There is another thread asking for your motivation… but what is your favorite moment in this sport? Is it crossing the finish line? The seconds before the gun? Getting your number marked on your body? Responding to coworker who ask “you do what? In one day?”
For me, I love the last few yards of a race. In a sprint, it is the opportunity to pass someone or to sprint. For an IM, it is the chance to think about what you’ve just done.
I love crossing the finish line knowing I went all out.
I don’t think I ever finished a race smiling like Haile G when he crosses the line. It’s always a grimace for me. I think I’m gonna have to start to work on that, because I have big plans for the next couple of season =)
T2 and the run… it’s where the race is 
I like looking at my watch at the first mile marker of the run and realizing what pace I am running. I’ve been able to look back at this and see it as the reason for a race gone bad, but at the moment,when I still think I can hold whatever that pace is, it feels good.
Hearing “___________, You are an Ironman” is a pretty good moment also.
No question for me…going over the line. A very personal thing.
Each time without fail I create a third party view of me in the hospital with a couple tubes coming out of the chest and the long incision on the right side where the Doc went in and sewed off the majority of the lung. It’s always about going the distance. Anything more makes it that much better.
Your favorite part of the race is probably the ‘walking’ part =P
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finally catching the person ahead of you, who you have been chasing for several miles.
They are in your sights the entire time, just when you think you are making ground, you round a corner or climb a hill and think “shoot they’re pulling away”. You press on, it hurts like hell, and slowly but surely you reel them in. Just as you catch them you look down at their calf and realise they are in your age group. That moment of making that pass is very sweet.
Of course it can become instantly sour if they surge just as you try to make your pass and then blow you out the back 
One of my many memorable moments was chatting with Mark Allen just moments before jumping into the water before my first tri in 2000. He congratulated me and wished me luck. Nice guy.
Kind of depends on the race.
A couple times this year it was late in the run, knowing that I’d have big PRs. Many times it’s the few minutes in the water waiting for the gun to go off, looking back up on the shore, taking in the crowd, chatting with the other people around.
clm
When I hear little voices from the crowd shouting “GO DADDY!”.
passing guys on their cervelos with disc wheels, the last 400meters, getting out of the house for a nice training run and seeing other people out there, learning butterfly, driving on the highway and seeing bikes on the tops of cars, driving with friends on the way to a race, feeling totally utterly exhausted and sore in a good way, getting in a good rythm and forgetting everything
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Getting home, taking a shower and pulling on the new T-shirt, for all the neighbors to see as I cut the lawn.
“You mean you woke up at 6AM, ran 10 miles, and now you’re doing yardwork??? I’d be sound asleep.”
Actually, this kind of belongs in the first thread as well.
For me, there is no question:
Coming out of T1 and jumping on the bike. My worst event is over, my strongest is just beginning and it’s time to payback the fishies before the runners trample my arse coming out of T2.
As a strong second, sitting around with a cold beer (god I love Stella Artois) afterwards.
Jay
After the race, when I’m laying in bed or cooking dinner with friends, I almost always have a flashback of certain parts of the race and I remember exactly how I felt at those various moment. At that point I know whether I gave everything I had, and if I did, if I didn’t leave anything out there, it nearly brings tears to my eyes. One of those things that are very personal and that nobody can ever take away from you.
That is why I do endurace sports.
My moment occurs almost each race that I participate in. I may think the following things. "Why are you racing, this isn’t worth it? How can you finish this race? You are going to hurt yourself. “This is my last race! I am going to sell my bike at the finish line, I hope I get a flat so I can quite. I am retiring after this race.” Then toward the end of the race all changes and I am Mark Allen, Dave Scott, etc. and I am ready to plan my next triathlon. Triathlon is pain and joy all rolled up into one!
KJ
When you stop running scared and start racing.
If you’re not afraid of the marathon distance you shouldn’t be running them. I run all of my marathons afraid of what lies ahead in the last few miles…constantly checking myself, my pace, how I feel…making sure I’m not burning too much energy too early.
Usually at around mile 20 I know if its going to be a good day or not and I stop checking my watch and my legs. When you know you have it in you to make it to the line without blowing up you can really let loose and start chasing guys down. I love that point in a marathon when it ceases to be an endurance event and becomes a race to the line…and you know that you’re feeling better than the guys around you.
If you’re not afraid of the marathon distance you shouldn’t be running them.
Nice, totally agree. Think it applies to every distance- if you’re not feeling some trepidation about the impending pain, you’re not really planning on racing.
I love most of the things mentioned above, but I love getting a smile or chuckle out of a volunteer, especially late in a long race when they are tired and want to go home. They made my day by being there, I try to make theirs. Example: mile 22 aid station on a 50k I left the station singing “we’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz etc…” Badly of course.
I really like the transitions, especially T1. I think it’s fun changing over to the bike and catching the swimmers that dropped me.
jaretj
My favorite moment is being four hours into a ten hour ride and taking a turn onto a road I don’t know. Just when I start thinking “what if this doesn’t lead anywhere” I remember that I can turn around, in fact I could retrace my entire route so far and still be home early. That’s when it hits me how cool it is to cover so much ground on something as simple as a bike.
Of course the sad part is I don’t get to do many ten hour rides, but hopefully 2005 will offer me some.