Join me in the Turtle Crawl May 3rd!

Okay, I finally caved to the challenges and registered for the annual Turtle Crawl triathlon on Jekyll Island, May 3, 2008. It’s an Olympic distance tri (1,500m swim (almost a mile), 40 km bike (25 miles) and 10k run (6.2 miles) – a perfect blend of speed and endurance (of which I have neither!). It’s been years since I’ve done more than run across the street but once upon a time I was a pretty decent marathoner and triathlete (see photos from the Pinehurst Olympic Distance Triathlon a few years ago where I’m actually smiling!) so it was just too hard too pass up this opportunity to support the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in this event even if it means drowning off the beautiful beaches or collapsing along the scenic roadways of Jekyll Island. There will be a number of talented athletes and a lot of very dedicated “weekend warriors” who’ve been training for this event and I’m proud to run alongside (well, okay, BEHIND) them – my goal is simply to survive and maybe finish before the 4 ½ hour time limit.

If you’re not quite so adventurous as to join the triathlon, please at least come support all these dedicated people who are torturing their bodies to support the GSTC and stay to have some fun with us in the annual Nest Fest that afternoon where the GSTC team and many of our colleagues from the area will have crafts/games/exhibits and lots of family-oriented fun about our local ecosystem. We’ll even be releasing 3 of the sea turtle patients from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center that day!!

The triathlon begins at 7:30 and Nest Fest begins at noon. For more info, please visit the Jekyll Island Website.

See you there!

-Bill
Dr. Bill Irwin, Director