The swim leg of many kids triathlons take place in closely monitored, waist-deep open water (as at the 2006 Pewaukee Kids Triathlon pictured above) or in swimming pools to insure everyone's safety. Image by Fruad

Let your kids try a kids tri

by Joel Patenaude

When I first volunteered to lead the bike leg of the Waupaca Area (Wisconsin) Kids Triath-lon two years ago, I received the following advice: "Bring your road bike. These boys are fast." So when the first 9- or 10-year-old appeared in the transition area to grab his bike, I started pedaling madly down the road. When I remembered it wasn't a competition (at least not for me), I doubled back to lead the real leader to the turn-around.

2007 Midwest multisport calendar The link below opens an Acrobat Reader (free) file of  the Midwest 2007 events: Hundreds of triathlons, duathlons and adventure races

The following year I was much more relaxed about my duties on the race course and just enjoyed watching all those little kids, in their swimsuits and bike helmets, ambling along. Only a few raced eachother, and even those did so only in short, half-hearted spurts. The forward momentum of many of the tikes was made possible by training wheels and parents jogging alongside spouting constant encouragement.

Granted, triathlon organizers would rather parents kept off the course and not contribute to congestion in the transition areas (that's the job of the volunteers).

Triathlons, which appeal to active kids with interests in more than one sport, need not be high-pressure events. nightmares. As the organizers of the August 11 Oregon (Wisconsin) Kids Triathlon say on their website, the event for the 5- to 8-year-old entrants "is not structured as a highly competitive event. Rather, we want to encourage self-confidence, good health and community spirit through participation."

Swim/bike/run events lend themselves very nicely to family outings. If mom and dad are triathletes too, the whole family can make a weekend out of many of these events.

While many triathlons are one-day affairs, quite a few kids triathlons are held on Saturdays followed by the adult versions on Sunday, such as in Pewaukee, Wisconsin (July 14-15), Chisago Lakes, Illinois (July 28-29), Oshkosh (August 11-12), Pleasant Prairie (August 18-19), Manitowoc-Two Rivers (August 24-25), and Grand Marais, Michigan (September 1-2). The triathlons in Waupaca take place Friday and Saturday (August 17-18) as do the Lactic Edge triathlons in Stevens Point (July 13-14).

If you or your young ones would rather not focus on just one event but dedicate your summer to triathlons, there is the Kids Tri Series, as detailed at www.midwestsportsevents.com. The series includes several of the two-day format events listed above plus the Paper Discovery Kids Duathlon in Appleton, Wisconsin (May 6) and the Green Bay Kids Triathlon (immediately following the adult tri, June 10). Awards will be given to kids doing four of the five events "based on simple participation, not how fast you are," according to the website.

For all their triathlons, Midwest Sports Events has set distances based on the age of the participants: kids 11-12 (swim 400 feet, bike two miler, run a half mile), ages 9-10 (swim 200 feet, bike one mile, run a quarter mile), ages 7-8 (same as 9-10 age group but swim 100 feet), age 5-6 (swim 50 feet, bike a half mile and run a quarter mile) and ages 3-4 swim 25 feet, bike 500 ft and run an 1/8 mile). The water is never more than waist deep.

Other events that welcome children under five include the Tri Jesus Youth Triathlon in Quincy, Illinois (June 9), the Leamington (Ontario) Triathlon (June 16) – where the youngest racers are actually called "sub-midgets" – and the aforementioned Grand Marais Triathlon, where age groups are determined by registration at the time of the event.

There are also triathons with set distances for Junior (ages 6 to 10) and Senior (ages 11 to 14 or 15) divisions: TriAmerica TriKidz in Menomonie, Wisconsin (June 16), Steventon's in Bettendorf, Iowa (June 30) and Lakeside in Decatur, Illinois (July 1). Other tri's with four-year age groups are the Mighty Wolf in Winneconne, Wisconsin (June 30) and Miracle Kids in Chanhassen, Minnesota (August 18).

So, let your kids try a kids tri. A great experience will be had, even if your child is like the 5-year-old boy who cried "Help me!" at last year's Waupaca tri. Before his untied laces could get caught in the crankarms, I tied his shoes and got him back on his way. I was left with the satisfaction that this one little fellow was allowed to enjoy his first triathlon.

Joel Patenaude is the editor of Silent Sports.

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