Erik Balin won the swim for guessing 1:30:00 (actual split 1:29:55)
Janell Robertson won both the bike and the run guessing 7:30:00 and 5:20:00 (actual splits 7:27:28 and 5:29:33)
And my Dad wins the overall time for guessing 14:52:00 (actual time 14:55:44)
Thanks to everyone who sent a guess!
Final fundraising tally: almost $9400! Easily exceeding my team minimum of $8900. Thanks to the over 130 donors! The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society gets over 75 cents out of every fundraising dollar to patient & family programs and research. Our team in Lake Placid also won the team prize from the Janus Charity Challenge, and got another $8500 donated. Our group in Lake Placid raised close to $200,000, and the overall Ironteam has raised over $535,000. As I said at the lunch, when doctors figure out the cure, we’ll have all played a part, and Louie’s star will have shined the way.
So what do I do now that it’s over? People have warned me that there’s some inevitable letdown after achieving such a huge goal. I have another big adventure of a different sort lined up… I’m going to be moving to Chicago in October. Starting life in a new city ought to make Ironman look like a piece of cake, but I’m very excited about it! As for racing… well, I don’t suppose I’m likely to ever take on a bigger event than ironman. And while I might do another one someday—the whole event and everything that led up to it was so amazing—I’m not going to do it any time too soon. (I think a couple of my spectators might have caught the bug though…) I have signed up for the New York City marathon for this fall… right now I’m on a well-earned break from training, and I’m only going to do this race if it feels fun to run again. Oh, and I think I might just get that Ironman logo tatooed on my ankle… I think I’ll always be proud enough of this!
I really have had the most amazing time doing this. A ton of people deserve thanks for helping make this happen—my amazing coaches and teammates, my honorees for inspiring me, too many friends and family to name, especially Mom, Dad, Brian, Roger, Bonnie, Martha and Katee for coming to cheer in Lake Placid and generally being the most dedicated of fans. Also, for the photos on this site – Roger, Samir, Kurt & Ginger, Dave and Sandra, and the official photographers from the race.
Triathlon is always talked about as being among the most individual of sports, but what we learn every time is that it’s more rewarding as a team sport, and ordinary people can achieve extraordinary goals with help from all their friends.
Thank you all.
-Neal
MORE PICTURES:
Samir’s pictures (check out training pictures from the whole season by going to his site, and click on updatesà Team photos)