Go Brad Go!!! - Updates found below...

I'm SOOOooooo excited for my brother, Brad!!!

He's competing in his first ironman. The Ford Ironman USA started this morning in Lake Placid and it seems the Brad is doing well. After a 2.4 mile swim in 1:05:03, he was in 376th place. There are at least 2209 athletes competing, so I figure Brad's doing pretty well.

After a transition-to-bike time of 11:40 (what was he doing??) he's off on the first leg of the 112 mile bike.

I can't get in touch with anyone else, so I figured I'd update here. Poor Brad, who has not been training properly, is going to be a mess tomorrow when he has to return to his regularly scheduled, impossible to post-pone activities. So, send all your luck and best wishes his way. It's the run, later today, that is going to kill him. He's had a nagging injury that he's been nursing that is not going to be helped by a 26 mile run. But, boys being boys and all that, he decided to race today.

Good Luck to Brad...

UPDATE #1 - Bike Half Done (noon)

It seems Brad has safely passed the halfway mark of the 112 mile bike. His time is listed as 3:21:03 at the 56 mile mark.

The pic isn't Brad. I think it's some of the Men's leaders. In this particular Ironman, there are a group of Lady Pros racing. They're out in front right now (about 90ish miles into the bike portion) and the group referred to as the 'Age Group' men are behind the ladies. The live webcam is still showing a regular stream of bikers passing the halfway mark, so I am confident Brad is doing very well as a first time competitor. I heard it announced that there are about 900 first time competitors in the race today.

Go Brad Go!!

UPDATE #2 - Waiting, waiting....

We are closing in on 3 hours since Brad passed the halfway mark of the 112 mile bike. I expect Brad will be finishing the bike in the next hour. The Pro ladies are well into their 26.4 mile run. Many of the Age Group entrants have started their run. The webcam is showing the athletes as they are starting their run. We are also seeing pictures of bikers coming around the finishing corner. I hope Brad has had a good race thus far. I believe racers have until midnight to come across the final finish line....it could be a late night....

Back to the webcam I go.... Go Brad Go!!

UPDATE #3 - Run, Brad, Run!! (4:00 pm-ish)

I had been refreshing the results webpage obsessively and when I saw that Brad had completed the bike portion of his race, I yelled and jumped and called the kids. I'm getting very involved, here. Anyway, onto the nitty gritty....

Brad has finished the 112 mile bike ride in 7:07:15 earning him the rank of 1378 overall so far. He spent 15:18 in transition, readying himself for the 26.4 mile run. The webcam has been moved to the finish line, so I wasn't able to see Brad come out of the gates to start his run.

It seems the lady Pros are approaching the finish line. The leading lady has begun to walk in the last 3 miles, obviously hurting. Her sizable lead is diminishing as they approach the finish. The race for first place may be exciting yet.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed, say 94 Hail Mary's and make a bargain or two with the Big Guy for Brad, won't you? He's got 8 hours to finish his run. I'm hoping that he won't push himself too hard. I'm also hoping that he's thought way ahead and made himself a 'Special Needs' food bag to be picked up along the race course.

Run, Brad, Run!!

UPDATE #4 - Almost Finished!!(6:50 pm)

Brad has just finished the first half of his 26.2 mile run!!! He's running an average of 11:03/mile giving him a first-half time of 2:24:46. Go Brad Go!! I'm so excited to see that he's nearly finished this toughest leg (for him) of the Ironman. I really hope he's not hurting too much. If he can keep up this pace, he may be finished before dark. More of an accurate guess, I expect he'll cross the finish line shortly after 13 hours of racing. The time at the finish line currently is 11:54:12. I'll be back watching the live webcam in an hour or so. After watching all day, I certainly don't want to miss him crossing the finish line!!

UPDATE #5 - HE FINISHED!! HE FINISHED!!(9:30 pm-ish)

With a time of 14 hours and 23 minutes, Brad ran across the finish line!!! He placed somewhere around 1612th...More tomorrow...I have some phone calls to make!!

Good Job Brother!! I am very proud of you tonight!