IRONMAN AUGUSTA 70.3

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

Echoing the feedback of teammates from huddles all over the Southeastern United States, the Augusta 70.3 Ironman brought glory to God in more ways than one on Sunday. With well over 2,500 athletes competing, team FCA Endurance made quite a ripple as huddles from all over represented their Lord and Savior.

Here are just a few highlights (as the stories keep pouring in)...South Metro Atlanta's own Brenda Herrington finished her 6th 70.3 Ironman finish   
with a Personal Record of 4:52:06 finishing first in her age division and 27th overall out of a field of 715 female athletes. You go girl!!!!  Her teammate Doug Delzell maintained a steady pace throughout the event while fighting through the final dregs of bronchitis and feeling a bit under the weather...he was a trooper and very motivated! To God Be the Glory!!!

Teammate David Sawyer from the North Atlanta huddle was all smiles crossing the finish line..as the Leader of one of our newest huddles, his love for God and passion for racing is evident to all.   What few did not realize is that he had experienced a significant fall on his bike two weeks prior to the race and spent the time leading up to the event recovering.  It was amazing to watch him race!

Savannah's huddle placed Leader Steve White in the arena of competition as part of a strong male relay team matched up against none other than their own wives who are also very strong competitors. When the race results were posted, the guys had barely beaten their wives by :30 overall. Even more impressive was their final results, where racing under the name "sisters in christ" FCA teammates, Leigh, Nicki and Celinda placed 2nd overall for all female relay teams. Their husbands, JJ, Steve and Kalen finished an impressive 5th place overall for male relays.

This huddle also saw four of their own complete the entire 70.3: Jonathan, Charlie, Eric and Greg (who trained a mere 16 weeks by himself out on the road for work before completing the entire race as a Clydesdale).          

All throughout the course, teammates from other huddles tenaciously wore their yellow tri-tops, pushed past the hurdles and pain and faced their competition with the face of Christ. It has been speculated this was the largest 70.3 Ironman to date and a fast race to boot.

With the Iron Prayer kicking off the weekend, there was no doubt who was the focus of much of the Endurance Team athletes. They knew why they were racing...          
                                                                                    
       

Savannah Sprint Triathlon #3 Final Race

05/16/2009

Jekyll Island Race Recap

What can I say…you guys are amazing!  Here is the race recap…we had 12 teammates travel to the event,  9 competed (Steve, Leigh, Kalen, Tim, Nikki, Jonathan, Anne, Leslie and Christine) and 3 volunteered (Ben, Laura and Kylene). 

Out of 9 athletes, 7 placed and let’s not forget the intestinal fortitude and strength of Anne and Leslie who competed in their first Triathlon.   Way to go!!!!

Kalen Smith- 3^rd place MEN OVERALL SPRINT; 1^st place 25-29 Male Sprint

Nicole Jones-1^st place 20-24 Women Sprint

Leigh White-1^st place 25-29 Women Olympic

Steve White-1^st place 40-44 Men Sprint

Jonathan Beckman-2^nd place 25-29 Men Sprint

Tim Trask-3^rd place 25-29 Men Sprint

Christine Doolittle-3^rd place 20-24 Women Sprint

Leigh White-says as she was swimming along the shoreline during each breath she could see all of the yellow t-shirts of her teammates walking along the shoreline keeping in sync with her strokes. It motivated her since she had an entire team backing her up and she knew why we were running.

Jonathan spotted Anne coming through the final curve of the race and ran next to her encouraging her on.  Not only was this a force in team support, but what a great story of a husband/wife team competing together…especially since this was Anne’s first race!!!

All of you remarked that it was awesome encountering another FCA teammate at various points during the race especially the  high fives and encouragement when you passed each other.  This also included encountering other teammates from other huddles.

Leigh White said when she hit the wall physically during the last couple of miles, she encountered another athlete who kept pace with her a little and just kept shouting out words of encouragement.  She said it blew her away by the fact that he was doing the exact same thing the team was doing during the competition.

The entire FCA team gathered at the finish line to high five and congratulate each athlete as they crossed.  For some of the athletes this was surprising as they may have come to the race alone.

Ben held down the fort at the table and really went above and beyond in terms of serving and being a representative force for the team.  After the race was over, he gave up a chair under our tent for a 70 year old athlete, named Phil, who was exhausted and not feeling well, and was able to share with him what our team was all about.  Phil remarked we were hard to miss.

The sheer number of teammates who went to the event was unreal.  We were a mass of yellow jerseys and t-shirts everywhere and smiling constantly.  Our focus never waned, but it was evident to all that we loved what we do and the encouragement motivated spectators to keep encouraging.

Team FCA Endurance is a force.  That was evident during the awards ceremony when it seemed like every time they called out a place for the different age groups, a member of our team went forward to collect.  That certainly raised a number of eyebrows and interest in our team.

During lunch at Applebees, Leigh White was stopped by a man sitting at the bar who asked what who we were and unaware that FCA had an endurance team.  He used to lead a huddle in a school and was visibly encouraged by our entire team.