IRONMAN World Championships LOTTERY

"Swipe goes the credit card" (sung in a Pop goes the Weasel tune). Well, for the 3rd straight year I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the IRONMAN World Championship Lottery. The Lottery, to be held on April 15, 2009, allows a few laypeople the chance to run with the big dogs on the big island in Hawaii. Unfortunately, this is probably the only way I could ever do this race. To actually qualify I would have to run at least a 10:05 and with my horrible swimming efforts, even if I swam a 1:15, bike a 5:30 and run a 3:20, my time would already be 10:05 without transitions---which could add another 5-10 minutes. Ergo, I would need a brilliant day, a tough course to nullify the competition and perhaps a whirlpool for a lake. The other option is win one of the charitable eBay auction slots. (Yeah, right. I don't have $30,000 to spare) Basically, this all adds up to a fat chance in hell. I have a better chance of winning the lottery than I do qualifying for Kona. So...let's enter the lottery. 150 domestic slots, 50 international slots, 5 physically challenged slots and over 7,000 entrants. $35 to enter plus another $50 to join the "Passport Club" which gives me 2nd chance--50 domestic slot and 100 "Passport" slots---150 slots in all. And this being my 3rd attempt, my hopes are pretty low, but you never know. See you all on April 15th.

P.S. If anyone wants to donate $30,000 so I can get a slot, that would be cool too.