Paper plates, a 19 hour finish, and the triathlon state of mind

This story represents all that is good about triathlon and endurance sports in general. Below are the words from a proud father of a volunteer at a run aid station on the 2nd Annual Redman iron-distance triathlon:

"After leaving the medical tent sometime after midnight, I drove to R5 to pick up my daughter, Rachel, who was responsible for the "high school kids" at that run station. She is a senior in HS and wanted to volunteer because her daddy was doing the race ("only" the half). She and her unruly and mottley crew were there all day and night. When I went to pick her up at 12:30-12:45, she was sitting on the run path at R5, waiting for DanMan, the last runner. I said, "Rachel, we have to go home now". She said, "I'm staying for the last runner; he's so nice". But mean old dad that I am, I made her leave. So, she had already set out food and gatorade and water and lots of goodies for Dan, all on paper plates, and she had written on those plates, all from her heart. She felt the "state of mind" and wrote that Dan and all the athletes were a total inspiration to her and her peers. She personally identified with many many of the athletes and wrote that Ironman (and triathlon) is a state of mind. It was tough for her to leave that night because she wanted to see Dan through, but when I got home from the awards brunch and told her Dan finished [in over 19 hrs!] and looked GREAT that day, all was well with her. She never thought the paper plates would make it through the night; she was certain they would be tossed, run over, or shredded by some animal. It just goes to show that the "little things" do go a long way and make a difference..."
--David Flesher

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As a participant in this remarkable event, this story moved me more than my own finish. These plates will forever be THE symbol of my first ironman experience, reminding me why triathlon is such an incredible sport: What other sport cheers the last place finisher as loudly as the first? With what other sport can a father inspire his high school daughter and her friends to sacrifice their Saturday (day and night) to hand water to sweaty old men? What other sport has a competitor that can influence a teenager not with drugs or alcohol, but with the Ironman "state of mind"!? What other sport can open the heart of a young woman to the motivating spirit that is triathlon?

And to DanMan, Dave Wood (the RD), all the staff and volunteers at Redman, David and Rachel Flesher, my parents (Dan and Mary), and especially my wife, Sarah, I want to quote Rachel's plate: "Thank you being an inspiration to us all, reminding us that ironman is not a race, but a state of mind."

-David