This summer, I've been doing a consulting internship in Boston (classic Dartmouth) and have been loving every second of it. I'm living in the city by Fenway and making great new friendships with the other interns. I've been able to explore Boston and travel around New England, enjoying the amazing weather. I love working during the week and enjoying stress-free weekends. With only a couple weeks left of the summer, I've been feeling a little sad at its ending and not as excited to start senior year.
This past weekend, however, helped me get over this distance I've been feeling between myself and Dartmouth. At the beginning of the summer, a bunch of tri team friends agreed to do the Boston Triathlon. I had no excuse not to since I would be living in the city, so I signed up for the Sprint. Before I knew it, the day before the race had arrived. Meeting so many tri team members at packet pickup the day before got me extra excited for the race. I hadn't seen many of them in a while, and it was so comforting to be around my supportive teammates again.
Come to think of it, that's what sticks out to me about the whole weekend--the many examples of the supportiveness of the Dartmouth tri team. First, the day of packet pickup, I suddenly became very stressed about how I would get to the race from my apartment. I realized that for races during the normal school year, the tri team had amazing logistics support with large vans to get bikes and people to and from races. This time, I hadn't secured a ride yet, and I realized it could be tricky to get my bike and gear across the city on my own at 6am (of course I realize this the day before). But lucky for me, Catherine and Sarah volunteered time out of their race morning to swing by my apartment and bring me and my bike to the race. Even though we missed a turn, forgot Sarah's race bib, and arrived to the transition area with 5 minutes before it closed, going through the morning with two positive, supportive teammates kept my attitude right.
Second, seeing Brandt come out to cheer us on as we lined up on the beach was such a comforting surprise, and getting to try out the water with Abiah helped us prep for a good swim start. I haven't yet started a race without teammates by my side, and I don't want to figure out what that's like.
Third, during the loopy bike and run course of the sprint race, I passed by Catherine, Sarah, and Abiah multiple times, and we whooped and cheered each other on each time. I love the boost I get from seeing the Dartmouth tri suit whizz by.
Fourth, after the race was over, the teammates who did the Sprint were all tired, happy, and excited to change into some clean clothes before the awards. However, when we heard in the GroupMe that Matt was at the hospital after a bike crash during the Olympic race, we all immediately freaked out and wanted to go to the hospital right away. Of course, Sonia’s parents and Brandt were already there with him as he got stitches in his chin and were bringing him back to get his bike. This scary experience showed me the value of support that a team like ours brings in case something goes wrong during races. Seeing Matt show up after awards smiling and congratulating the rest of us on our races was heartwarming--he genuinely was happy for everyone else and not brought down by his randomly popped tire. He stayed positive and made sure to show us bloody pictures of his injury—ew!
Fifth and lastly, our teammates settled in together near the food tents and stage to watch all the team members who received awards for the race. Even though everyone was exhausted and could have left to get back to Dartmouth earlier to study for Monday midterms, we all waited together in the shade and cheered our hearts out as Sonia, Katie, and Jim got up to the podium as top placers in their age groups. I'm sure everyone else was jealous that we had such a rowdy team to support our champions.
I think you get the gist: the Dartmouth tri team is supportive as all get out. In addition, I'm happy to say that this past weekend at the Boston Triathlon has shown me the harmony that can exist between a post-grad working life and triathlons (hopefully I can continue doing them with some of the same awesome teammates). Though I need to figure out how to train correctly in a city, I felt myself improving in confidence and having a lot of fun during this race. I can’t wait for senior year and more triathlons with the supportive Dartmouth team I’m proud to be a part of.
SBR,
Erin
About the Author
Erin Connolly ('18) is an Econ major and Computer Science and French minor who manages the Tri team website. She loves traveling, reading, trying new restaurants, and spending as much time with friends and family as possible.
