A Real-Life Ironman

To be clear, the Ironman is not a superhero with a super-cool metal suit and power source.

That's Iron Man.

The Ironman is a crazy-hard triathlon where the competitors swim 2.4 miles, bicycle 112 miles, and then run 26.2 miles. In one day.

My brother Aaron made it a goal to complete the Ironman before December of this year, and last Saturday he did it! He invited me to support him, and keep our parents and Aaron's friend Brea company.

I must say, I forgot how much I enjoy road trips! My parents and I drove down Friday afternoon and met Aaron and Brea for dinner at the Brick Oven. We chatted for awhile, and then retired to our rooms so we could be in bed by 9pm. Well... 10pm.

My alarm went off at 4:45 the next morning. Aaron was already gone -- the competitors had a shuttle bus to the Resevoir where the swim was to start at 7. My parents and Brea and I caught a bus at about 6:15 and made it in plenty of time. We were thrilled to find Aaron and get to wish him luck before the big race! Look at his arms! They're massive! Goooo number 916!

We cheered as everyone ran to the water. Of course, we couldn't pick out Aaron's orange swimcap from everyone else's swim caps. This is what 2500 people look like in the water:

We all wandered over to where the bicycles were stored so that we could cheer for Aaron when he made his Swim to Bike transition. Mom and Brea saw him come out of the water after about 1 hour and 27 minutes, and I managed to grab a really, really brief video of him grabbing his bike and heading for the bike start. Then we all waited around for another hour before we could catch another shuttle to our car. (I feel like I spent the entire day on buses!) We briefly went home to check on Aaron's time (he had already finished the first leg of the bike course at that point), then found the center of all of the festivities in downtown St. George. It was there we discovered they had another shuttle to a spot where Aaron was supposed to pass twice.

I have never been a person who goes to a lot of sporting events, but I really enjoyed sitting on the sidelines and cheering for everyone who came by. The athletes and the fans were all so excited! Makes me want to go to random races and read and applaud and cheer for everyone. I would totally do it if I didn't have to get up so stinking early!

It turns out, Brea is a math whiz! Since we knew how long Aaron had taken on the first part of the course, she was able to pretty accurately estimate what time Aaron would pass that spot; her time was only about 15 minutes off.

We then took yet another shuttle back to downtown St. George for some lunch at a deli before finding a prime location where we could see Aaron finish the bike portion and start the run. He looked pretty chipper as he made the change!


It sounds ridiculous, but at this point in the day, my feet hurt and I was tired! I was wound up tight as a pin searching each competitor's face and jersey, afraid I'd miss a good photo of my brother as he achieved a dream. We drove to another spot Aaron was supposed to pass multiple times, and he jogged past us at milemarker 7. He was still chipper, and even joked: "If you would let them know that second loop isn't necessary, that would be great!"

We moseyed to IHOP for dinner, then back to our spot, which the second time around was mile 20. At this point, it was about 9pm and the athletes looked beat. A lot of them were walking. Aaron jogged past, but wasn't quite so jovial. I think at this point his only thought was just to keep going. He was exhausted, but so close to the end!

We hurried back to downtown St. George. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the people at the finishline because of the mobbing crowd and helpful volunteers. And unfortunately I wasn't prepared to take a photo of the Aaron on the big screen when he jogged under the arch. All of a sudden, my mom and I heard, "Aaron Smyth (pronounced "Smith") of Arlington, Virginia. YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" We started jumping up and down and screaming as we watched him on the screen, but we weren't half as excited as Aaron was. He paused under the arch and put his arms up in the victory "V" and yelled! After 14:47 (or so) hours he did it! It was such a perfect moment!


We found Aaron some food and all sat on a park bench while Aaron talked about his experience and his emotions. It was a nice, quiet end to a busy, busy day.

The next morning we all slept in just a titch, ate breakfast, and headed home where we celebrated my nieces' first birthday. I can't believe the little girls are one already! It was nice to have so many of us at the party.

Congratulations, Aaron! I know I said this earlier, but I am so proud of you! I am so impressed with your dedication and desire to succeed. Good luck with the rest of your goals!

You ARE an IRONMAN!