Spectator's report :) Hard job, but somebody gotta do it!!!

Todd seeing the kids on the side lines...see the love:)

Skylar holding the go blogger girl's/dad signs:)

Mason peeing in the Ohio river....don't worry it was after the swim:)

the main kid entertainment:)

Kate-Monster starting the run:)

The kids camping out waiting....waiting:)

WHeeeew I made it in one piece.....if you are a Mom and a wife of a Ironman husband you can so relate of the pressure of making sure everything goes smoothly on race day!!! I woke up at 5:30a.m. and got myself ready and all the snacks and drinks packed for the long day...woke one kid up at a time and got them feed and ready to go..after 2 STROLLERS(which we bought the night before the race) packed to the max and ready to roll....going along and shit there are 3 flights of stairs we have to go down to get to the swim finish...WTF am I going to do???? Luckily there were people getting ready to go down also and asked me if they could help....Me like always thinking "I CAN HANDLE EVERYTHING" don't like being a burden on people..."I think I can get it...well the look on my face must have said it all...they did not listen to me and proceeded to pick up the other end of the stroller...THANK YOU!!!!!

We get to the swim finish and I pushed my way to get a good viewing spot...front row baby:) I see E getting out with a super fast swim and right after there was Bree.....Todd came out looking good I am stoked......I missed Kate :( I waited around for Mira...knowing how much she loves swimming (NOT) and wanted to make sure she made it out safely....but the kids started to whine and wanted a new spot to go hang out at..so to the park we go!!!!!

I was kind of bummed as I could not hear any race updates being announce and I knew E and Bree were up there with the leader of the swim pack....

We headed back to the room for a bit and I got online and looked up Mira and was so happy to see she made the swim:) Bree was in the lead on the bike and was getting ready to hit T2..so we decided to head back to the race..along the way I hear some people shout hey Mel...we read your blog:) that was so cool and I had the pleasure of meeting Bree's family who I ran into on the corner of the street (Cricket) a fellow blogger and Bree's aunt!!!

I ended up finding the PERFECT spot for a spectator a place where there where water fountains for the kids to play in and it happened to sit right in the middle of where the bikers come in and the runners run out...PERFECT!!!! So I stayed parked there for 2 hours and a HUGE thank you to Kel (Kate Monster's) sister for keeping me updated(by text) on Kate and Todd..that was a BIG help!!! I was bummed as I did not know how Bree was doing until my friend BR called me and I said "please tell me you are following the race on line" he let me know the status on Bree and that was when I learned she was not feeling so hot :( but I knew she would fight till the end!!!

I saw Kate come in off the bike looking strong and saw her starting the run......Todd came in looking good and was very excited to see the kids as you can tell on his face in the photo above...but he said to me...which I hear EVERY time " I hate these things" just to let everyone know this was his 15th FULL Ironman...and he is training for the Ultraman....yeah he really hates these things :)

I gathered all the kids up and ran up to our room again and cleaned them up and headed to the finish line...by the time we got there I had 2 kids sleeping and the other 2 saying Dad needs to hurry up!!! I PUSH my way to a good spot again and park the strollers with kids hanging half in and half out....people giving me the "are you nuts" look..I am elbow to elbow with my neighbors....but I had the perfect spot...SEE my main job was to make sure the kids were there at the finish so Todd could run through with all 4 kids...and that was my main focus...I get nervous "what if I can't pick the 2 older ones over the wall divider..."what if I miss him" "what if the two little ones are still sleeping by the time he gets there" what if they are taking a potty break" ect....I was driving myself nuts.....then my phone rings IT WAS TODD...yes he stopped at the side of the road and asked if he could use their phone and called me to let me know he was on mile 17 and starting to run again..so here I am doing calculations in my head trying to get prepared of the hand off....I was getting worried...as I got the text from Kel that Kate Monster was out of the race and heading to the med tent......then I see E coming down the finish shoot with the death look on her face but still managing to look hot....it seems like everyone was out there have struggles of to just finish....Everyone was saying how HOT it was....It really did not bother me much as I think I was kept so busy it was not on my mind......but again I was not out there racing!!!! My phone rings again and some stranger calls and says your husband has 2 more miles to go and he will see you soon!!! See how Todd does not really care about his times, he does these races to spread the word of Racing for Recovery:) so I am pulling kids out of the strollers putting shoes on and here comes Todd I start pushing the kids under the divider and handed Mason to Todd...the crowd went crazy and the smiles where huge and the mission was accomplished:) A very proud moment!!!!

So today I feel the bruising on the bottom of my feet and my head feels like I got hit by a train...I have endless piles of laundry and kids that WON"T go to bed and a husband who has been in bed since 7 :) at times of being a spectator...I think I would have rather been racing (skip the swim part)....but at the end it was ALL worth it....getting to meet E, Kate-Monster, her amazing family, her coach John....Mira...Bree's sweet family and some other cool fellow bloggers......the best was just to be out there and seeing all the racers following their dreams/goals even if they were hurting to get there....families over joyed of there loved ones finishing...I had to hold my own tears back just watching!!!! I don't know how anyone could watch one of these Ironman races live and not get motivated to do one some day:) Congratulations to all of you!!!! Be proud!!!