My Perfect Day (2003 Accenture Chicago Triathlon)
by Geoff Scott, Chicago Tri Club Member 

The planets started to align at the August Tri Club meeting when it was announced that the Tri Club would have their own packet pick-up line. Having spent hours at the expo standing in line in the past this was great news. When I went to the expo on Friday, the lines were short but Kelly looked lonely standing and the Tri Club table so I got my packet and chatted a bit before checking out the rest of the room. More planets came into line when I saw that my age group (M30-34) would be going off right after the sprint. Even better was that I was to be in the first wave! No waiting for hours to start and finishing in the heat for me this year! Karma strong.
 
After the sprinters all got underway my wave was called into the water. I had a good start and after a small detour outside the lifeguard boats I came out of the lake. My girlfriend yelled that I was in 9th place! I looked at my watch and found that I had set a personal best for the swim. Planets closer to a perfect line and Karma raging, I hurried to and through transition and hit the bike course.
 
The course was pretty empty so the going was fast. I have a bad habit of pushing too hard at the beginning of the bike and fading at the end so I tried to hold back. My legs had another idea and kept pushing the pedals. When I came to the turnaround for the second time I peeled off to get back to transition. There was nobody on the road ahead of me! I looked at the watch again and discovered that my legs had gotten me to another personal best time. My cheering section was waiting at the top of the ramp off Lakeshore Drive and was going nuts. I raced into transition to find that it was empty. There were no other bikes on my rack. I was leading the wave! Planets fully aligned and so much Karma it was oozing out of my feet.
 
As I exited transition I saw a man on a bike chatting with the volunteers. He looked up and asked if I was in the international race. I yelled, “Yep.” He jumped on his bike and said, “OK, let’s go.” Now, I have seen the first people on the course being led by the biker and thought that that would be very cool but I never expected that I would be that person. As we went down the lakefront, people waiting to start and other spectators came over to cheer me on as I ran. I know that I am not a terribly strong triathlon runner so I fully expected to be caught quickly. I took a couple of opportunities to look back and still didn’t see anybody. My escort worked hard to keep people off of the path and I had clear running. The volunteers at the aid stations were cheering loudly and after I hit the turnaround I knew that I would have a chance to see who was following me. He looked very close. I decided that I would pick up the pace a bit at mile 4 and make him work a little harder to pass me. I heard my escort’s radio ask for my number so I shouted it to him. He looked back and asked, “Are you Geoff?” I said, “You bet.” As I came to the tunnel under Lakeshore Drive my escort pulled off and told me that I had a 200-meter lead with 400 meters to go. I thanked him and made my way to the finish strait. My mom had come down the hill to cheer and asked my how I felt. I told her that I was running out of gas but I kept pushing. As I came to the last corner I heard the announcer say, “Here comes our first international runner. It’s Geoff Scott from Chicago, Illinois!” I rounded the turn and was alone on Columbus Avenue with the finish line right there. I crossed the line with a huge smile and fist pump in a personal best time by 16 minutes. There was a woman from CLTV there who interviewed me and I was flying high. I found my fans and went to the Tri Club tent where Carolyn offered me a cold bottle of water and some chocolate chip cookies.
 
As I write this a few days after the race I still feel elated. I feel privileged to have had this experience and can definitely say that the Chicago Triathlon 2003 will forever be on of my best days!