Bethany Beach Triathlon

Jamie had been training all summer long to do the Outer Banks triathlon with her Uncle Dan on September 16th unfortunately it was cancelled due to hurricane Florence which had just gone through the state of North Carolina. She was very disappointed that her hard work wasn't going to end with the race. Anyway, we found out about the 1st responders sports weekend in Bethany Beach Delaware. They were having a triathlon the following weekend. After looking at it we were able to get registered for the event the following Sunday September 23. I booked a room at the Fenwick Inn about 10 minutes down the road in Ocean City, MD. I go the car loaded with some beach, chairs, toys and the bike and we left Saturday after lunch. It was  a little over cast but there were still people on the beach. We setup our chairs and Camden played in the sand. We checked out the water temperature which really wasn't that bad. The current and surf were difficult and noone was really in the water. We did however see someone practicing their swim.

Jamie and Maureen went to the 1st timers meeting at the firehouse later that afternoon. They were given information about the race the next morning. Good thing they went because the bike was not ready. There was some issue with the handlebars and the tires were extremely under inflated. Anyway, there was a volunteer there who took care of both issues and gave Jamie a quick lesson on getting the wheel on and off. Good thing they did that because she may have had tire issues during the race and possibly crashed. Maureen also had a few questions about spectating the race. I chilled out on the side of the Firehouse. There was a little common area with a few picnic tables and a small playground at the church across the street. The meeting took about and hour. After that we left to get checked in to our hotel. Once checked in we walked across the street and the 5 of us had a bite to eat and Bills Sandwich shop.

The next morning was race day. I awoke at 5 am and went down to the van. It was raining. At that point it was just a drizzle and not to bad.. According to other competitors it has never rained in the 10 years they had been having the race. The transition are was open from 5:30 - 6:45. We arrived around 6 Jamie got her transponder and got settled into the transition area. I wished her luck and went back to the hotel to get Maureen, Camden and Charleigh. I gathered them up and we headed back to Bethany Beach to watch the race. When we arrived the swimmers were already down the beach. We heard that officials has shortened the swim because of the conditions. It was only a 500 meter. Jamie left in the last wave with pink hats. Maurren watched from where you could see them come out of the water but somehow missed Jamie. Me and the children were over by the finish and saw here enter the transition area. Big smiles around when she saw us there. She had done the swim in like 10 minutes and was happy to get on the bike. The rain was coming down pretty well at this point. She did the 18 mile bike in just over an hour. She was very pleased with that because she had passed so many people during the ride. We were waiting under cover by the transition area when she came in. It was really pouring now. But off she went on the 4.6 mile run. She did it in 45 minutes and came hobbling down the boardwalk where we were all cheering at the finish line. There was an after party for participants at the Grotto Pizza right off the boardwalk. Jamie had a beer and some stuff to eat. It was still pouring when we left. We went back to the hotel got cleaned up, made a stop at Fisher's Popcorn and then headed home. It was a fun time for our family. Hope we do it again another year with other participants.