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Yes, July is Lakes Appreciation Month and everyone appreciates a nice lake in their own way. In this case, by swimming the Foster Joseph Sayers Lake at Bald Eagle State Park as part of the Happy Valley Ironman.
Photographer and Swiftwater Rescue Tech Mark Ott says, "I was on one of 11 rescue boats stationed around the swim in case we were needed. [Competitors] started off at 7:10 am and the last swimmers were out at 9:10 am. There were also about 50 volunteer kayakers closer to the swimmers. They would signal for our response if a swimmer needed help."
Thankfully, says Mark, no serious incidents occurred. Amazingly, after the swim they biked about 56 miles (north into Mill Hall, then south over Centre Hall mountain, through Boalsburg to State College), then then ran 13 miles on the Penn State campus with the finish line on Beaver Stadium's 50-yard line. And the winner did it all in just under 4.5 hours!
This was considered a half Ironman competition. A full one covers twice the distance on each leg.
Mark writes, "It was like watching lemmings or a salmon run. The lake was smooth at the start. The swimmers caused the choppy water. The sound of them all was like standing next to a rushing creek. Fascinating to watch but can’t imagine actually doing it!"
Me neither, good sir. Me neither.
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