Hey Gang, thought I’d post this as we had a lot of people wonder how LB is doing post Kona!
Well, great news for Lisa Bentley, AKA the Great LB, and our buddy Dave Cracknell of Orca wetsuit fame. Two of the best people you’ll ever meet in triathlon, or anywhere else, got hitched at the in a beautiful ceremony at the Hilton Waikoloa on Friday.
The bride looked stunning and Dave well, he just looked stunned! Sorry Dave, I love theat line. Bride & groom were surrounded by a small number of friends and family from Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia with a wedding that was put together in about as much time as LB takes to finish an Ironman. Thursday night planning was a little hectic.
I know that some of you don’t believe anything with out photos but I’ll leave that for LB to do on her website as I promised not to.
Excerp From Lisa’s website:
On Thursday morning, Dr. Park said that I could go home. I had kept down my soup and water from Wednesday, my wound was healing well and my vital signs were good. Home to the Hilton!
*Within a few hours of arriving home, Dave and I went for a slow walk around the resort. We were both pretty sad about having to postpone our wedding especially since our best friends were here on the Wednesday, Dave’s best man had flown from New Zealand and our reverend, Dave’s school chaplain from New Zealand, had flown from Australia. We walked by the Hilton wedding chapel as they prepared for an evening wedding. It was 4:30 p.m. Dave asked me if I thought I was well enough to get married on Friday. I actually cried when Dave asked thinking, “Oh my goodness, I just can’t do it. I look terrible. I am bloated, sore, tired and I can’t even celebrate with food or champagne”. But on the other hand, our reverend was here from Australia and that was the most important factor when we decided on celebrating our marriage in Hawaii. It was back to basics – sort of like one foot in front of the other in an Ironman marathon. All I had to do was walk up the aisle, enjoy our vows and say “I do”. It was really a small ask. At 4:45 p.m., Heather, the Hilton wedding planner, said we could pull it off – the wedding chapel and Hawaiian singers were available, the Hilton could make bouquets and leis and the salon could do our hair at 7 a.m. By 5:30 p.m., Reverend David Williams, best man Blair Martin and maid of honor, Teresa Deveaux confirmed that their flights allowed for a 10 a.m. wedding. Lance changed his flight to later on Friday afternoon. Joe and Sarah changed their flight to Sunday. Teresa would have the big juggling act – the wedding was at 10 a.m. and her flight was at noon! It was a production – and we dearly missed Gord Brockie, my “father of the bride” and Nigel and Chantal, our dear friends, who all returned home on Thursday. *
And so, at around 10 a.m. on Friday, October 21st, my coach, Lance, walked me down the aisle on my wedding day. And sometime after 10 a.m., I joined hands with Dave Cracknell as his wife. It truly was the most beautiful celebration I have ever been too. I will write more about our wedding day, but for now, I will just say that even though I was not physically 100%, it was the single best day of my life. I felt more love in one day than some people feel in a lifetime. Had our families been there, it would have been a dream come true.
Thank you all so much for your support over the past week. It has been a struggle, but love truly did conquer all! I will be back in 2006 racing with an even fuller, happier heart and a stronger mind, body and spirit. Look out!
Lisa (Full report on LIsa’s website www.lisabentley.com)
A great ending to a tough week for LB who will be resting and taking some time to herself as Mrs Cracknell settling into married life and resting up over the next 6 weeks. Look for Lisa to be hooked on the Y&R and Oprah by December for sure! Maybe with Lisa resting Dave will do his fair share of training around the house for 6 weeks to pick up the slack - ya right!!
All the best to a great couple!