FCA E Columbia: May 2009

Hi Team,

May has come and almost gone and with it so have several races. Bubba recently completed the White Lake Half in NC, and several teammates made the trip to Clemson to race in the Sprint distance race.

Here's an account from Bubba of his day at White Lake ...

"Well I survived the heat fest. It was HOT. I think it reached 90 while I was on the bike. The venue is a beautiful place. The lake is clear and terrain is flat. I am happy with my swim and okay with my bike. I needed some more time in the saddle prior to the race as the first 28 miles went great and pretty fast (fast for me) the second was windy and I was ready to be done. My run just stunk. I am disappointed because I put in a lot run time. The run was hot with no shade and this caused it to be difficult. I did my share of walking. Cramps in the quads did not help. ( I think that is all the excuses I have for now) I was trying to represent the team well. I did get to talk to a few folks about FCA-E and I did not see any other FCA jerseys.. I vow to to do better at the SC half!! Woohooo! back to training today!!

swim-38 (including a long run to T1)

bike-2:59

run-2:33 (is that running?)

total-6:16

25/52 AG"

Teammate Jason Thomas has an interesting account of his day at Clemson over on his blog

And here's the race report sent out by our teammates in the upstate from the race in Clemson

"Greetings everyone across the state of South Carolina!!!

We had an awesome weekend in Clemson, starting off with a great spaghetti dinner served up by the Clemson FCA Adult Huddle during packet pick-up on Friday evening. It was well attended, with folks sticking around to socialize. The Set Up Events staff was able to join us for dinner – and they greatly appreciated it. And thanks to Jeremey Davis at Set Up for advertising us during the pre-race meeting – this led to us helping out 5 novice racers with race information and transition strategy. Many, many thanks to Brock Bailey for organizing the dinner and heading up our volunteer effort all weekend. Thanks go out to Joe Dannelly and Larry Nolan for joining me at packet pick-up. The three of us had the opportunity to further our relationship with the folks at Set Up and other race sponsors as well. (Some of us ate WAY too many of the free PowerBars). Who knew volunteering at packet pick-up could be fun??!!

Saturday morning brought cool temps with a light shower greeting us at the swim start (think of it as extra hydration), but fortunately the rain tapered off as the race came to an end. The good Lord kept everyone safe on the bike course despite slick roads, wet brakes and a VERY steep descent (I chickened out at 42 MPH). As usual, there were plenty of gold FCA-E volunteer shirts before and during the race. And the Boy Scouts manned a flotilla of kayaks during the swim.

We had a great turn-out at the FCA-E tent. It’s amazing how empty chairs attract people!!!! For the first time ever, someone actually came up and asked me “so why do you race?”. Could it be any easier to share our purpose?!!

Race results:

Forgive me, but I was too busy talking during the awards ceremony and I am pretty sure I didn’t catch all of the FCA-E athletes that took a spot on the podium (if I missed you, please let me know).

Jason Thomas – 3^rd place, Age Group

Larry Nolan – 3^rd place, Clydesdale

Jason Thomas in full stride headed to the finish line (or is he just posing for the photo?)

Brock Bailey (in the yellow FCA-E cap) anxiously waiting for the next finisher. Are those yellow FCA-E shoes? Sweet………

Larry Nolan taking a deep breath after crossing the finish line (come on, that guy’s NOT a Clydesdale)

I heard a message recently that talked about the importance of “one anothering” one another, whether that person is a believer in Christ or not. In essence, this means to love one another, pray for one another, care for one another, etc. FCA Endurance and these race weekends give us the opportunity to “one another” those around us to build relationships, and in doing so, show the love that Jesus has for us and give God the glory for everything. This past weekend was very encouraging and I hope that each of you will commit some of your time and energy to be a part of this ministry God has given to us.

Next up: Festival of Flowers on June 7 in Greenwood. We need 2 more volunteers for Saturday afternoon’s packet pick-up. Let me know if you can be there.

Hope to see you all soon." - Clay

Teammates were out in force once again for the ever-popular and very competitive Lake Murray Triathlon! There was plenty of yellow among the staggering 420 athletes racing. We received interest in the team from several athletes and families and we were able to administer first aid service to several athletes and spectators who injured themselves, mostly just in need of band aids. Unfortunately after crashing on the bike coming out of t1, the injuries sustained by one teammate, Keith Wilkes, were serious enough to need treatment from paramedics. Keith, we are praying for a quick recovery for you!

Congratulations to all who raced and completed this challenging sprint distance race. A special shout out Eric Stone who place 1st in the Master Clydesdale division, Randall Parks who placed 4th in the very competitive M 40-44 division with an impressive 1:17:27 finish, new teammate Layton Gwinn's return to triathlon, Nick Brunson for cracking the top 10, and to Bob Wright for settling the score with the lake!

Thank you to all the teammates who selflessly pitched in to volunteer at packet pickup and on race day!

You can see the intensity on Randall's face after a hard fought race including and massive 39:51 bike spit (24+ mph average)