HE DID IT!

The long awaited day of the triathlon was finally here! Dix and Hayden left early to register and get all set up. I came later with the kids. Hayden had forgotten his Speedo, which he needed before he could get his wetsuit on, so I needed to be there early enough for him to get dressed. We got there around 9. The starting time was 9:30. He was having a really hard time getting his wetsuit on and off, and the long sleeves and long legs made it kind of hard for him to swim. So the night before the race I modified his wetsuit. In other words, I hacked off the arms and shortened the legs. I believe Hayden was the only one there with a wetsuit modified in that fashion.
And they're off! Hayden's not a terribly aggressive person, so he just kind of stood at the back of the group and got started. He ended up having a really great swim and passed quite a few people. It was a 3/4 mile swim that looped around a lake.
It was really hard telling which one was Hayden while they were swimming. But once again, that modified wetsuit gave him away. That's him, right in the front of this picture.
Then it was out of the water, over the timing pads, and about a quarter mile jog to the transition area.
Hayden quickly took off the wetsuit, put on the basketball shorts (I believe he may have been the only one to compete in basketball shorts), shirt, socks and shoes, gloves, camelback and of course helmet and sunglasses. He was one of very few that didn't have shoes that clipped into his pedals.
They had to run their bikes out of the transition area and past the timing pads before starting on the 30 mile course.
After a very long and nervewracking wait (considering all that could be happening--flat tire, fall, car hitting him, etc), Hayden finally appeared. We cheered him on and he gave us some great smiles. I was only hoping that he had enough energy for the 5 mile run. We later learned that he had had some problems with his bike and had had to stop several times to tighten something. Hayden probably had the oldest bike there and it definitely proved itself to be old and frail. But he made it, so we were grateful for that. His bike time, however, was affected.
He sucked down some goo before heading out for his run.
He looked like he was doing really well. There were people already finishing their run by the time he started, but he didn't seem discouraged at all.
While he was running, Cooper had a little nap on Dix...

And the kids played. Landon was having a hard time and found himself with his nose on a wall several times.
And finally Hayden made it to the finish line. He finished the race with a bang, sprinting through the blue arch.
He was given a finisher's medal.
He didn't receive an award, but he was so pleased with his race. He received a lot of praise from other competitors who saw how young he was. He was the youngest person to compete.
Pretty pooped out, but still had a smile on his face.
And an even bigger smile when he has food in his hands. They gave all the athletes a pretty decent meal. Hayden inhaled it.

They posted the results every five minutes or so. This was the first one that had Hayden's name on it. He passed several people during the run, which I was surprised at. Running has been the hardest part of his training so far.

We are so proud of Hayden for how hard he has worked the last few months preparing for this. He's gearing up for the next triathlon! (And he came home and loped over to the neighbor's house to mow their lawn...probably thinking that he will be $20 closer to his new bike!)