Lake Placid Ironman

And I thought running a marathon was tough . . .

This past weekend, Joseph, Billy and I drove over 15 hours to get to Lake Placid, NY to watch my brother-in-law Ben complete his first Ironman. One word: incredible.

Ben is a stud. He finished in 10 hours and 51 minutes. And if you don't know what an Ironman entails, well, let me tell ya:

2.4 mile Swim
112 mile Bike
26.2 mile Run

I can barely do 1/3 of that. Ben you are amazing.

This was quite a "spur-of-the-moment" trip for the three of us. I didn't even think about going until about two weeks ago when we decided to make this work to go support Ben. Family first! And I am so glad we did, but it wasn't easy . . .

We left on Friday afternoon only to hit 2 1/2 hours of traffic out of Chicago. Rough start to the trip. Made our way through the boring state of Indiana and into Ohio where Billy drove through a monsoon of a storm. You are a champ, Billy.

Joseph took over somewhere in Ohio and drove all the way to some place in New York - about six hours later. Thanks for staying awake, when I wasn't. ;) This is where we decided to stop at Niagara Falls. Incredible at 3:00 A.M.- no one was there but us and the amazing sound of the falls. God is great!

My turn to drive . . . 3:30 A.M. We were off to Lake Placid (pit stop at Starbucks @ 5:00 A.M. - had to) only to get onto a twisty-turny highway that eventually led us into Lake Placid at about 9:00-10:00 A.M with a million people running, walking or biking on the roads. Had some good laughs in the car with my driving and us on no sleep. ;) But, finally, we got there. And boy, was that place amazing. Thank you mom and dad Snare for getting this place . . .



Once we got there, we settled in and then went into the main part of town so Ben could drop off his stuff for the race. And then walked around the shops, and got another Starbucks to get me rollin' for the day.

From there we went Bobsledding - check out the pics:





Really neat to go down the same course they did 20 years ago for the 1980 Winter Olympics. We got the best time of the day - Gold Medal for us:





Next Morning: Sunday --- day of the race. Here we go . . .

Swimming: Let me tell ya, if I was in that chaotic mess, I would drown. Check it out:



And of course, Ben did amazing, coming out of the swim in about 57 minutes. Really?!

Bike: We went to an area to see Ben on his second loop of the Bike where Billy dressed up in his "Tour de France" outfit and it was quite a hit, he even got Ben to smile . . .



Running: I know how rough Running can be, but I can't image running a MARATHON after swimming and biking! I can barely finish a marathon by itself. Ben = Rockstar.

Side Note:

This is Jocelyn. She is an upcoming pro and stayed in the house with us. She is great and was always smiling. The best part - she has those Starbucks Frappuccino drinks in her camel pack. No joke. How awesome is that. I would vomit if I drank that on my run:



This is Ryan from the Bachelorette, Trista's husband. Lindsay and I got a kick out of seeing him and Trista:



End: 10 hours and 51 minutes later, Ben crossed the finish line. Amazing. Glad I got this shot. You came out of no where . . .



Ben, we are super proud of you. This is quite the achievement that not many people can say they have accomplished. You are probably one of the most determined, dedicated individuals that I know. Your desire to achieve these types of goals have not only encouraged me to push myself but others as well. You truly deserve this and you should be extremely proud of yourself. Amazing to see how God has given you the ability and talents to accomplish an Ironman. You just finished an IRONMAN, now go brag. . . eat a lot. . . and get some rest! . . . . I am a proud Sister.

The crew:



Love this:



Proud Mama and her artistic skills:




** Pictures from Ben and Karen Snare. Check out Ben's FB page for more pics.