Pictures from Kelly

Here are the scans I made of Kelly's pictures, with some commentary from me.

	Right after the pre-race meeting is over, all teams begin to go through the maps and passport.  We marked the course and made last minute strategy, gear, and food choices.  This often takes a few hours, and we didn't finish up until after midnight.
	Here are all the teams (except soloists) right at the start.  Half of each team had to run across the big bridge, while the other half had to paddle their boats to the other side and then try to find the running member(s) and get them in the boat(s).
	Here is Ron and Sean paddling in at the end of the 1st big kayak section (CP3, TA1).
	And Dad and Will at the same place.
	We had to get the boats up the rocky bank and then portage them to the cars.  We decided all four of us working together would be the best way to get up the rock bank, as the rocks are loose and sharp and the footing is difficult!
	We then had a short 11 mile bike ride to the next TA.
	Dad and Will on the 2nd kayak section.
	After some time to eat and re-hydrate, we headed out on the first big trek section (about 15 miles).  We started out fast on the road, but when we hit the deep sand on the fire roads, Dad had some trouble.  At the next paved road we cut over to the FL foot trail which we knew would have less sugar sand and be more packed.
	Here we all are getting ready to do the short ascent and traverse.  This is many hours after the last picture.  After that long trek, we had a fairly long transition to eat some hot food and get ready for the 1st night.  We then biked to the rock quarry which took some time.  We started out biking slow as it was Dad's first time on single-track trails at night, but after a while he got the hang of it and we picked up the pace a bit.
	Here I am pulling myself across the traverse.  I never get a good jump so I had to pull a long ways!!!  :-(
	The volunteers let too many racers onto the ropes so one racer's pulley got caught in a tangle, and both Ron and Will ended up "stuck" for 10 or 15 minutes.  Here is Ron hanging around, waiting for the tie-up to get resolved.  After this we biked to the next TA, and then portaged the boats 1.3 miles to the water.  Thankfully our crew had come up with an ingenious kayak portage system using luggage racks.  Dad and Will needed some rest so they slept in the boats some while Ron and I paddled as we waited for the sun to rise, which it finally did.  After that we had an 18 - 20 mile bike to the big long trek.
	Here we are about to start on the long trek on day 2.  This is the trek where we passed 8 or 10 teams to move back to a more respectable overall position.  It was about 18-20 miles in the heat of the day, and we never stopped for a rest.  We just marched through it all.
	Dad and Will at the start of this trek...
	Ron and Sean at the finish of the long trek.
	Dad at the finish of the long trek.
	Sean and Will getting into the boat for the last kayak leg!  18 miles through the Oklahawa and St. Johns river.
	Dad and Will get help from the support crew on finalizing gear in the boat before the last kayak leg.  After 18 miles of paddling, we had about 40-45 miles more on the bike.  Most of that was paved though there was a 7 mile forest road that was a bit sandy but for the most part rideable. I found that with no lights on, the moon somehow "highlighted" the packed dirt from the sand which made it much easier.   After the last bike, we had 7 miles of beach running to the finish!
	Here we are at the finish line, after 46 hours of racing!  Who looks the most tired?  :-)
	And here we are with our 1st place 4 person male medals the next night at the awards ceremony.  Hopefully we all look more rested.  We ended up 26 overall but 1st in our division!