Penny Stonecypher's Staging Area

From the moment I went to pick up my shirt and bib the day before, I felt like I didn’t belong. I had to interrupt a conversation and then they looked at me like I was a cyclops. There was no shirt.. told me to ask about it the next day at the race. On race day I felt like no one was counting my laps. Yeah I’m shy but I tried to be seen and smile and wave when I came through each lap and I had the sense I was not seen, even though it’s about a quarter mile that you’re running up to the transition. I stopped at one point and asked and yes, they missed one of my laps. Then when I went to get snacks there were teenagers (not running the event) taking up the benches under the pavilion (it was 95 degrees that day) and eating the food and blocking the water and fluids area. I had brought enough support for myself in a backpack I stored under a shaded bench. It felt like if you didn’t know anyone then you were kind of invisible. In the end out of being there 12 hours and doing 16 laps (41.6 miles) there isn’t a single photo of me on the web. Also I came in 3rd on my age group so I wasn’t a complete loser entering the event. But in the end I kind of felt like it. The management is different now. This was just my experience in 2016.