Hy-Vee Triathlon - ProRace

If you live in or around Des Moines, I am sure you were aware that there was a lot going on this weekend. The Arts Festival and the Hy-Vee Triathlon we two big hitters on our list. My good friend Adam and his girlfriend Megan came to town to stay at the Comfort B&B for the weekend. Adam participated in the triathlon on Sunday. They got into town Friday evening, so we headed down to the arts festival to check out some art and for a free concert by Gavin DeGraw. We forgot our camera but Adam was able to snap a pic using his phone!Saturday, we headed out to West Des Moines to watch the ITU professional triathlon race. They did a great job transforming Raccoon River Park into a venue fit for world class athletes. This was one on the bridges that were set up to let you cross over the race route. Adam and Megan was to us as they make their way across.

With Wells Blue Bunny being a sponsor of the triathlon, it comes as no surprise that Heather found a Big Bopper ice cream sandwich!

We made our way into the grand stands to watch the men race. The pro race is set up a little differently than the age group race. The pros run multiple laps, which gave us a better view to watch them! Here they come running from the swim portion to get on their bikes at the transition area.

We ran into our friend, Shawn Johnson, she was there watching the race too!

The pros zipped through this area on their bikes. This was part of the bike course and they did 8 loops, so we saw them fly by 8 times on their bikes.

Heather and I pose for a picture as we cheer on the athletes.

The last lap through, they jump off their bikes and grab their running gear and start running...

...a mere 10 to 20 seconds later, they are off and running!

We didn't get a picture of the finish, but it came down to a 3-way sprint to the end with one. It was very exciting and a lot of fun to watch. Full results for the pros can be found here.