When that appearance got nixed by Armstrong's doping-related ban, "a friend of mine who had been No. 80 on the waiting list for a hotel room in Kona suddenly got a call that a room was available, " says Bob Babbitt, a pioneer of the sport.
Emerson's mother is "focused onwaiting and hoping that word comes soon" and on sharing "good memories of Meredith, " a family friend, Peggy Bailey, said at a Sunday press conference.