Saturday, August 9, 2008

Kids Tri Harder Triathlon 2008

In this family we Tri, we really, really do. But the kids said they wanted to TRI Harder. So it is....

We are lucky enough to live in a place that has the cutest, funnest little triathlon for kids, called the Kids Tri Harder. Mason participated last year and loved it. Savannah wasn't old enough yet but she couldn't wait to do it this year.

The kids ages 4-7 swim once across the pool (25 m), then they bike around the block, then they run around the parking lot twice and through the big finish. The kids 8-12 do double those distances. They all get Tshirts, a goodie bag, and a finisher's medal, and then they announce winners at the end. The kids 4-6 are allowed to use flotation devices as well.

We arrived at 7:15 am for check in. Savannah's group would be first. They start them age by age, 1 year at a time, starting with the youngest. Last year, there were only 1-2 four year olds, but this year, she had one of the biggest divisions, which was fun. The girl is competitive, so I think she liked having some competition ;)

Here she is, outside, listening to the race director give instructions and looking so excited!!!


Then she hopped in the pool and waited for the starting whistle. Can you tell she enjoys the camera?



And then the whistle blew and she and the other 4 year olds and their floaties were off!! They swam their very fastest and kicked their little legs all the way across the pool, where Daddy helped her climb out and we ran out to transition 1. Here, she put on her bike helmet and shoes and she was off again! Daddy was able to run by her side to cheer her on. She was the only 4 year old without training wheels which made her much faster than her competition.



She was so much faster, in fact, that she was finishing the run before any of the other 4 year olds, even the boys, had begun. As she crossed the finish line, the announcer said, "And we have our very first finisher of the day!" And just like you would expect from Savannah, as she crossed the finish line, she gave me a pose ;)





She was so excited that she took first place. We didnt know it yet but she beat the next girl by 4 whole minutes (the rest of the 4 year olds finished within a minute of each other) and she was a full 2 minutes ahead of the fastest boy. Girl can MOVE!

She was thrilled to get her finisher's medal as well.





As soon as Savannah finished, we rushed back inside to see Mason preparing to get in for his swim.


Mason has not had swimming lessons at all so he did the backstroke. Of course the kids that had already had years of swimming lessons and could do the freestyle were out of the pool before he was, but Mason is pretty darn fast on his bike!

He was in third place going into the bike portion, and the kid in 4th place had this look of determination on his face- he really wanted to pass Mason. Mason kept looking over his shoulder and making sure he was going fast enough to stay ahead, and he was. Check out the picture below to see that look on the kid's face. It was kind of humorous!


As Mason went into the second lap of the bike, he came around the corner a little too fast and wiped out on his bike! That gave the boy behind him just the opportunity he was looking for, and he was able to pass Mason. But Mason got right back up, hopped back on and kept going. I was so proud of him for his determination!


Dan ran along side Mason to give him some moral support, and Mason was a trooper! He came in 4th place and was really happy about the whole thing. He said he can't wait to do another one!

Both kids had a great time and we took them out to eat afterwards to celebrate. Here they are with their medals:


Here are the kids who did the tri-the ones that stayed for the awards, which wasn't nearly all of them.

Mason and Savannah each after the awards ceremony:





And of course I had both kids give me a nice pose at the end!!




Now, if only I can get them to Try so hard at their chores.....

12 comments:

Morgan said...

That is the coolest thing ever! How fun for both kids!!! Congrats to Savannah for being the first finisher!!

~AnnaMarie~ said...

Okay guys, I was half way through this blog, just the Savannah part, when I had to leave, and Daniel posted it. So it looked like I only cared about how she did and didnt even say anything about him :) So as soon as I found out that Daniel published my unfinished blog, I came and fixed it. However, there are a couple of mistakes in here and when I try to edit the post, it goes all the way back to how it was the first time and I lose most of it, so Im just leaving the mistakes so I dont have to mess with it ;) So if you read it before I fixed it, don't think I only love one of my children!!!!

Tiffini said...

Your kids are so cute!! What a great idea to get kids involved like that.

Adventures in Healing said...

I'm so proud of your kids FOR you! That looks awesome. I love that Dan ran along too, especially with Mason. My favorite part though... That Savannah is wearing dangly earrings for a mini triathlon. Love it!

Anonymous said...

We were there too! It was fun! So what were your kids times??

Sarah

Brooke Brooks said...

Your kiddos are so stinkin cute! What a great idea to have a triathlon for kids!

Morgan said...

I was curious about how Mason did but I definitely didn't think you don't love him! ;) I figured the races were stacked and you didn't have a chance to take pictures!

Again, it looks so fun! I wish they had something like that in Kingman. Who knows, maybe they do and I just don't know about it yet.

And yes, the dangly earring are awesome!

~AnnaMarie~ said...

To "Anonymous" ;)- Savannah did it in 8:34 and Mason in 11:25. What groups were your kids in?

~*Jen*~ said...

How fun! The pic of Savannah posing at the end and then the pic with the determined boy behind Mason are hilarious!!!

Kmelanese said...

How fun!! Great Job to both your kids! I can't believe Savannah was the only 4 year old without training wheels. Looks like they enjoyed themselves!

Brittany said...

That is so cute!!!!!!!! Savannah's face is priceless. You must be so proud!

Addison, Crew, Carter & Canon's Mama said...

This is awesome!! These kids are so dang cute I can't get over it! I think this is so great that the kids love this so much! Too cute!