7am...drizzling rain, cool temps and a beautiful backdrop for the start to the CAF triathlon. Although we were exhausted (which I know sounds terrible considering we are sitting here staring at triathletes beginning their race), we managed to haul ourselves up and out of bed to get down to the start of the swim. I am SO glad that we did. I have heard from people that this is one of the most amazing sights to see and they were dead on.
The first round of athletes to go out in the water are the challenged athletes. The most inspiring round to watch for sure. I have never attempted a mile swim in the ocean, but I know that it cannot be easy and to see these men and women get carried into the ocean because they are missing one or two or even three limbs and start swimming against these waves...it is impossible not to feel emotional. It was just a swell of pride about the human race in general. It was so exciting to see people pushing themselves, going beyond what physical limitations might have been set upon them and accomplishing this giant athletic feat. There were hundreds of people watching the swimmers get ready and it is almost impossible to set the scene...giant crowds gathered around, overlooking the bluff, still and silent. The sun just trying to peak through the clouds - giving us some relief from the constant nagging rain and the cold wind. A calm giant ocean and a beach full of wetsuits and pink swim capped heads all stretching and rolling about in the sand and water...anxiously awaiting their signal to start.
My favorite part about getting the chance to watch the pre-race happenings on the beach was watching the camaraderie between the athletes. They are all competing against each other, but at the same time are all competing on the same team. I love to watch them encourage each other, push each other into the water, carry a friend in with them. As humans, we are naturally drawn to those who have similar situations to us and the bond that these athletes share is unmistakable and quite an honor to observe. The crowds were gathering and more volunteers and athletes were making their way down to the beach to get started. The rain had stopped momentarily and everyone was buzzing with excitement - these guys just wanted to get into that ocean and get going!! Everyone was hopping (quite literally) with energy and it was impossible to not get caught up in the feeling. I could not wait for them to get started either!!
And, oh my, what a sight it was when they blew the horn to begin. Everyone in the water, everyone swimming and my eyes were teary and my heart was full. What an incredible thing to witness...I know that I am not doing it justice, but I hope you are able to get a small sense of what a beautiful morning this was.
And it was a surprisingly short amount of time before the first group was swimming back and exiting the water. The first person out of the water was a woman who had competed in and won many Ironman competitions. The first challenged athlete (and second person) out of the water was a man named Rudy Garcia...a bi-lateral amputee who just brought home medals for swimming in the Paralympics. Watching them going into the water was pretty amazing, but watching them come out....now that makes your heart stop. The volunteers typically rush over to help the challenged athletes out of the water, but 9 out of 10 of them refused the help and just scooted or hopped along the sand themselves...then of course they used their arms to get all the way up a long flight of stairs and tag their team member to start off the bike portion of the race.
We did not see much of the bike or running portions of the race - they all started in the same place and then took off all over San Diego. We did see people cross the finish line later in the day and it was just as exciting as you can imagine. What a sense of accomplishment for these competitors.
The fight in these athletes, the will to prove the world wrong, to prove something to themselves, to go against all odds...it is inspiring. The CAF had t-shirts at the triathlon that said 'Move and Be Moved' and there are not four better words to sum up the experience and feelings that I had over the weekend. This is an event that I know I will attend in the future (I don't know that I will ever participate in the 'move' part of the event), but I know I will be at the starting point for the swim...and I know I will continue to be moved.
*For more pictures from the entire weekend, you can go to the CAF Flickr Page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/challengedathletes/sets/72157631838442293/#2012SanDiegoTriathlonChallengePhotos
And the Ossur Flickr Page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ossurcorp/sets/72157631860249081/
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