What Mommy does on the weekends...

I-95 is surprisingly crowded pre-dawn on a Saturday morning! But there I was with all of the other crazies who refuse to sleep in on my way out to a local state park for the 4th Annual Little-Big Adventure Race! Teams of two--one adult and one child racing in a triathlon. Canoe/mountain bike/run. (I was not racing. I do not run. I have run in the past. Now I do not.) My purpose in all of this is to make sure there is money coming in to support the event--so on race days, I basically get to show up early and have fun.

Mother Nature decided to grant us a most gorgeous day and fun was had by all.

Somewhere around 8 in the morning...the promise of a beautiful day!

Pre-race briefing...the woman on the mike is one who started this whole thing...and my boss.

It's a family event. A race with almost a carnival feel.

Bikes lined up in the transition area...each bike is inspected prior to the race. Yep--safety first.

Canoes ready for the first leg of the race...there were 8 heats in all just to stagger the racers. We use chip timing and the teams members must cross the transition points withing seconds of each other or they're penalized. We're strict!

There was not one single team that epitomized the racers...there were hard core mountain bikers and athletes along side of girls with pink bikes and tassels. This team actually placed 2nd in their age division.

My job is to keep all of these sponsors on the t-shirts...and add many more. Not exactly difficult keeping them--all they have to do is come out and see the events for themselves and are hooked.

Remember my friend Andrew? His brother raced with the son of one of their best friends. Dan and Lawson raced under the name "Team Droid" in honor of Andrew "The Droid" Stevens. Andrew's wife and sister came out to watch and cheer them on--it was the first time I had seen either of them since the funeral and it was so good to see them both! The outdoor store where we had all worked together loaned them a canoe for the race. They actually placed 4th in their division. Not a shabby showing at all--it was the largest division to be racing in. Somewhere Andrew was laughing and mocking his brother on his run technique.

Everyone kicked back enjoying the medal ceremony and random prize drawings.

Hanging out and enjoying the tree climbing exhibition provided by one of our sponsors.

It was a fabulous day--grueling and exhausting, but still fabulous. Now that I've given myself a few days off I can get to work on the next event...the 2nd Annual Little-Big Adventure in Raleigh, NC on May 30th.

And somewhere around here I have notes for a book I'm supposedly writing...