A New Ballesty Sport – Triathlon

On May 31st the kids all competed in their very first Triathlon! It was sponsored by a local school and broken into age groups just for the kids. It was set up into the standard three events for a triathlon, swim, bike and run, with each age group broken down between boys and girls and doing varying distances. The kids found out about it through friends and decided they'd like to try it.

We rolled up early on race day (I never did get the pre-registration forms in) with the mistaken impression that this would be a watered down children friendly version of a triathlon. How wrong we were!! The kids were given their numbers to pin on their running shirts, stripped down to their swimsuits, number tattooed (arms and legs), and sent to the pool. The plan (as it was explained to first time parents) was this: they swim in small groups, get out of the pool and run outside (soaking wet). They get into their clothes and sneakers and onto their bikes, ride off along a marked trail (on the road), get to the running track, drop their bikes and run the allotted number of laps around the track for their age group. A lot more like a "real" triathlon than I thought it would be.

We knew that they would all be excellent with the swimming portion, so I established myself as the “official bike pit crew”. This put me in charge of drying and dressing each one as they came running out of the pool and onto their bikes. Dan positioned himself on the other end of the bike course collecting up bikes and helmets as they “dropped and ran” for the running track. We (as parents and crew) were lucky that they staggered the age groups, so the only difficulty I really had was that Liam and Elise exited the pool at the same time and I was trying to help dress both of them and get them on their bikes at the same time. Elise, by the way, was incredibly thrilled that her birthday is still 7 days away and she got to compete with the younger group and NOT with Erin’s group.

They all did amazingly well. Not only did all of them finish … … something I probably couldn’t have done, but out of 26 competitors in each age/gender field they finished: Declan 4th, Liam 22nd, Elise 10th and Erin 8th. Declan was so excited that he got 4th. He was a little disappointed to find out they only gave plaques to the top 3 finishers in each group, but simply resolves to do better next time. We hear rumors of another kids Triathlon near here in August… … we’ll have to see – after they recover! - J

THE RESULTS

Kid: Age, Swim/ Bike/Run FINAL TIME

Declan: 8, 50 yds/1 Mile/ ¼ mile 12 min. 11 Sec

Liam: 9, 50 yds/1 mile/ ¼ mile 12 min. 49 Sec

Elise: 10, 50 yds/ 1 mile/ ¼ mile 12 min. 26 Sec

Erin: 12, 100 yds/ 2 mile/ ½ mile 19 min. 50 Sec

Our winners! With Elise's friend Carilyn in the front. By the way - Erin had just finished when I took this and threatened to puke all over Declan if I didn't hurry up!