This Gold Nugget Triathlon moment comes from the makers of Afrin, Flonase and Vicks VapoRub.
Rebecca McKee spent Saturday night with her head propped on a pile of pillows, trying to coax oxygen into nasal passages blocked by allergies.
It was past midnight, and she couldn't breathe or sleep. With every passing minute she wondered if she'd make it to Sunday's 9 a.m. start of Alaska's biggest triathlon.
"It's 1:15, and I thought, "Are you really gonna get up in the morning and do this?' '' McKee said.
A cocktail of allergy medicines helped her make it through the night -- "I Vicks-ed up," she said – and to the Bartlett High pool deck.
When it was over, McKee was again breathless, but in a good way.
In a race dominated by repeat winner Kinsey Laine of Fairbanks, McKee captured second place with a performance that left her giddy.
McKee, 44, improved on her fifth-place finish from a year ago in a race she holds dear.
"This is a pretty major day for me," she said.
That's saying something, because McKee owns a splendid triathlon resume, one that includes a ninth-place age-group finish at last year's Half-Ironman World Championships in Austria. She's also a triathlon coach who has helped any number of Alaska triathletes to personal-bests.
But the Gold Nugget is the kind of race that makes even the toughest Ironman racers go soft. "Amazing and inspiring," McKee called it.
The Gold Nugget is the biggest all-female triathlon in the country, a race that puts top racers on the same course as first-time racers who may do the backstroke in the pool or some walking on the running course. Those rookies – affectionately known as newbies – get as much love when they finish as the elite athletes do.
"It was so much fun I don't even know why I was so nervous," 28-year-old Amy Hollinhead said after completing her first triathlon.
Hollinhead, one of 422 newbies in the field of more than 1,600, said she went to the pool three times a week for the last couple of months so she could learn the freestyle stroke.
Not that you need to be Michael Phelps to be a successful Gold Nugget triathlete.
"I saw some people do the backstroke and the breaststroke," Hollinhead said. "People were cheering them the whole time."
Laine had to wait awhile to get any love from her fellow racers. In winning for the second straight year, the UAF assistant swim coach spent more than five minutes in the finish chute before anyone else finished.
Laine completed the 500-yard swim, 12-mile bike and 4.1-mile run in 1 hour, 4 minutes, 42 seconds, trimming more than two minutes off her time of 1:07:20.8 last year.
McKee was second in 1:10:27. Three-time champion Amber Stull was third in 1:11:13.
"Kinsey is freaking unbelievable right now," McKee said. "She's on the path to (being a) pro. So I'm pretty freaking stoked to be second to her."
Laine, 27, won the women's championship at last month's Hawaii Lavaman Triathlon, where she placed 14th overall in a field of 1,153.
But between that race and the Gold Nugget, she suffered a rare setback. A flat tire kept her from defending her title in the Breakup Triathlon earlier this month in Fairbanks.
"It was the first time I had to drop out of a race," she said. "It was humbling, and a good reminder that you never know what can happen."
Everything went smoothly for her on Sunday. Eighteen-year-old Kendal Williams of Anchorage was the first out of the pool, but Laine had a quicker transition and was the first to pedal out of Bartlett's parking lot. She never trailed again.
Laine's summer and fall are filled with big triathlons, but Sunday was pretty big too. Her mom was racing, and one of her friends joined her in the top four.
Grabbing fourth place was Beth Zirbes of Fairbanks, whose friendship with Laine goes back several years to when Laine was a student at UAF.
"I was her (teacher's assistant) in calculus," said Zirbes, 31.
Since then, the student has become the master. Though Zirbes beat Laine in a 2012 triathlon in Fairbanks, she hasn't been able to keep pace with her since. Not many can.
Impressive performances were turned in throughout the day, including one by a woman who made the news earlier this month when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver while she was riding her bike on Arctic Valley Road.
The cuts and scrapes on Jackie Minge's face are almost gone, but she sported a big, ugly, deep-tissue bruise on the back of her left calf.
Minge said she bought a new helmet on Wednesday – the one she was wearing when she was hit was destroyed – but she didn't know until Friday whether she'd be able to race.
"The pool was the last piece," she said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to get my goggles on." That's how swollen and tender her face was.
Minge said her back is still sore and it's hard to breathe. But she was motivated to race.
"I felt like I needed to get back on the horse before the horse got too scary," she said.
The field featured three women who have done every Gold Nugget since the first one in 1984 – Cindy Cooper, Diane Barnett and Idamarie Piccard.
"It gets harder and harder," said Piccard, 77, part of a three-generation team that included daughter Lu Ann and granddaughters Sarah, 10, and Angela, 9.
Piccard has seen the race grow more than five-fold from the early years. The Gold Nugget has a limited capacity because the Bartlett pool can only handle so many swimmers in a single day, and the battle to gain a spot in the race can be as challenging as the race itself.
Online registration begins at 8 p.m. several weeks before race day, and this year's field filled up in 2 minutes, 26 seconds.
Racers enjoyed clear blue skies and warm temperatures. "Today's probably the hottest it's ever been," Piccard said.
Top 15
1) Kinsey Laine 1:04:42, 2) Rebecca McKee 1:10:27, 3) Amber Stull 1:11:13, 4) Beth ZIrbes 1:11:57, 5) Megan Cheff 1:12:21, 6) LeeAnn Burns 1:12:28, 7) Danelle Winn 1:12:38, 8) Laura Gardner 1:12:57, 9) Sara Miller 1:13:05, 10) Lisa Keller 1:13:13, 11) Sheryl Mohwinkel-Fleming 1:13:36, 12) Kendal Williams 1:14:02, 13) Jenny Kimball 1:14:17, 14) Katelyn Stearns 1:14:34, 15) Joleen White 1:15:05.