By Christine Bosau
I have been racing Grandman since the transition was on the Point back in the late nineties and it has always been a fun, well run race. One of my favorite things about this race is the chance to see everyone, race hard and enjoy everyone’s success! This year was no exception.
I started my day at 0330 to head over to Fairhope AL. It was a 2-hour drive and I got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise as I was getting more nervous and excited to race – yes, I still get nervous, even for the short ones. Transition is right on the bay with a beautiful view and fountain surrounded by roses (where we would end up later). Once I got there and started seeing friends and getting set up, nerves turned to happy excitement to get this show on the road! Sue, Palmer, Mindi and Candice all seemed ready to race and Kat assured us she was “just participating” – which of course meant she was going to go hard and win Overall!! Mary, Amy and Palmer’s Mom were on hand to cheer us on and get some great action shots too. Thanks ladies – you made me smile!
It was a beautiful day for a swim in Mobile Bay – water quality was so much better than last year and only looked muddy brown; at least nothing seemed to be floating around out there that shouldn’t be! Also except for a bit of chop it was fairly calm – so unlike Gulf Coast was a few weeks ago! I jumped off the Pier just behind Candice and Spence which was perfect since we have a friendly rivalry to see who wins the swim…this year I managed to come out of the water right behind Spence on the stairs after being blinded by the sun on the swim into the beach (I hoped everyone else knew where they were going until I spotted a buoy!) Turns out I had the fastest female swim split when all was said and done – just goes to show that all those years of swimming stayed with me & the fact that I can swim a straight line keeps me from having to do a lot of laps these days.
I started my day at 0330 to head over to Fairhope AL. It was a 2-hour drive and I got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise as I was getting more nervous and excited to race – yes, I still get nervous, even for the short ones. Transition is right on the bay with a beautiful view and fountain surrounded by roses (where we would end up later). Once I got there and started seeing friends and getting set up, nerves turned to happy excitement to get this show on the road! Sue, Palmer, Mindi and Candice all seemed ready to race and Kat assured us she was “just participating” – which of course meant she was going to go hard and win Overall!! Mary, Amy and Palmer’s Mom were on hand to cheer us on and get some great action shots too. Thanks ladies – you made me smile!
It was a beautiful day for a swim in Mobile Bay – water quality was so much better than last year and only looked muddy brown; at least nothing seemed to be floating around out there that shouldn’t be! Also except for a bit of chop it was fairly calm – so unlike Gulf Coast was a few weeks ago! I jumped off the Pier just behind Candice and Spence which was perfect since we have a friendly rivalry to see who wins the swim…this year I managed to come out of the water right behind Spence on the stairs after being blinded by the sun on the swim into the beach (I hoped everyone else knew where they were going until I spotted a buoy!) Turns out I had the fastest female swim split when all was said and done – just goes to show that all those years of swimming stayed with me & the fact that I can swim a straight line keeps me from having to do a lot of laps these days.
 | T1 turned into a bit of a fiasco – of course I was yelling at Spence and Candice to get moving while getting myself out on the road. As I went to mount the bike, I noticed my chain was off (did I mention that another competitor thought it was ok to move my bike and all my gear earlier and I think caused the chain to drop off in the process? Perhaps I should have checked it as I moved everything back but frankly it did not occur to me to do so…lesson learned!) I could only get the chain on the small chain ring (which if you know me you know I very rarely ride) so off I went. Well there is that steep hill out of transition and bad turned to good. I ended up making it up that little mountain much easier than I would have in the big ring so its kind of worked out – looking on the Brightside as usual! |
Then it was off to chase Candice, who had passed me in transition, we went back and forth a bit cheering each other on but in the end, she was gone and I chased her pink helmet down the road. Speaking of gone – Kat blew by me, “just participating”, on her way to one of the fastest female bike splits. The Grandman ride is deceptively hilly with all the rollers on the front end but then you can just fly through the second half and see some pretty scenery if you have a chance to look – I did! The bike is still my favorite part so I enjoyed it and was just getting warmed up after 18 miles as I came back to T2. Great descent into T2 – such a shame to waste the speed with the dismount right there!
T2 was much better than T1 and once I could stand up straight, I was off to face the hardest part for me – the run and I got to start it with that big hill of course. Turns out I like the hills now since they are not as boring as the flats and today there was Mary and Amy cheering and smiling at the top – ladies that really helped!! Think the picture you got of me smiling says it all! Been working on getting better form back on run – feet up & some turnover and it was feeling better…
Only got called Sue 3 times this year – which I consider a compliment – last year I was surprised I kept getting called Sue and didn’t know why until I saw Sue in visor & ponytail after the race and we do look amazingly alike .
Run was an out and back and was great because I could see everyone, cheer them on and make a few people smile too – when someone smiles back it gives me good energy & makes it even more fun. The course even had some good shade and great liquid support and I forgot that at the bottom of the hill you get to turn right for the longest mile in the park but once I got back to the finish area everyone was cheering at the end and the ladies were there to congratulate each other and cheer each other in!
Only got called Sue 3 times this year – which I consider a compliment – last year I was surprised I kept getting called Sue and didn’t know why until I saw Sue in visor & ponytail after the race and we do look amazingly alike .
Run was an out and back and was great because I could see everyone, cheer them on and make a few people smile too – when someone smiles back it gives me good energy & makes it even more fun. The course even had some good shade and great liquid support and I forgot that at the bottom of the hill you get to turn right for the longest mile in the park but once I got back to the finish area everyone was cheering at the end and the ladies were there to congratulate each other and cheer each other in!
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Grandman also has a good spot for the after-race hangout since it is shaded and was well supported with good food, plenty of Powerade and water and yes, a Marathon Beer and spiked water to try as well. I enjoyed hearing how everyone’s day went and sharing their successes and also catching up a bit on life in general. We even got to take the “Fountain Picture” (last year’s is framed in my office to make me smile) though it was like herding cats to get us all there and we did lose Palmer and Mary by the time we took it.
 | Overall Sister Chain represented superbly with Kat as Overall Female, Candice taking Masters (she is 40 now 😊) I took Grandmasters, Mindi was first in 50-54 age group, Sue was second in her age group (do not believe she is really 55-59!) and Palmer was second as well! Our guys had equally impressive results and were fun too watch out there. It was awesome to see everyone do so well. I’m looking forward to getting everyone back healthy & fast and racing together! Thank you, ladies, (& gents) for making this another Great Day at Grandman!! |
Thank you to the Grandman race staff, volunteers, cheerleaders and of course our sponsors for making racing possible!