The Finish Line

Here is Slade just before the finish line!

IronKIDS

Isabel, Madeline, and Nelson Our friend Collin created this image. Isn't it awesome???!!!

IronFANS!

Slade's fan support was incredible. We had people asking us if we were all there for one person! There were a total of 31 of us there throughout the day! Thanks everyone for being so supportive!

Slade Hendrikson...You Are an Ironman!

The swim start. It was petty unbelievable! Slade is out there somewhere!

He did it! It was an awesome day, and Slade did so well at his first Ironman! This picture is of Slade when he just started biking. He had a peanut butter sandwhich hanging out of his mouth when we saw him! He finished the race in 12 hours, 54 minutes, and 29 seconds!!!!! The fan support was incredible! Thank you to everyone who supported Slade in Madison, and thank you to everyone who supported him from home!

What will Slade look like?

Slade will have this bike, and he will be in red and black, but his tri suit will be a little different than this one. His helmet is carbon colored (blackish/gray), and is an aero helmet, so don't look for this bright white one! He'll look much faster with his new helmet, I'm sure! He'll also have #553 on himself, so look for those numbers!

Where it all begins...

Hey Everyone! 4 more days until Ironman! Here is a link to the Monona Terrace website. http://www.mononaterrace.com/ This is where we'll meet on Sunday morning. I am creating a list of some cell phone numbers as well as directions to the bike site that we'll go to. I will post that later today. To start out, we'll meet on top of the Monona Terrace and get a birds eye view of the swim. I think about a half hour into the swim we'll make our way down to where the athletes get out of the water so we can see them get their wetsuits stripped off of them! This is such an exciting part of the race to see. Check out the link if you get a chance. We'll meet up top! Anyone w/questions can call me. My cell # is: 608-385-4213 Also, the t-shirts are in today! I will pick them up this afternoon. We'll hand them out at dinner or if you want yours before let me know and we can arrange that. Slade and I are leaving for Madison on Friday morning. Safe travels to everyone, and see you soon!

Race Number!

Slade is #553!!!

Bike Route Map

It's getting closer! Here is a map of a small portion of the bike route. The map shows where you can park and watch the race. You can park on Cleveland Rd., which is close to the center of the map. The Ironman course is marked with the bold black line. We will walk to N. Birch Trail and watch for Slade from there. In the past there have been several fans in this area and I guess they've even made it on TV the past 2 years! The location is also tree covered so that will block us from the sun/wind/rain...which hopefully there won't be any of! If you'd like to print out the map you can either print this page, or go to the following link for a copy of the map: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=43.083308,-89.617023&spn=0.058299,0.1157&z=13&om=1 One more note...I ordered the t-shirts and there are going to be over 30 of us wearing them! Thanks everyone for ordering! I changed the color...they are now "tangerine" (a very nice orange!) with white writing. We'll see everone in less than 2 weeks!

The Countdown!

Check out this link to the countdown until Ironman! http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/wisclock.html

What to Wear!

We have a couple of ideas for what to wear on the big day. Our friends John and Erin (who are 2-time Ironman WI finishers themselves!) came up w/the idea that everyone dress up in Hawaiian/Hula apparel while we watch the bike portion of the race! If we let Slade know in advance where we'll be watching he'll really be able to pick out all of his fans on the course! Also, we are wondering if anyone is interested in getting t-shirts of some kind that we could wear during the race. The t-shirt would say something like "Ironman WI 2007, GO SLADE!" If you are interested, let me know, I will need to get that organized soon. Email me (angie_elsen@hotmail.com) the quantity you would like as well as the sizes. I will also email everyone to get the word out.

Only 3 weeks before the big day!

Maps

For those of you interested in knowing the maps/courses for Ironman, here is the website you can check out...

http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/course.php

Dinner @ Biaggi's

We will meet at Biaggi's in Madison on Saturday, September 8th, around 4:30 pm for dinner. We know it's a bit early, but Slade will want to be back to the hotel and settled in for the night by 8:00. If you'd like to check out the restaurant online, here is the website... http://www.biaggis.com/madison.htm If you would like us to include you in the reservation (if you didn't already RSVP), just let us know! Thanks!

Wisconsin Ironman 2007

Wisconsin Ironman is just around the corner!

This blog will be used as a way to inform everyone about what will be going on during the day of the race.

I will post an itinerary as soon as we get plans organized.

We can't wait to see everyone on race day.

GO SLADE!!!!

We love ya!