in the Timberman Sprint Triathlon. John and the boys practically slept in before leaving home at 5:30. They arrived just in time to see Shawn exiting the swim on an incredibly wavy lake. Strong winds had blown up whitecaps and it looked more welcoming for a surfing event than a swim! Though Shawn emerged a bit seasick and had to pause for a brief “rapid carbo unload” shortly into the bike portion of her event, she soldiered on to a great finish!
Shawn’s race was a 1/3 mile swim in whitecaps on lake Winnipesauke, a 14 mile hilly bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. Of course, getting sick slowed her down a bit, but she still had a great finish and made the family proud!
After changing a flat tire with a bit of help from some guy Shawn had passed twice on the bike, we headed over to the Gunstock Ski Area for the race expo. Later Saturday afternoon was the kids’ turn in the “Timberkids” triathlon, a 14 and under event consisting of a 100 yard swim, a 2 mile bike ride, and a 1/2 mile run.
Josh was up first doing his second triathlon - he’d done the same race last year. He was very proud that this time he made it up the big hill on his bike where he’d previously had to walk.
Josh ended up with the fastest Timberkids time of the 15 entries for our triathlon club, Trifury!!!
Jake had to wait close to two hours before his turn to start and it was a cold and windy afternoon. Already chilled before entering the water, Jake struggled a bit in the swim but maintained composure, changed strokes, and powered through. He took off on the bike still wet and only got colder.
By the time he finished the run, he had blue lips and was doing his best to force a smile, but he still pushed through to the finish! What a champ!!
Sunday was John’s turn in the 70.3 or Half Ironman event (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).
His full report is online for those wanting the gory details, but the bottom line is he made it through, met his goals, and had a lot of fun! The best parts of it for him were the ubiquitous club presence, his buddy Thor screaming him down the finish shoot, and being greeted at the end by Shawn and both kids who were working as finish line volunteers. What a great day!
All in all, it was 4 for 4 for the family of triathletes!!! We came home Sunday afternoon tired, but totally victorious!!
John!! So cool that you and the whole family had such a great experience this weekend! It was a bit chilly, but it sounds like everything went great! You are all TIMBERMACHINES!!!! Woot! Woot!
WHAT CAN I SAY? YOU GUYS ARE ALL TERRIFIC! GO! GO! GO!
How cool! It is so great your entire family is involved…. great performances from all…. Keep it up!!
Absolutely LOVE that last shot. That’s a keeper. Nice job, Fishdog.
John and family, congrats on a great weekend! You all survived the whitecaps and the cold so be proud! Great pictures of the family. What an amazing weekend, eh? When and what is next?
Wow! Great pictures and what a cool thing for the entire family! Your kids are great!
Way to go everyone! Is Shawn a Timberman?
[...] like last year, it was a family racing event at this year’s Timberman Triathlon [...]