PowerTri’s Jameson King, Ian Nelson, Sarah Jarvis, Leslie Howlett, and James Lawrence competed in the 24 hour endurance race KIDA Relay Saturday. Jameson, Ian, Sarah, and I (Leslie) were part of mixed team PowerTri, and James was a part of a returning all mens team from last year Bad Bromance (love the name James!).
KIDA Relay is named after a sweet little girl Kida who lives with Cerebral Palsy. Through this relay the race directors were able to donate over $1000 to a local organization, Kids On The Move, that helps kids like Kida with their mobility.
The day started at 8am with Jameson leading us off on the bike. We all took turns riding a 25 mile loop around southern Utah County’s West Mountain. Note the snow on the mountains. The weather was great for most of the morning and afternoon, albeit a bit chilly while standing around.
There was no swimming involved in this race (darn!), but fortunately we still got our transition fix. When one rider would come in, we’d have to transfer a slap bracelet to the next rider. We worked out a nice system of someone not attached to a bike removing the bracelet and putting it on the new rider as you can see here with Sarah, Ian and Jameson.
Some transitions went smoother than others…. 
Ian had to go running after the bracelet once, but no worries, we were out of there quickly anyway.
PowerTri's Ian Nelson, Sarah Jarvis, Leslie Howlett
This relay was a fun format. Unlike many other relay races where you travel in 2 different vans all day long, we all got to hang out together in the same place while waiting for our turns to ride and run. KIDA had lots of yummy snacks for us through out the day, and fed us a great pasta dinner a local restaurant brought in that evening. They put on fun games throughout the day and everyone went home with a nice prize (cycling clothing, equipment, etc). KIDA also brought in 3 inspirational speakers talking to us about their own adversity and how they work to overcome them.
As the evening approached, the winds picked up considerably and the cloud cover was heavy. Ian Nelson rode the last leg of the bike just before 7:00pm and was a real trooper. The winds were gusting in excess of 25mph, and he fought a head wind the last 15 rolling miles. Way to go Ian! When he got back we sent Sarah out on the first leg of the run. At that point we took up residence in our handy PowerTri trailer, eventually sleeping in it in sleeping bags on the wood floor. Good times!
We all had the chance to run one 6 mile leg each, with Ian again getting the worst of the weather going last. The race had to be suspended at midnight due to crazy winds shoving runners around out there in the dark. 45 minutes later it had to be called for the night as the rain had now come in. It was disappointing to not be able to complete the whole race, but it was the safe decision. We were all so tired by that point! Physically exhausted from the 16 hours we had already put in, and with cold weather, rain and wind, and darkness around us, we all fell asleep pretty quickly.
Despite the early end, we all had such a good time. This is a race everyone should consider. We hear great new plans are already in the works for next year. Final scores ended up at 187 for the winning mens team, 183 for James’ team Bad Bromance, and 179 for PowerTri. We are thrilled to have come in first in our mixed division, and 3rd overall – way to go everyone!
Great cause, great race, great day! James sums it up nicely for us here.
