Thank You St. George! (Ironman St. George 2012)

I participated in the 2012 Ironman St. George event this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the outcome that  I hoped to have and I plant to do a full report on the race for this blog, but I feel like I first need to express my thanks and gratitude to the volunteers and spectators who came out to support the 1800 or so triathletes that competed.

The event started on Thursday when I had to show up to check-in for the race on Saturday.  I signed a couple of forms (probably promising not to sue in case I died) and got a blue wristband that I had to wear the whole weekend to signify that I was a participant.  From the moment that I checked in and got that wristband, I and my fellow participants were treated like royalty by what seemed like thousands of volunteers and people in St. George.

The volunteers came in all shapes and sizes--men and women, parents and kids, and young and old.  Yet there was a common denominator--they were happy, smiling, and enthusiastic.  Many of them were in the hot sun for hours--without complaint--just to help us and to make our day and our race go smoothly.

Volunteers wait to take the triathletes bikes as the athletes transition from the bike to the run

I literally thanked many volunteers during the race for their help and got the following response: "No, thank you!  You guys (i.e. the triathletes) are inspiring to us!"

Do you know what it feels like to be at the point of physical and mental exhaustion and get help from someone--a cold drink, a hand up, a kind word, someone to hold your bike while you use the Port-A-Potty--and be so grateful for such a small act and then have someone tell you that you are inspiring to them?

It is extremely humbling and a little embarrassing.  I certainly didn't feel worthy of inspiring anyone during that race (and know could not have inspired anyone based on my performance!).  And yet person after person, time after time, did small things so that I could have a fun experience doing this triathlon.

I mean, I wasn't curing cancer or bringing peace in the Middle East.  I was doing a race that I thought would be fun for me.  It's really pretty selfish when you think about it and yet thousands of hours were donated so that I could have an experience that I will never forget.

Here are some of the things that I experienced this past weekend in St. George and for which I am grateful:

• For family who literally opened their home to my brother and me--we love you Di and Chad! =o)
• For fellow competitors who loaned me their bike pump so that I could top off my tires during the pre-dawn darkness on race morning
• For a random spectator who helped my brother get a replacement swim cap (because he lost his) moments before we plunged into the water for the swim
• For a loving Heavenly Father who I believed literally answered my silent prayer uttered in the middle of the stormy lake



The Tempest Was Raging on Race Morning

• For an old mission buddy who I bumped into before the swim (and hadn't seen in nearly 20 years!) and who would later strip my wetsuit off of me after my 2.5 hour swim ordeal when my muscles were too cold, numb, and tired to have done it for myself.  (I'm sure it would have taken me at least 10 minutes on my own (that I didn't have) to do what he managed to do for me in two seconds flat.)
• For that same mission buddy who probably sensed how disappointed I must have been at that point and who whispered in my ear as I lay on the ground that I had done an amazing job just to finish the swim on my own power because over 200 people had been pulled out of the water in boats.  (Without that encouragement, I might not have had the heart to continue the race after being told that I had missed the swim cutoff by 7 minutes and that my race was now "unofficial.")
• For a volunteer who literally helped me get dressed in my bike gear, put on my socks and cycling shoes, and sprayed me down with sunscreen following the swim--then packed up my wetsuit and swim gear for me
• For another volunteer who helped me with my helmet chin strap because my hands just couldn't make it work following the swim
• For a fellow competitor (Go Iron Cowboy!) who rode with me out of Sand Hollow Reservoir and offered a few friendly words of encouragement and helped inspired me to keep going on the bike ride



Iron Cowboy gets his wetsuit stripped by a volunteer

• For race volunteers who offered me cold water, drinks, and food at the aid stations along the run and bike portions of the race
• For volunteers who held my bike for me while I had to use the Port-A-Potty (several times)
• For volunteers who had my "special needs" bag waiting for me on the side of the road when I rode up at the halfway point during the bike ride
• For a volunteer who held my bike for me while I made an emotional phone call to my dad during the middle of the race because I didn't think I could go on
• For a dad who probably panicked and feared the worst when he got an unexpected voice mail message from me during the middle of the race and couldn't get ahold of me afterwards
• For volunteers who fed me and gave me liquids in the tent following the bike ride
• For the enthusiastic volunteer who kept shouting: "Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Cinco...Cinco de Mayo!" in the T2 recovery tent (the race was on May 5th).  I think he came with another volunteer and he may have had some sort of mental handicap.  Although some competitors might have found it slightly annoying, I prefer to think that he was doing his best to share his enthusiasm with us.  And I made sure to offer him a sincere thanks before I left the tent to start the run with Scott.  =o)
• For fellow athletes who became new friends during the course of the race 



Team Skil shares a few steps with Ironman veteran and fellow ward member Doug D.
Thanks also to Royal for being behind the camera!

• For loyal friends from home who helped me train and prepare (both mentally and physically) for the race and who encouraged me along the way
• For a niece of my famous, game show champion brother-in-law who had an entire aid station cheering for "Team Dyer" every time we ran past (I still have no idea how she knew who we were!)
• For a wife who let me leave home and compete even though she was miserable and in extreme physical pain while taking care of the kids and holding down the fort back home for the entire weekend
• For a wife, mom, and brother who were watching the live feed from the race at nearly midnight and saw me cross the finish line
• For spectators who came out to cheer us on by the hundreds.  It really did make a huge difference!



I can't tell you how happy I was to be at this point--done!!

• For the volunteer (shamefully I never asked his name) who greeted me at the finish line, wrapped me in a space blanket and escorted me safely to the recovery area
• For literally thousands of friendly smiles and cheers from people all over St. George, Gunlock, and Veyo
• For sisters and cousins who told me that they would have come and watched me race if I had told them that I was doing the race (it didn't even occur to me that anyone would care enough to interrupt their Saturday and drive down to St. George just to see me and my brother do something that was obviously, in retrospect, crazy!)
• Congratulatory messages and kind words from good friends and family following the race and who never let me think I was failure despite the fact that I didn't achieve the goals that I had set for myself (literally, my cell phone was blowing up with supportive text messages when I finally turned it on at the end of the race)
• For my best friend and brother Scott, who literally did every step of the marathon with me, and who truly is an Ironman!

Like I said, it was truly an amazing and humbling experience to be treated so well by so many for doing so little.  The attitude of the volunteers is a true credit to the town of St. George and to the State of Utah!  It made me proud to be able to claim to have ties to the area.

I'm looking forward to being able to volunteer at another race or event in the future.  I hope that I can live up to the standard set by the amazing volunteers in St. George this past weekend!  Mahalo!