BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to our IRONMAN athletes and all others swimming or running across a finish line this weekend! We have another spectacular event weekend in front of us! It starts with a couple of Gators doing an epic Saturday swim in the first event we can recall that has "Alligator" in the name of the event! Then on Sunday it's IRONMAN x 3 with 7 of our athletes in the final edition of IRONMAN Atlantic City 70.3, another in IRONMAN Wisconsin, and the men's IRONMAN World Championship taking place in Nice, France! Besides that we have several Gators competing in running events on Saturday and Sunday (and one Gator that is taking on events both days)! So, who is doing what? Read on... Weekend Workouts: This weekend we have three workout options including a swim and two sponsor-led group runs. • Saturday 9/9, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 9/10, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery (203 Bridge St, Phoenixville): RUNegades group run • Sunday 9/10, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor lap pool: It's back! Uncoached group swim workout Weekend Events: Here is a list of the 14 athletes that we have in action across 5 events in 4 states this weekend. As always, if your name is missing from our best wishes list, PLEEEASE post a comment so that we can send Good Gator Vibes your way! Saturday, September 9-Sunday, September 10: • SPONSOR EVENT: Kinetic Multisports' Patriots Triathlon (Williamsburg, VA): This event includes sprint, Olympic, and half IRONMAN distance triathlon and aquabike events as well as a relay option. Saturday, September 9: • Swim for Alligator Lighthouse (Islamorada, FL): This event began in 2013 after artist Lighthouse Larry decided to swim out to this lighthouse and back. Following that the Fighting Manatees Swim Club made it an official event. Alligator Reef Lighthouse, which was established in 1873 and is named after the early 1800s US Navy schooner Alligator (of the Navy's Anti-Piracy Squadron), is located 4 nautical miles east of Indian Key. And tomorrow team "Gator Gals", Sara Dansbury and Cindy Kelecic, who will each swim 4 miles and provide kayak support for the other for 4 miles, will get to see it up close at the halfway point of their 8 mile swim! If you'd like to track their progress and/or send them cheer messages (before, during, and after the event), download the Racejoy app! Go Sara and Cindy, just keep swimming! • Bird-In-Hand Half Marathon (Bird-In-Hand, PA): The preparations for Berlin and Chicago continue as Joe DeNicola and Susan Flavin run through the Amish Country and earn the horseshoe medal! Go Susan and Joe! Sunday, September 10: Get your IM Tracker apps ready! • CLUB/SPONSOR EVENT: IRONMAN Atlantic City 70.3 (Atlantic City, NJ): In this final year of an event that has included many Gators' first 70.3, PRs, and world championship qualifications, we'll have 7 Gators participating including Ginny Angus, Benjamin Fong, Hannah Ludescher, Shawn O'Malley, David Stone, and Justin Wychunis in the individual event and Whitney Chadwick-Lessar as the runner on a relay team that also features John Shoen of French Creek Racing as the swimmer! Go Ginny, Ben, Hannah, Shawn, David, Justin, Whitney, and John! • IRONMAN Wisconsin (Madison, WI): Our 2022 IRONMAN World Championship athlete, Christina Pitchford, is back at it in this longtime event that features one of the top finish line experiences in IRONMAN with a huge crowd and the state capitol greeting athletes as they complete their 140.6 mile adventure! We have lots of tracking to do this weekend! Go Christy! • Queen of Prussia 10K (King of Prussia, PA): This local event starts at 7:30am at KoP's Town Center, so if you have the morning free, maybe go out to support the runners and grab some breakfast (Duck Donuts, mmm!)! We have 3 athletes running including Sarah Barkley, Angela Epelbaum, and "why not run in events on Saturday and Sunday" Susan Flavin! • IRONMAN World Championship - Men (Nice, France): And if all of the above (plus NFL kickoff weekend) isn't enough for you, be sure to check out the best long distance male triathletes in the world at this first ever championship event in France! Have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺