Hi friends,
Well we’re about four weeks out from the first Tri 4 Schools kids triathlon, can you believe it? I got a great taste of what to look forward to this past weekend at the Tri-ing for Children’s Kids Triathlon in Eagle, WI on July 23. They had about 200 kids ages 3-14, many of whom were competing in their first triathlon. We had SO much fun cheering on the kids and watching them cross the finish line. Many triathletes told me that seeing the looks on the children’s faces was inspiring and reminded them of why they compete in triathlons themselves.
Of course, the day wouldn’t have been completed without a few little ones who got a bit teary at certain points (or in one child’s case – from start to finish, poor guy), but every child finished the race and received a finisher’s medal! The next day, there was an adult triathlon, and I saw many of the same children cheering on Mom or Dad – and many of them were still wearing their medals. So proud. 😀
Now I have OUR race to look forward to and hope to see all kinds of smiles and happy faces as our kids complete a triathlon! We are making lots of progress towards our goal of raising $5000 for local schools – we have 112 kids signed up so far, and I hope to make that number 125 before the price increases on August 1. That said, if you are planning on signing up, or have friends who have expressed interest, please remind them they can save $5/child by registering by Sunday, July 31. Prices will increase again on race day, so you can really save by signing up early!
Now that I have our email distribution up and running, parents and families should stay tuned for more updates from me in the weeks leading up to the race. I hope to provide you with useful information for the race and to not spam your inboxes, so please let me know if there are particular things you are wondering about that you’d like me to discuss. On that note, I will also be hosting “office hours” starting on Tuesday, August 2nd from 3-6pm at Barriques in Middleton (1901 Cayuga St.). I’ll be wearing my Tri 4 Schools polo shirt so you can find me! Bring your kids, your list of questions, or even your bike helmet for helping with fitting and we’ll address everything we can.
Finally, I’m wondering if anyone out there can help with either of these requests:
1. How can we recruit spectators for our race that are NOT friends and family? I’d like to have a big turnout of the general public to just cheer the kids on. I think having people rooting for you is a great way to make a race memorable (and it’s just plain fun). I’ll never forget the Chicago Marathon course, which was lined with people for almost the entire 26.2 miles. Ironman Wisconsin is known for this as well – with almost 50,000 coming to watch the race each year! It really makes for a fun experience, and I’d love to have kids remember that after the race is over. I’m going to be canvassing the surrounding neighborhoods next week to inform residents of the race, and I’ll be sure to mention it to them.
2. How are your children doing with training? Has anyone heard of any good training stories or other small victories your kids have had along the way? Even if your child chose to ride their bike instead of watching a TV show once, I want to hear about it! Feel free to email me, post them here, or on our Facebook page!
Until the next time, train safe and have fun!
I had my 2 boys attend the tri-101 class at Harbor this summer. I actually registered them for the class BEFORE we really had committed to doing the triathlon, just because I wanted to be sure that, at a minimum, they were exercising twice a week.
Not surprisingly, working hard turned out to be more fun with a group of other kids, and even more fun when the activity was always changing (biking one day, swimming the next, running the next.) Now it’s all drawing to a close, and even though they are still nervous about their first triathlon, they have peace of mind that nothing will be asked of them that they haven’t already performed many times over in tri class. They even had a “mock tri” and did all 3 events, timed, in one class.
The staff at Harbor was great! It’s sometimes tricky for me, the parent, to motivate my kids to try scary new things, but with a coach cheering them on they are ready to go!