I accompanied my daughter to her first triathlon this weekend. The Ann Arbor Tri Club put on a great event jsut for kids (Saline Kids Triathlon). I think there was a one to one ratio of competitors to volunteers. It was fun to watch the kids go at it.
Observations:
The kids all were quite tough. Most seemed to have little interest in triathlon per se but they brought some serious competitive instincts from whatever other sports they did and they did not leave anyting on the course (expect the one girl who puked during the run to T1 but she did not even break stride - pretty cool).
It seemed like most of the kids did no specific training for the event but just showed up with what they had. My daughter for example, just decided to do the race the day before. Her preparation amounted to packing her bag. She was talked into it by her cousin who decided to do it last week. The cool think about this was that there are quite a few kids who are active enough to just show up on a whim and excel. Everyone frets about the fat kids but there are also kids out there who are in great shape.
Initially I thought the format would be too short (200 yd swim; 4.6 mile bike; 1 mile run). It was short enough to let everyone have a go at triathlon but still let the faster kids go at it. It was defintiely a race and not an endurance contest for the faster kids. It might be fun to see adults go at it in a very short course race.
Equipment matters. Those kids who had road bikes out rode the kids on mountain bikes. A few kids had new road bikes but there were quite a few kids who were big enough to use dad’s (more likely mom’s) old road bike. I saw quite a few down tube shifters and vintage Bianchis; Fujis and Ralieghs. If you have a really old smaller framed road bike, lend it to the tri kid down the block!
Triathlon should do more to reach out to kids. As long as this sport retains middle aged men as its target audience its growth will be stunted.
I’ve seen a couple of kids tris as well. It is amazing how much they are into it. You see all these little buggers with really serious looks on thier faces riding by on thier bikes with sunglasses, little horns, flags etc. As long as the parents keep it healthy it is a great thing.
I’ve seen a couple of kids tris as well. It is amazing how much they are into it. You see all these little buggers with really serious looks on thier faces riding by on thier bikes with sunglasses, little horns, flags etc. As long as the parents keep it healthy it is a great thing.
****I missed the little kids since my daughter is in the 11-14 age group. What I saw though was a bunch of very serious athletes, they’re just not triathletes. Most of the kids in this age group were swimmers and have 5 to 8 years of competition experience. They have been working out 5 days a week year round for years. The 14 year old who was first out of the water went 2:02 for the 200 yard swim and he was laughing and joking with the volunteers on his way out of the pool area. 2:30 would have put you near the back of the 12 year old girls. While most of the kids looked like they had no experience with the technical aspects of cycling, they all looked like they could run quite well, at least for a mile. The top kids, if they take up triathlon again in their late 20’s, are going to be the future age group winners.
It’s just ashame that organized triathlon does pretty much nothing to tap into this group.
The photo below shows my 12 year old son Sergio Jr a few seconds before reaching T2 in 4th place last Saturday in the National Championship at Vallarta México. It was a very tough race with the pavement hot enough to fry an egg. He finally ended in 8th place in the 10-12 year old category but he is improving consistenly after each event of the circuit. My younger 10 year old son finished 7th in the 10-11 year category.
Seems to me that most participants in this forum are either too old to attend kids events or too young to have kids old enough to participate. The flow of information on this topic seems quite limited so it is good to know some of the participants are also interested in the younger triathletes.
I am glad my kids are triathletes but most important, I am glad that they enjoy it so much.
My two boys ages 3 and 5 participated in the “DURUNRUN” duathlon for the Special Olympics this past weekend. You cannot imagine the sheer joy of watching 3 years olds run to their bikes, take off with training wheels attached, and tear down the course. Their faces as the run through the finish shoot are fantastic. The 5 year olds are transitioning by putting on their helmets and then pendeling off at about a cadence of 150. Check out the milage below. My 3 year old got a medal for second place and stood on a podium. It broke my heart when my five year old who placed 4th could not understand why he did not get a medal. He broke out in tears and promised that next year he would practice 3 times so he could get a medal too. This is what triathlon should be about.
Ages 9-10: ½-mile run; 2-mile bike; ½-mile run
Ages 7-8: ½-mile run; 1-mile bike; ½-mile run
Ages 5-6: 200-yard run; ½-mile bike; 200-yard run
Ages 3-4: 75-yard run; 300-yard bike/trike; 75-yard run
