My Sister, the Triathlete!!!

My sister would never brag about herself. So I'll do it for her!!! You see, today we had the pleasure of watching her compete in her first triathlon! She did the Pumpkinman Triathlon in South Berwick, just a short jaunt from where we live!

Jen and her friend stayed with us last night...a good thing becuse the venue is about 3 1/2 hours from where she lives and they wanted to get there at 6am!!! It was fun to have them with us and I got to feed them a nutritious, yummy meal for dinner (that my friend Amy recommended for pre-race eats). Jason and I got up early this morning as well and packed one adorable - still sleeping in her footy pajamas - miss Ella into the car and went to cheer them on/be their official race photographer!

So here's the bragging part....This was Jen's first triathlon. She has been sick all week, and is still sick. She couldn't breath very well on the run course and after the race was done was quoted as saying, "That wasn't bad at all. I really didn't push myself." And this is how she finished:

4th in her age group (only 2min. 25sec. off the 2nd place finishers time)
44th out of all the women
146th overall (out of 431 finishers)

Here's the photo montage for you!!!

The venue, Spring Hill Event Center in South Berwick, Maine:
The crowd gathered at the swim start:
The lovely hill that awaited the athletes as they exited the swim portion. Whoever sprinted up this hill the fasted won a special prize!Miss Ella showing Jen who's her #1 fan!Jen, pre-race, getting ready in the transition area:Auntie Jen with her #1 fan! (Ella appeared quite puzzled by Auntie Jen's funny outfit!)Exiting the swim (1/3 mile), running up the hill about the pass that lady in front of her that looks like she's fixin' to keel over! (By the way, Jen's swim time posted 95th overall out of 431 athletes!)Coming in on the bike (14.2 miles). (She said she passed a lot of people on the bike portion.)
Lookin' cool as a cucumber, waving and smiling for the camera, headed out for the run (5k). (She said she didn't even push it on the run. She soon passed that lady in front of her.)Coming down the homestretch, looking strong!And there she goes, sprinting past the lady in pink and crossing the finish line!
Congratulations Jen! YOU ROCK!!!