Race Day: GGRR 2024

No idea of the temperature this morning as we were staying with a friend in Pocahontas County. There, it was about 50, cloudy and a brief shower at 8, then warming and sunny by afternoon.

Man. What. a. day.

My oldest son and his son and daughter competed in the Great Greenbrier River Race, a triathlon that includes a 3- mile run, floowed by a 4-mile kayak trip down the river, and a 10-mile bike leg along the Greenbrier River Rail Trail ( which was recently added to the National Trails system, and passes right by the Poet Camp).

My son just turned 55, his son is 28 and his daughter is, I think, 24. Here they are just before the race. You can see some of the 200 orvso kayaks on the riverbank behind them.

Kayaks waiting. There are canoes too. More were added after my photo.

Somewhere I have a video of the runners taking off, but can't find it! 

Here they are, after the run, getting into their kayaks. George was first, getting on the required lifejacket, 

then Clayton,  not far behind his Dad,

 and then Grace.

After the kayaks left, we had a wait while they went downriver to where their bikes were waiting,  and biked thev10 miles back.

I was so busy trying to find a way for my friend Melanie to sit down that I almost missed George coming in! I managed to yell his name and snap a shot of his back.

Can you tell how proud I was of my boy? (He's actually a bank president, but will always be my boy!)

And then, Grace, followed by her brother, crossed the finish line!

After they were all in:

Final results: George placed 4th in his class (50-59 male) and 19th overall male. Not bad! Grace placed 3rd in her class (17-29 female) and 22nd overall Women. Clayton, who is in the Navy and had not biked or kayaked in 6 years, placed 

10th in his class and 60th overall male. (Mama Sandy is a pharmacist and minister, so she was home putting together her Sunday sermon.)

But there's more! My son Aaron and his wife were also running in a race in their community.

Aaron placed 1st in his class, and Jaime place 1st in hers, and 3rd overall in Women's. I so wish I could have been in two places at once, but we couldn't be there for their wins. Darn it!

It was also my Aunt Georgette's 9pth birthday today. Quite a day for our family. 

We stayed overnight last night with dear Melanie, whom we had not seen in two years. We made pasta at her house, drank wine and watched movies, just catching up. What a treat. Thankfully none of us had to do any running the next day! 

We stayed a while after the race, then it was back on the road, across the greening mountains to home. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.