Thank You All!

As I write this from the Admiral's Club @ LAX ( my income tax came in and I didn't make Kona so I decided to spend $50 on comfort and Internet access for my 6 hour lay over in the city of "angels" ) As I had a lot of time to reflect on the flight back to the US and A I wanted to give some shout outs and props to everyone who made this Ironman Possible:

My Family: My mom had to deal with me leaving early in the AM and not returning until well after dark most days, my sisters had to deal with the lovely noise of my trainer most of Christmas Break, My dad had to deal with my weekly "if it keeps snowing like this I have to drop out" rants, for the emotional support and being understanding for my long days on the bike , road or at the pool , and despite everything that was happening not letting me quit I thank you.

Angry Runner: Whether it was keeping me company on a 20 mile training ride, talking common sense into me on the blog, or hauling my ass to JFK the day after a Nor' Easter, you have truly been there for me.

Speed Racer: If friendship is going the extra mile for someone then you went an extra 149 beyond that. Most people would not drive 3 hours to ride 50 miles on a warm day, let alone a cold, windy day in November...you proved that you are beyond most people.

Bjoern: For the bike case, the banana shakes, and being the only psycho willing to run in the middle of the night in New Britain with me thank you.

Cranky, Pants, and Warrior Woman: For the motivation, inspiration Donations to the War on ALS ( Motor Neuron for my Kiwi readers)good humored stories and travel advice thank you.

Dave and Al: for putting up with the fact that I spend three hours in the store yet I tend to drop less than $100 on equipment. For the tubes the bike packing, and advice along the way.

Ken Glah for putting up with my plethora of nervous emails, the beer at the after party, picking up my dehydrated ass on the training ride to Repora, pretty much the entire trip....

Marty.....Coke all the way on the marathon actually works quite well although I don't know if I'll be able to look at flat soda the same way again....

Ken Schultz, Max Gary, Sean, Vin, Cristano, Jim, Raf, all the Guys and Gals at HEAT, for the advice and putting up with all the questions, thank you.

To the whole EST group: Good Job! Back next year?

To Dan, having expert bike knowlegde and a wonderful sense of humor.

To Blair, for giving me the course tour,the repairs, the training advice and helping me settle down two nights before, and being there with encouragement at the 40k marker. thank you. ( Also it wasn't windy, if it was windy there'd be surfers on the Lake. Good luck in China!)

To Dave D. The $50 was well spent and the $5 went to a post race beer...on Sunday....

To Stef Karas for giving me ass kicking swim workouts.

To the staff at the Taupo Times, you guys made me feel like a pro for a week.( Next year when I come back I'll try to shower and shave before I go into the office instead of walking in fresh off the bus from Auckland.)

To Simon, for the beers, the interviews, standing in the rain, getting me into the VIP area at the finish and trying to explain the in's and out's of Rugby to me. Also get into triathlon mate, the girls alone are worth it.

To Catherine, for putting up with my constant flirting with good humor, standing in the rain and getting soaked to the skin, the excellent photography and fun times along the way. Seeing you pop out of that car with 7k to go put a smile back on my face. Also if you're doing this race I want to be there!

To all my readers and the inmumerable others that sadly I don't have space to fit for all that you've done even it was simply putting up with my Ironman related posts for 7 months.

Those 11 hours 13 min. 43 sec. in Taupo were because of you.

R.D.