The Iron Kids website makes it sound like they hand out finisher’s medals. Do they also give out medals for 1,2,3 places? Anyone’s kids done one of these races? How are they?
I don’t know about finisher’s medals or anything from the participant’s persoective, but I have volunteered at a kids race. They’re a hell of a lot of fun. You see some kids out there who don’t even know that there’s a race going on - dawdling along on their bikes as if it’s dinner time but there’s still plenty of sunlight and they don’t want to go in yet. Then you get others who are dead serious about the race, and a bunch of pre/early teens who are way faster than I am.
I think all the kids enjoy it, and the parents/spectators (as long as they aren’t “hockey parents”) enjoy it just as much if not even more.
My son did the Austin Iron Kids last month. Very well run event, but the swim takes awhile because they did the Seniors 200m swim then the Junior 100m 8 kids at a time.
They do give out awards to the top 3 in each division.
Was the Austin race in a pool? How do they do it in a pool, waves of 8 kids each?
The Iron Kids website makes it sound like they hand out finisher’s medals. Do they also give out medals for 1,2,3 places? Anyone’s kids done one of these races? How are they? Was the Austin race in a pool? How do they do it in a pool, waves of 8 kids each?
They give out very nice heavy-weight gold, silver and bronze medals on red/white/blue ribbons.
As stated by Ric Rosencranz, USAT’s National Select Team Junior Coach and Program Manager, in a recent article in Triathlete Magazine on junior programs, “IronKids is the gold standard…”
My kids have been racing in the IronKids series for three years now, and we’ve done Austin (sort-of home race), Denver, Minneapolis and Sacramento (Nationals). It’s probably better run than many adult triathlons you will attend, and is both kid-friendly for the inexperienced and challenging for the future Peter Reid’s and Lori Bowden’s.
The Austin race, as all the others (except Denver which is indoor), is in an outdoor 25 meter or yard (except Minneapolis which is a 50 meter) pool. Two kids per lane, and the lanes vary from about 6 to about 12 I think. They are started by age group, and sometimes an age group will have more than one heat.
I’d be happy to answer any questions you have or for more information, you can contact Phil Fratesi the IronKids national director. I think his contact information is on the www.Ironkids.com website.
My daughter will be doing IronKids in Georgia this year and I have a question about the swim. I know the kids are required to do a swim test. Are these times used to seed the race, or is it just random lane assignments by age group? My daughter has done a couple of youth races with pool swims and has been in a lane with two other kids, not competitive swimmers, and had a very difficult time navigating safely in her lane. In one race she did, the other little girl in the lane was swimming all over the place and my daughter almost ran into her coming off her turn. I was actually pretty impressed with how well she was handling the situation, swimming so close to the lane line that it scraped her arm and leg, trying to stay clear of the other kid. The other kid’s mom was really angry and yelled at my daughter as she exited the pool. I felt bad when the lady yelled at her because I thought she did a good job of balancing her desire to swim fast with her responsibility to her lanemate. Anyway, I’m hoping to avoid a repeat of this situation at the IronKids event.
My daughter will be doing IronKids in Georgia this year and I have a question about the swim. I know the kids are required to do a swim test. Are these times used to seed the race, or is it just random lane assignments by age group? The swim test is just to confirm that the child is able to complete the distance. No timing is done. My daughter has done a couple of youth races with pool swims and has been in a lane with two other kids, not competitive swimmers, and had a very difficult time navigating safely in her lane. In one race she did, the other little girl in the lane was swimming all over the place and my daughter almost ran into her coming off her turn. I was actually pretty impressed with how well she was handling the situation, swimming so close to the lane line that it scraped her arm and leg, trying to stay clear of the other kid. The other kid’s mom was really angry and yelled at my daughter as she exited the pool. I’ve never seen a parent yelling at a child at an IronKids event… although that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I’ve seen IronKids personnel intervene when a father got a little carried away, but it was done with discretion. I felt bad when the lady yelled at her because I thought she did a good job of balancing her desire to swim fast with her responsibility to her lanemate. Anyway, I’m hoping to avoid a repeat of this situation at the IronKids event. The Georgia race will be the national championships, so the first heats will be what they call “championship heats”, i.e. kids who have medaled in other races, then the regular heats follow. Your daughter will not have to swim with the “superswimmers” which could be demoralizing after having only done a couple of triathlons. Once she does an IronKids event she will be hooked… I promise. Y’all enjoy it!
Has anyone’s kids done the Ironkids Raleigh event? I know its an open water swim. For my 2 oldest boys this will be their first tri. My younger one is a little nervous about the swim. Does anyone know how the swim goes? Are the kids able to stand up in the water? It appears from the course map it stays close to shore.