fishing for pearls...: MY DAD IS AN IRONMAN!!!!

WOW. SUCH an incredible day on Saturday. My dad completed his goal of becoming an Ironman!!!!!!!! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO proud of him! Eight years after his initial attempt at an Ironman (it was cut short because of weather and water problems) he DID IT!!! He swam 2.4 miles, biked 112, and ran 26.2 in under 15 hours! It was such an incredible experience to be able to watch him achieve his goal. We started the day by waking up at 3:40 AM and leaving for the lake at 4:15. Once we were at the lake we learned what we would be doing as volunteers and then hung out until the 6:45 pro start time. We talked to the girl who ended up getting FIRST PLACE! She was so calm it was crazy! We realized she was a pro but I never thought she would be the first place just chillin, putting on her sunscreen in the bathroom. We watched the swim start which was way cool. Lots of little orange and yellow bobbing heads in the water. Then my mom, aunt, cousin, and I moved to our station to help with the transition. We pointed the athletes in the direction of their bikes and helped them with gloves and stuff because they were too cold to do it themselves in some cases. We yelled SO loud for my dad and Russ and Heidi. (After some anxiety cutting it close to the deadline). We watched as two athletes were literally cut off feet before the bike out because it was 9:35 and they were DQ-ed. It was so devastating. After we finished with the bikes and they opened the road up again we went home for a quick shower and lunch. Then we ventured to the bike course to find dad again! We saw him several times and screamed for him and the other athletes. We waited to see Russ and Heidi but learned they didn't make the first time cut off for the bike. We followed dad to Diagonal street where we saw him on his bike and then about twenty minutes later he came running by, starting the marathon. We followed him and saw him a few times more before mom, Teala, Robin, and I had to be at the finish line to volunteer. It was really cool to be a "finish line catcher." We were in charge of catching the athletes and helping them walk to get their medal, water, t-shirt, hat, remove their chip, get a finisher picture, and finally get them to the massage and food. It was cool to hear about the race from so many people. EVERYONE said it was the hardest Ironman they have ever done. Even harder than Kona which is rumored to be the hardest. Even the athletes who had done 16 Ironmans said this took the cake. They also commented on how well organized and supported St. George Ironman was. GO ST GEORGE! We had the most volunteers of all Ironman races! Over 4300. Crazy! This is definitely something I would do again. We waited for a text from my brothers who were down the road to say that dad was almost here. I was SO anxious. Then I saw him. Running down the chute. And I SCREAMED. I was SO happy, relieved, excited, proud, and any other emotion you can think of to see him cross that finish line and hear the announcer say, "Locke Ettinger, YOU are an Ironman!" It was incredible. My dad is seriously AMAZING and is definitely my hero. I am so glad he got to complete his goal! Two days later and still absolutely no voice left but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. GO DAD!!!