We cheered for Tom as he competed in the Kansas Ironman 70.3 yesterday at Clinton Lake. He did a fantastic job, finishing strong and meeting his goal after nearly a year of training.
The swim course alone was extremely intimidating at 1.2 miles long. Tom was one of 2,000 competitors, which means a lot of flailing arms and legs in the lake. We were looking for a white swim cap–the color assigned to his heat.
There he is!
We didn’t get a great shot of Tom on the bike (he’s just too fast), but knocked off those 56 miles with relative ease. We saw him several times as the 13.1 mile run looped through the park. He said it was difficult, but he was smiling every time we caught sight of him.
Liv caught a quick nap in the shade of the finish chute while we waited. Fortunately for the athletes and spectators, the temperature was in the low 80s, instead of the mid 90s like the day before.
At the finish line with some pretty big fans.
One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting Tom’s sister Jenn (left) and seeing his sister Sarah (right) again. We had a great time getting to know them.
Seventy miles in just a few short hours–I found the whole thing incredibly inspirational. Congrats, Tom!
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by Karyl on June 7, 2010 at 6:59 pm
So – is this your next goal?
Posted by Karyl on June 7, 2010 at 6:59 pm
BTW – Tom’s sisters are very pretty!
Posted by Karyl on June 7, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Oh, and congratulations to Tom – was he pleased with his performance?
Posted by Jessica on June 7, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Good job Tom! I am amazed that anyone can do this…it’s very inspiring. Tom doesn’t even look that tired at the end.
Posted by Laura on June 8, 2010 at 8:46 am
I can’t believe that Tom–or anyone–CHOOSES to do this. And he’s SMILING. Why were we not all blessed with that attitude?
Posted by Rebecca on June 8, 2010 at 8:51 am
Karyl, I can’t even imagine something like this. I would like to be more serious about biking, but I doubt I could ever add the swimming. And, there’s no way I could do any of these things at this distance, you know? Maybe a mini if this training goes well. It’s definitely remarkable and inspiring. To answer your other questions, he did do very well–about 5.5 hours, which was his very ambitious goal. Also, his sisters are indeed gorgeous, and extremely nice to boot!
Posted by Nicky on June 8, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Way to go Tom! I bet he loved his cheering section 🙂
Posted by Laura on June 8, 2010 at 11:23 pm
The whole family also has exquisite teeth.