Total Time: 09:33:53I later found out I finished 7th in my age group.  One spot out ofKona; for my age group, I had to finish top 6 to get a spot.  Oh well,maybe I would get a spot at roll down the next day if someone else hadpreviously qualified.  Not to bad for a first IM attempt.  I woke upearly the next morning excited for roll down.  On the blackberry Ifound an email from Tom Stephenson.  "Hey Bud:  What does the DQ nextto the guy's name who came in 5th in your age group mean? I think youbetter get to Kona registration."  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!SICK!!!!!.  Of course, I didn’t believe it at first.  I had to go toregistration myself to check it out.  Sure enough, God and theJoop troop were looking down on me this fine day: I qualified forKona.   My unlucky competitor was DQ'd for not wearing a shirt duringthe run.I ended up with 67th overall and 6th in my agegroup.  Some work to bedone before October 2010 in Hawaii.

All in all, the race was a tremendous experience - mostly because ofthe Joop Troop (my cheering section).  Having that many spectators and supporters out there made all the difference in the world.  They were so enthusiastic that they had other people in the crowd cheering for me and taking pictures of the sick t-shirts that my brother, Turkey, designed.  They broke upthe bike perfectly.  And during the run, getting to see them everyfour miles really kept me moving.  I can’t thank them enough.  Theywere the reason the day was as successful as it was.  The race andtheir presence is one of the fondest memories of my entire life.And a big thank you to everyone else out there.  The number ofsupportive emails and phone calls is unlike anything I have everexperienced. It was amazing to hear from all of you.