They finished off those two events with a 26.2-mile marathon that passed directly by our condo. Lots of people lined to street to support the athletes. The family below shouted their encouragement, and offered a bit of humor as well with their hand-printed signs.
The young boy's asks, "Did you lock your bike?" Many a runner gave him a thumbs up sign! On the reverse side he asked, "Are your shorts still wet?" His mother's sign says, "Smile if you're not wearing underwear." That caused quite a few more smiles than you might think!
The winner, Andrew Starykowicz (below), completed the event in 8 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds. (All pics except the one above are from the PCB News Herald.)
All the more impressive is what happened after his last Ironman competition in Abu Dhabi (U.A.E.) in March. He was thrown in jail for a month because he ran into a volunteer who darted in front of him to collect water bottles. Starykowicz had to pay what he calls a "blood money bond" to secure his release.
The first female to cross the line was Austrian Yvonne van Vlerken. She did it with a course-record time of 8 hours, 51 minutes and 35 seconds.
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