First let me say that although I have this blog categorized as a Race Report I need to clarify that I did not compete in this event. I was fortunate enough to obtain a ride from my friend and training partner Cody Riley who was racing that day. Cody showed up on my doorstep about 4:45 am and an hour plus a water closet break later we arrived at Moffit Lake Recreation Area just outside of Morganfield, Ky. The time was around 6am and there were only a handful of cars in the parking area - most of which belonged to the race volunteers. (the race didn't start until 8am) Lucky for me that gave me plenty of time to wonder around the grounds a bit and once again enjoy the great outdoors - and the humidity.

As you can see, the registration area wasn't too busy just yet. It must be noted however, they were well prepared for the arriving racers. I have to admit that the occasional thought that "I could be home in bed" crossed my mind more than once, but, I was here in support of my training buddy and I was going to see this thru. Fortunately for me, the coffee started kicking in and I was looking forward to watching the pre-race activities unfold. Within a half an hour, the bike laden vehicles started rolling in.

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day albeit a little on the warm side.

A short while after the large influx of vehicles several of the race participants from the Evansville area starting gathering and this is where I had the opportunity to meet several other triathletes that train in different circles. This is when I also had the idea of collecting names, emails and race numbers as I would attempt to get photographs of the Evansville clan racing and post the pics online for free downloading. It seemed like a good thing to do as I would have plenty of idle time while the racers were out on the course. I also thought about the fact that I would have liked to had more pictures of me racing in my events without having to pay an arm and a leg for them.

Seen here (from left to right) are Wayne Ricketts, Mason Flake, Matt Bartsch (yawning), Dennis Kiesel, Mount Davis (rubbing the sleep out of his eye) and Cody Riley (my ride to the event).

Seen here is Matt discussing something of great importance with Dennis prior to the race. As you can see, Dennis is politely listening, however; quietly conserving his energy so he can use it on the course. And believe me he did! I had the opportunity to re-connect with Dennis after many years and I was amazed to learn that he has been participating in triathlons since 1998. I really like this pic as it exemplifies that regardless of our age and/or abilities, triathlon provides us a common ground on which we can share or knowledge and experience.

Here is Mount and Cody (my training partner) before the race. Once again, both very fierce competitors who both went on to podium in their age groups!

Cody and Blake Voges (winner of the 2009 1st Annual YMCA Offroad Triathlon at Scales Lake) setting up their transition area. Blake also went on to podium in his age group. Congrats Blake!

Here is Tony Goodwin setting up his transition area. Tony just completed a Half Ironman in Florida just a couple weeks before this race. Way to go Tony!

Here we are using age progression technology and photo enhancement to show Matt 35 years later (on the right). If you look very closely, you'll actually see that their features are very much alike. It's almost scary. Actually, This is Paul Ferguson and he also went on to podium in the Clydesdale division. Great job once again! On a side note, I met Paul at the pool at Bob's Gym in Newburgh early in 2009. Paul was the one who told me about the Southern Indiana Triathlon Club which I subsequently joined. Being a member of that club has been a great source of training, knowledge and fellowship.

Another pic of the lake prior to the event.

Another pic of Matt - oops - I mean Paul and Cody taking in some hydration before the race.

Hopefully nobody will be needing a ride in this today.

Pre-Race meeting.

Off to the swim start. Finally - my nerves were starting to get the better of me.

The washing machine. An interesting little tidbit here. As "all" the racers were out in the water I struck up a conversation with one of the locals and he said this lake was loaded with snakes - no joke! Anyway, we had an ambulance on hand and I figured if a snake saw this mass coming they turn tail and run (swim) as fast as they could anyway. Now at this point I'm just going to post a few race photos and skip to the post race activities as there are simply too many race photos to get into this blog. I took about 100 pics at this race and you can view and download the entire collection here. Please note that I am not a very good photographer but I did my best to catch everybody in all stages of the race. I sincerely hope you enjoy this blog and the pics.

Here is Blake on the water exit. Blake was first out of the water for the Evansville group to the best of my knowledge.

Once again here is Matt (the younger version) on the final climb coming into T2. Matt was in second overall at this point coming off the bike about a minute or two behind the leader Barry Knight.

Barry Knight went on to be the overall winner of this event - seen here crossing the finish line.

Wayne Ricketts crossing the finish line. Wayne also went on to podium in his age group!

Matt - (I mean Paul) - crossing the finish line!

A post race discussion among some of the Evansville clan. Note here that Dennis is no longer trying to conserve his energy as he shares his triathlon wisdom with the youngsters.

Post-Race nutrition. Pizza!

And finally, here is a pic of Matt "humbly" accepting his award for 2nd Place Overall. Note I did manage to get photos of all the Evansville group receiving their awards but you'll need to go the the album to get them as they are too numerous to post here. In closing, I would like to say that I truly enjoyed watching everyone race. I was truly inspired by the efforts of the Evansville racers and I sincerely enjoyed getting more acquainted with each of them. Enjoy the pics and once again - Great job everyone! By the way, if you happen to be sidelined at any of my races in the future, get some photos for me! Once again, here is the link to all of the photos taken at this event.