Ostseeman

I don't think I could've been more inspired and humbled today by some of the people who competed in this triathlon. The first event was swimming in the North Sea. The total distance was 3.8 km. Though swimming might be the easiest event, it was the event that truly humbled me.

This event has grown immensely over the years. It started off with just ten athletes competing and has grown to over fifty. There were booths around the beach for days before the event, selling Ostseeman merchandise. Thousands of people came to watch and support the competitors, who came from all around the world. Though most were from Europe, at one point the announcer did say that an American was biking past him.

The triathlon begins with swimming 3.8km. It then goes to biking 180km around the Glücksburg streets. This is the longest and hardest event. After biking, the athletes run 42.195km and finish on the beach. Swimming began at seven am and athletes were given until midnight to finish.

At the end there were fireworks and a huge celebration down at the beach.

                                                     Where did I see God today?

At first I thought a man was injured when he stayed in the water all the way up to the beach. Most of the other participants had started running in the water. Then I noticed that he was missing something, a leg. He swam without the lower half of his right leg. He was wearing a pink swim cap too which meant that he intended to participate in all three events. I don't know where he finished placement wise, but I don't care. He swam 3.8 km in close to an hour, something I don't think I could ever ever do.

A few minutes later and I see another man swimming into shore. He is being pulled by two of the life savers for the event. He physically has two legs, but he cannot use either one. He spends his days in a wheelchair and yet he just swam 3.8 km faster than a lot of people with two working legs. He was no where near the last person coming out of the water. He had a yellow swim cap on which meant that he had teammates biking and running for him.