IRONMAN AT COEUR D?ALENE - A FATHER?S STORY
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 25 Jun 2013
Wurly, Idaho -- It's not too often that a father gets an opportunity to feel super proud about the extraordinary feats his children achieve. When such feats are done for a great cause, the euphoria is exponentially heightened.
This story is about that.
My four children had been running marathons for the past several years. In fact they have joined and competed many including the famed LA Marathon several times. The proofs are the numerous medals hanging in their bedroom doors like Christmas d?cor.
So it was not a big surprise when 10 months ago my daughter Lisa announced nonchalantly that she would be doing the Ironman at Coeur d?Alene, a resort town in Idaho famous for its picturesque lake, rolling hills and crystal clear air.
?I like to challenge myself and get a chance to represent the Philippines in such world class activities,? she said.
Actually, we almost expected that to happen since Lisa was involved with the fund raising activities of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization dedicated to finding the cure for cancer. The Ironman organization is connected with the LLS.
As Lisa went about her fund raising activities, she hired a professional coach to train her how to boast her energy and expand her athletic abilities and endurance in swimming, biking and running.
Last Friday, June 21st, the whole family including our two grandchildren flew to Spokane, Washington and then drove two and half hours to get a room at the bucolic City of Wurly, Idaho which is about 24 miles from the City of Coeur d?Alene where the 2013 Ironman was being held.
The Ironman involves swimming for 2.4 miles; a 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2 miles run done within 12 hours without a break in between. The Ironman in Coeurr d?Alene started at 6:00 am and the cut-off time is midnight.
The night before the event, the LLS sponsored a short dinner program to announce the accomplishments in the fund raising activities and honor some members who did exceptionally well in raising funds to beat cancer. The Los Angeles group, where my daughter was involved, raised almost half a million dollars.
To our surprise, our daughter Lisa was the third highest fund raiser and was duly recognized for it by the LLS.
Top photo: Dad and daughter pose for a photo after Lisa's feat at Ironman 2013 in Idaho.
Lisa de la Vega crosses the finish line.
The race day started really early. We were up by 3:30 am to get to the race site by the lake at 6:00 am.
The elite participants started first followed by all the others according to their level of performances.
We stood by the lake side soaking in the atmosphere as we watched the participants go around a mile course twice not being able to identify where our daughter was until she came off the water waving her hands in sheer delight for having completed that portion of the race.
She then runs over to where her bike was and removes her swim gear (a rubber wet suite).
As soon as she went by, we all took off to another spot to catch her as she breezed past the huge crowd in her high tech bike that cost several thousand dollars, on her way to the rolling hills that surrounds the city.
After we saw her pass, we all retired back to the main hotel venue, as we knew that it would take her time to complete the loop before she starts her run.
Lisa completed the bike portion with a decent time for a first timer and headed to the changing area where she took off her riding gear and put on her running shoes and running outfit and headed on to run the next 26.2 miles to the finish line.
The top male winner crossed the finished line in a little over 8 hours (8:17:31) breaking the course record. His name is Ben Hoffman. The top female runner, Heather Wurlele, broke the course record as well with a time of 9:16:02.
It was not until much later that our daughter reached the finish line, where a mile before the line, she was handed the Filipino flag by my son and she ran the last mile proudly waving the Philippine flag.
As we saw her crossed the finished line, I felt so deeply emotional because we heard from the grapevine that many did not finish the race. And we also saw some that were brought to the medical tents in deep pain across their faces.
?I did it Momma,? Lisa said as she went to embrace her mother. Then she came to me, gave me a big hug, sobbed and said nothing. But no words were necessary. I knew deep within what the hug meant.
Lisa then went on to hug her siblings, her niece, nephew and her friends.
I did not know how to react after seeing all the emotional outbursts but as a father, every little of it was so meaningful and beyond words to describe.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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