Sean trained this year with two of his good friends from work. His goals were to (in order) be in the top 3 in his age group, be in the top 20 overall, run the race in 2:05 or less, and beat both of his friends' times.
Here is a picture of Sean and Adam before the swim. They started in the same wave.
This is Sean at the bike transition. And Adam! That was NOT supposed to happen. Sean is a faster swimmer and thought for sure he would be long gone before Adam got out of the water.
Here is the best picture of all. Sean is in the front, and if you look really closely you can see Adam not far behind him.
They both came in 3rd in their age group. Sean came in at 2:03:32, and Adam came in at 2:03:46!
Although he beat Adam, he did not beat Todd. Todd is in a younger age group, and his time was better than both of theirs (2:02:44). Here is a picture of Sean, Todd and Adam's brother after the race.
Unfortunately, Katie and I were witness to a horrible accident during the race. We were standing watching the bikes come in with Adam's and Todd's wives (who are sisters) and their children. A female biker came around the corner and crashed right in front of us. Adam's wife was the first one to run over and see if there was anything she could do. She came back to get something to wipe up the blood and then ran back out. In the course of running back to help, she was struck by a bike and knocked unconscious. Her sister ran out to help her while Katie and I stayed with their children.
Luckily, the ambulance was right there and the paramedics were able to get her to the hospital quickly. The minute Adam finished the race, he got on his bike and rode straight to the hospital. A few hours later she was flown to IHC in Salt Lake and later that day we found out that her skull had been fractured in two different places. She is out of the hospital now and expected to make a full recovery.
I have never witnessed anything like that before and hope that I will never have to again. It has taken me a while to even be able to talk about it. Of course I am leaving out a lot of details, like the amount of blood on the scene and the fact that I actually thought that the impact had killed her.
It has really made me realize how precious life is. In the blink of an eye everything can change. I find myself cherishing all the moments I spend with my family and telling them I love them constantly.
Sean has been so good to comfort me through all the tears and to listen to me talk through it.
I am so proud of him for getting a trophy this year. I may even forgive him for spending all that time away from me while he was training. :)
