WXPort 

 

Your complete
online news, information,
and recreation guide to
Lake Lanier!
 



Google WWW Lakeside



Lanier Homeowner News,
Lake Listings,
Web Links and More!

HOME    LAKE MAP     DINING GUIDE      CALENDAR       ABOUT US     CONTACT US    CLASSIFIEDS      ADVERTISE      SUBSCRIBE     LAKESIDE LIVING

BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Want to add your business?

Lake Information

• About Lake Lanier
• Olympic Venue
• Lake Levels
• Community Links
• Marina Information
• Camping
• Sailing on Lanier

Columns

• Break from the Lake
• Captain's Comments
• COE column
• Cruising Wilsons
• Fishing Report
• Weather
• Golf column
• Meet Your Rangers
• Power Squadron
• Travel
• USCG Auxiliary

Subscribe to Lakeside on
Lanier and Lakeside on Allatoona

 

 

AFLAC Iron Girl Triathlon: 1,200 Women Swim, Bike and Run Strong
By Pamela A. Keene

The sun had barely topped the trees along the shoreline of Lake Lanier and already women were stretching, jogging in place, swimming and getting pumped for the three-leg Iron Girl competition.

Grandmothers, cancer survivors, young moms, professional athletes and just plain average women were among the 1,200 competitors in the second annual AFLAC Iron Girl Triathlon on Sunday, June 28. Some were there to win; others to better their previous triathlon times; and still others were just happy to be part of the event.

“This is my first triathlon and I’m really so excited,” said Sue Schrager, 48, who lives and works in Duluth. “I’ve lost about 20 pounds and I’ve been training, so I’m ready.” Schrager made many new friends before the race as she enthusiastically warmed up and stretched in preparation for the grueling event. With one-third a mile to swim, 18 miles to cycle and three miles to run, it would be a long morning for many of the competitors as the sun became hotter and the challenges of the event took their toll.

“It was a great course,” said one of the early finishers, Kristan Jacobs, 31, of Atlanta. The 8th grade teacher has done about eight of these events over the past several years and she completed the race on Sunday with a finish time of 1:40. “The biking was hilly but fun (they biked from Lake Lanier Islands Resort to Buford Dam and back), and the run was mostly uphill on the first half so that made it mostly downhill on the way back, so that was great too. I think I finished in the top 10 in my age group (30-34).”

Fans lined the start area on the sandy beach at Lake Lanier Islands to watch the women start the swim leg of the event. For a time, all you could see was women running toward the water, then swim-capped heads with goggled eyes making their way parallel to the beach toward their bicycles. It was a steep walk/run up the hill to the transition area, where 1,200 bicycles, riding shoes, helmets and dry T-shirts awaited the swimmers.

After the 18-mile ride, they were back to the transition area to swap their cycling shoes for running shoes, their helmets for visors or ball-caps, and put on a racing number for the final three-mile run. Many were smiling and waving as the crowds of friends, parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, children, grandparents and co-workers cheered them on. “You can do it;” “you go, girl;” “keep it strong and steady;” and similar encouragements were frequent and loud. Parents, siblings and cousins flew in from all over the country to see their daughters compete.

“My legs feel like Jell-O after the bike ride,” one runner shared with a friend along the course as they began their run side by side. Others looked fresh and ready to go as they strapped on their personalized racing numbers. Still others were determined to finish, even it if meant walking those three miles up and down the hills of the resort.

This was the second year the event has been held at the Islands. The AFLAC Iron Girl Triathlon raises money for cancer research.

Full information about finish times and participants is available at www.aflacirongirl.com.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

TO LAKESIDE ON ALLATOONA             TO WATERSIDE NEWS

3292 Thompson Bridge Road #250       Gainesville, GA 30506         770-287-1444        fax:770-287-1445

 webmaster: danieldesign2@charter.net