Racing with Gratitude: Medals for a Support Team

Awesome gift from a super support team member!

If you've ever raced a long-distance endurance event or watched one (in person or on TV), you know that those athletes out there on the course got there with the help of a solid support team.  They may want to believe they did it all on their own, but there is always someone who helped along the way, whether it was a family member with constant good luck wishes, a neighborhood athletic shop providing great technical advice and products, or a fan who sent positive messages of support via the twitter-verse.


I've been thinking a lot about this over the past year, as I attempted to get through my iron-distance triathlon training and racing without completely falling apart... It took me countless hours of training, a ridiculous amount of trial and error (especially before realizing I definitely needed a coach!), many practice events, and literally blood, sweat and tears to complete that distance.  I finally did it with a smile this June, but I definitely could not have done it without my incredible support team. 

During an ironman race, you spend the good part of a day covering (or attempting to cover) 140.6 miles "on your own."  When you cross that finish line, they call you an "ironman" and hang a big medal around your neck to congratulate you.


The real people who deserve the medals after a journey like that are all the people who helped you get to that finish line.  The people who gave you a high five along the way.  Those who inspired you to begin your journey and set big goals for yourself.  The ones who cheered for you when you doubted yourself during your training.  The team who picked you up when you crashed.  Those who made you meals when you were too exhausted to cook or even scavenge the kitchen for food.  The ones who forfeited weekend plans so you could do some ridiculous combination of swimming, biking, and running.  The people who taught you everything you know about these sports and who took you to practice, coached you, trained with you, or pushed you to do your best throughout this journey.  Those who understood when you had to miss a party or couldn't be there for a special event because you were chasing your athletic dream.  The ones who believed in you when you questioned your own abilities.  The people who cheered for you both near and far on race day, and especially the ones who endured the entire day of iron-spectating (which seriously may be harder than participating in the race itself).

Symbol for my new element!

I wanted to make all of these people proud by crossing that finish line on race day.  They are my incredible Support Team and they are the ones who deserve the medal!

If I made medals for all those support team members, they would be made out of something much stronger than iron and much tougher than an ironman.  Being a huge science fan, I went straight to the Periodic Table of Elements looking for the perfect element for this medal.  I was bummed because no element on that Table truly represented the bad@ssness and awesomeness of my support team members.  Larry helped out and gave me a great name to use for a new element: Supportium (Symbol: Su).*  


My support team medals would be made of the toughest element: Supportium!

Here is a little background on this incredible material:   

Supportium is an elusive element found in the hearts of all those who help others do their best and reach their goals in all they do.  Sorry Chemists... This atom has an atomic number of infinity because its size has no limits and it will continue to grow in size over time.  You also cannot accurately measure the atomic mass of this crucial element because is resides in the hearts many support team members around the world (hence the heart symbol)!

Maybe the medals would look something like this:

All supporters of endurance athletes are stronger than, & greater than (>), iron (Fe)!

Many cheers to all my Support Team members near and far!  You are truly stronger than iron and mean the world to me.  Thank you for all you do, and I hope to keep making you proud on and off the race course!

*Supportium cannot be found on the Periodic Table of Elements.