The Kids of Steel Triathlon in Arborg was a whirlwind of excitement, with young athletes aged six to 15 from various regions showing off their swimming, biking, and running skills.
Arborg hosted the first-ever Interlake Kids of Steel Triathlon last Saturday.
Sixty-two kids from Interlake, Winnipeg, Southern Manitoba, and Kenora competed in the day of competitive swimming, biking, and running on July 6.
The races began at Access Aquatic Centre, where six groups, based on age and preferred distance, jumped into the pool to start the race.
The swim ranged from 50m to 500m, depending on the group, before competitors hopped on bicycles to continue racing around town.
The bike portion ranged from 1.5 km in distance up to 9.6 km for the oldest age group.
The race ended in the running portion as competitors crossed the finish line to complete the event.
“The energy was high,” said race director Paula Anderson. “There were several there who hadn’t done a triathlon before so they were waiting jump into the pool, couldn’t start soon enough sort of thing. Then we had other seasoned triathletes so for them this was getting another one under their belt and testing their training.”
Anderson has been involved in planning the event since February.
Express Photos by Corrine Einarsson
The Kids of Steel Triathlon started in the Access Aquatic Centre pool in Arborg. Competitors swam from 50m to 500m based on division before heading out on the town for the bike portion
She and the Sulong Triathlon Group put on the Hecla Triathlon every year, which includes a run and bike through the town and a distance swim in Lake Winnipeg.
Anderson said having a youth event was something they wanted to do for a while; they just didn’t know where to do it.
“The Lake Winnipeg waters are a bit intimidating for kids and obviously for a safety perspective we want them to feel safe,” said Anderson. “We looked at other opportunities to have an event in the Interlake so we thought of Arborg because the pool and brought that idea into conception throughout the winter and worked closely with the town to see if there were any obstacles.”
As planning for the event progressed throughout the spring, Anderson and the Sulong Triathlon Group visited local schools to speak with gym teachers about the event.
They also reached out to local businesses to discuss sponsorship and promoted the event and registration on their social pages in early April.
To ensure safety at the event, over 50 volunteers signed up to help guide competitors along the racing route.
After receiving positive feedback from participants and parents, they plan on bringing the event back next year.
“We were really proud that we could bring this to the area and of course we really wanted to provide an outlet for more kids to get into triathlon and I think this did that,” said Anderson. “Even just bringing awareness to the fact this exists as a sport, I know lots of parents are focused on the hockey, soccer, school sports but not everyone knows triathlon exists as a sport, so it was fun to bring that even to people in the community whose kids didn’t sign up, they were saying they want to do it next year.”
Anderson said they chose not to focus on doing a podium this year as they wanted everyone to feel like a winner.
The competitors each received a water bottle, a set of elastic shoelaces, a cookie medal, and a certificate upon finishing the race.
To view race results, you can visit zone4.ca
Express Photos by Corrine Einarsson
