Hard to Spectate-Part 1

I don't think spectators of long endurance events get enough credit. Joanne, Mike and I arrived with our spouseathletes at 6:30am last Saturday for the Tinman. We worried not just if they would swim fast, but be able to complete the distance. Would they end up in a kayak being carried back to shore? Would they get kicked in the head? My binoculars worked pretty well for picking out hundreds of swimmers bunched together, but I couldn't tell who was who, only who was in which age group because of colored caps.
Eileen, competing in the Olympic distance, came out first, in 22 minutes. Then the wait. Joanne and I bit our nails and kept pacing the shore. Lou came out after a great swim. But where was Jan? Stupid binoculars didn't really help after all! I finally checked the bike rack and discovered she had finished and taken off on the bike. Fortunately Mike saw her and confirmed she made the bike before Lou (a 5 minute head start, younger age group, helped).

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