Jamie's Half Ironman Race

Jamie has done the Spudman triathlon in Burley, Idaho, two or three times, but this year she and her three friends entered the Vikingman Half Ironman, which is next door to Burley, in Heyburn, and which is twice the distance, meaning about 10 times the difficulty. This race entails a 1.2-mile swim in the Snake River, a 55.6-mile bike race, and a 13.1-mile run (half marathon).

I headed out on Friday evening and stayed in The Budget Motel in Burley. To get to the motel I had to drive through the parking lots of a Chevron Station, a Perkins Restaurant, and a Best Western Hotel. Each had a little sign directing me to keep going to The Budget Motel. 

I left my car at the motel and rode my mountain bike the three miles to the race start. 

The four racers. I think they are Kelley, Trisha, Nita and Jamie. (Please correct me if I got any of these wrong.)

Getting the rules from the official lady with the microphone: Don't draft. Don't ride within three bike lengths of anyone else. If someone passes you, you must immediately drop back three bike lengths. Don't let friends or relatives help you in any way. Don't listen to music. Don't use your phone. Don't. Don't. Don't a bunch of stuff. 

Finally, the women are out of the 45-degree 7:30 a.m. air and into the 65-degree water. 

Jamie is excited and ready. 

And they're off. 

Yes, that's Jamie in the front. 

And at the end of the 1.2-mile swim. 

She transitions to her bike. 

Farm equipment has to wait for the bikes to pass, but the bikes are spread out pretty thin, so the wait is only a minute or two. 

Jamie (in the back) and Kelley (peace sign). They rode side by side and chatted for a bit, and Jamie got written up and penalized four minutes (that apparently was a Don't).

Jamie comes by again. 

And again. They did four loops to make 55.6 miles. Notice my mountain bike piled with camera gear, a stool, lunch and other stuff leaning against the post. Riding my bike was a great idea. I didn't have to fight for parking or walk several miles to see the action. I sat on this corner for three hours or so while the bikers whizzed by. Many thought I was a volunteer or officiator and thanked me. Just to be clear, I didn't do any officiating. A cop even stopped to see what I was doing. I was sitting on a stool with a camera waiting for Jamie to go by. That's what I was doing for three or so hours. 

And the run is on. This is Jamie's friend Nita, who was always a bit in front of Jamie, so when Nita went by I knew to pay attention, because Jamie would soon follow. 

And here she is. 

And here she is again. I was at 300 West, and the turnaround was almost to 200 West. These are farm blocks, so each block is a full mile. The runners did two loops. So on the second loop, I was at about mile 9 on the outbound and mile 11 on the return. 

This is a small part of the running route but shows what the entire route looked like. 

This is my viewing seat. 

My view. 

Nita finishes second in her class. 

Jamie finishes third in her class (not counting the four-minute penalty). She got a medal. 

This is Trisha. Kelly was already in when I got here. I don't know if they placed in their classes, but I think they did. 

The four awesome women. 

Four finishers.