Collegiate Nationals Race Report, Pt 4

Saturday, post race

So after the race Saturday we had a lot of fun hanging out in Tuscaloosa. First off all, the post-race food was catered by Moes which was a huge improvement compared to the usual spread of banannas and stale bagels you find at the end of races. While it certainly isnt Chipotle, you sure cant beat a huge burrito, chips, and a couple of cookies for a post race meal. So after enjoying that and chatting with people as they were finishing, we took moved our stuff out of transition and headed back down to watch the women's Olympic Trials.

Because this was such a big event, there were even some big-shot AGers in the crowd. Here is a me with the unbeatable Marc Bonnet-Emyard and "First-out-of-the-water" Bruce Gennari. Needless to say, I'm the slowest swimmer of the group...

After watching the start of the women's race, Ashish and I decided it was time for a 'B' double 'E' double 'R' 'U' N' to Publix. However, on our way we got a little distracted and had to stop in at Coldstone. While we were there we happened to run into Brooks and the some of the other members of the Miami (Ohio) University triathlon team. Unfortunately, Ashish did a crap job on this picture, but you get the idea. FYI, I had the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection. It was particularly pleasing.

So with our ice cream and beer, it was back to the race start to see the men off.



The men's race was super exciting and if you didnt catch it, check out the transcript of the coverage on Slowtwitch. I was admittedly really surprised Matt held off Hunter and Andy. Major props to him; he had a helluva race and it was cool to see him totally stoaked at the finish. Here is Matt on the run:

Hunter and Andy:


After the races we headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then it was off to the awards. The banquet was a bit shorter this year as they didnt serve dinner there but it was still nice and rowdy as the announcers decided to let crowd noise determine the "spirit" award.

Because there was no dinner, we were off to... you guessed it, Chipotle. Kevin decided to join us and then Steve Sexton showed up while we were there. Thats right, the top 3 overall all dining at Chipotle. That should tell you something, shouldnt it??

After dinner, it was time for ice cream #2 of the day (brownie ala mode w/ chocolate sauce this time) from Chick-Fil-A:

Then parties in a few different hotel rooms, culminating with Stanford:

Finally, one last shot of the UVA crew on Sunday morning...

All in all it was a fun weekend. The weather couldnt have been any better but of course it was the friends that really made it fun.