IMLP: Spectator Report

This past weekend was Ironman Lake Placid, which I am sure most of you know, was the Ironman that I did last year as my first Ironman ever! Since I decided to do 2 different Ironman races this year, but many of my teammates and friends were doing IMLP, I made the trip up to the ADKs (with Solveig) to spectate/support the many racers. The experience was amazing - JUST as special as actually racing IMLP, and I am eager to share it with everyone!

Solveig and I riding through Saranac Lake

We left nice and early on Saturday morning, drove Solveig's Prius to our cottage in Ray Brook, checked in, and went for a 1.5 hour ride through Saranac Lake and out towards Paul Smith College. It was really fun, the scenery was beautiful, and there were some nice rolling hills so we got a good workout! Then we headed into town to meet up with Mary and company for dinner. This is the fun part about NOT racing Ironman - you can get drunk at the Lake Placid Brew Pub the night before the race and not worry about it! (Not that I did that.. and not that I texted anyone who was racing and taunted them with my tipsy status).

our table at the Brew Pub

Sunday morning we got up super early so that we could get into town with plenty of time. We found Mary and a bunch of Train-This teammates, wished everyone good luck, and then set off to deliver bags to special needs and watch the swim start. The Ironman swim start is really something special, and there is a lot of emotion even with the spectators! While everyone was swimming loop 1, we headed to get some breakfast. I thought we would hit up a little shop in town, but Mary led us to.. a gas station. It's always classy with Mary Eggers in charge! Then we headed down to the mount line and watched a bunch of our athletes set out on the bike course! We then went back to the swim to watch the finals swimmers come in (the cutoff is 2 hours and 20 mins), then headed out to Papa Bear to cheer everyone up the hill for the completion of 1 loop of the bike course.

crazy Matt Kellman on the run in his neon yellow outfit!

After that, we set up the Score-This tent (because Rich Clark was there) at the top of "Rich Clark Hill" (can you see why it's called this?) with 2 microphones and a speaker. Rich Clark Hill is that steep hill that brings you back into town. It's a bitch, so we were at the top trying to motivate people up it! Rich and Jeremy just went non-stop all day - it was awesome! It was also a great place to see all my teammates, Rochester friends, and creepy blog friends that were racing because they went past 4 times over the course of the marathon.

Mary, Rich, and Jeremy

After 5:30 I went to check Kim's bike out of transition, and I walked it down to her condo. I saw Greg Glaser on the run and he was looking strong. Then we made our way over to the oval and watched people finish for a while. I saw Kim, Greg, and Josh run across the finish line but I missed everyone else.

Just some highlights of the really exciting parts of the day (along with some of my favorite photos!):

Probably the most exciting thing was Travis E. PRing with a 10:10, getting 4th in his AG, and getting a freaking KONA SLOT! For those of you who don't know Travis's background, he crashed on the Keene descent of loop 2 in IMLP 2009, broke his collarbone, and has been training since he healed with a vengeance for this race. Even though he is not a member of Train-This, he is Kim's boyfriend and we were ALL rooting for him. I don't think anyone deserves a Kona slot more than Travis!

Travis right after getting on the bike

We also saw White Hot race, I met his wife (the Commander) and his daughter (Teegan). He placed in the top 20 overall (not sure where), podiumed in his AG, and KQed for the 2nd time this year!


One of our athletes, Jochen, was flying. He led the Train-This crew for the entire race and finished in ~10:30. He's like a ghost - you don't hear from (or see) Jochen for 9 months before the race, and then BAM - he shows up and kills it!

Ken DESTROYED the run - he ran a 4:22 (which included many, many porta-potty breaks) and finished sub-12.

this is me running with Ken and yelling
that he was going to go sub-12!

Kim ALSO destroyed the race, with a HUGE PR of 12:16. She nailed her bike split right on the head and ran super well considering she was injured for the majority of her training. I am super proud of her!

look how pumped she is on Papa Bear!

Greg was doing his first Ironman ever, and was doing great until the run where he couldn't keep his nutrition down. So for 20 miles of the run, he was basically projectile vomiting. At one point, we were waiting for him, and then Ken and Kim both ran past us.. but no Greg (who had been in front of them both the last time we saw them). Ken told Amanda that Greg was vomiting at mile 6 and that he might have been taken by medical. Amanda was really worried so her and Greg's parents set off to the oval to see if he was in the med tent. He finally came up the hill, and I told him what was going on (why his family wasn't there), made sure he was ok (i.e. coherent and not about to collapse) and then sent him up to where Mary was at the QT2 tent, where Jesse took control. He totally HTFUed it for the rest of the day and finished in 12:20 with a GREAT attitude! I am calling Greg's day the "puke and rally."

Travis, Greg, Kim

I saw my creepy blog friend Jon on loop 1 of the run. I yelled his name and he told me that he had "a cupcake with my name on it" waiting for me at the house he was staying at. He did great, finished in 12:05 for his first Ironman, and I TOTALLY went and got my cupcake the next morning before I headed home! Check out his race report!

Jon and I the day after Ironman

I saw my other creepy blog friend Mandy on the run course as well. I knew she was wearing blue, and I thought I saw her walking up the hill (no shame in walking up that steep hill - TONS of people do it) so I yelled "Mandy?" and she didn't hear me. So I then yelled "MANDY!" - still no response. I was determined to not let her get by so I ran up behind her screaming "MAAAAAAAANDY" at the top of my lungs, jumping up and down, and waving my arms in the air like a maniac. She then turned around and started waving her arms too.. it was really funny! Make sure you check out her race report (she is writing it in 3 parts). She is totally hilarious, takes everything in stride, and is super smiley all the time!

My 3rd creepy blog friend Emily was also racing. Unfortunately, I did not see her during the race, but I hooked her up with last minute lodging so she was in the cabin right next to the one that Solveig and I were staying in. I may have left a creepy note on her door while she was gone.

At the finish line, I was sitting on the hill with Mary and Solveig after we had watched Kim and Greg finish (and gone over to congratulate them). I said "wow, I haven't seen Josh all day" and Mary replied "I wonder how he's doing?" And then I looked up and said "hey.. I think that's Josh running down the finish chute right now!" So funny and random!

Basically, it was a really fun and inspiring day. It has me pumped all over again to race Ironman Wisconsin in less than 7 weeks. And it was SO FUN to cheer on all of the Train-This athletes (Jochen, Ken, Kim, Greg, Josh, Rich, Tim, Deb, & Stefany) along with EVERYONE ELSE! I am also still hoarse from all of the screaming that I did! I obviously can't describe every single person's race, I just touched on a few: Ken and Kim are 2 of my training buddies and Greg is a good friend of mine. But every single person did great - either PRing or doing their first Ironman ever so it was a really, really great day! I am SO PROUD of everyone!!!