Hey fans and followers!
Just wanted to put a cap on this year’s Middleton Kids Triathlon presented by Middleton Sports & Fitness before we shift gears again to our Golf Open (9/13) and Fall Mud Run (9/27). There were so many great things about this year’s event, and I wanted to share a few great stories with you, as well as what we’re hoping to improve for next year.
What Went Well:
- Attendance: We sold out this race for the second year in a row, and sadly even had to turn some people away. It’s amazing to say that we have over 500 kids who want to participate in a triathlon, and help their school at the same time!
- Sportsmanship: We heard so many great stories about athletes, volunteers, and even citizens helping out our athletes on race day. If you have one you’d like to share, please send them our way! One story in particular really touched my heart:
- One of our long course athletes got a flat tire on his first loop, and a citizen riding in the neighborhood stopped to help him change his tire while our bike lead went to find a pump. When the new tube went flat, the citizen gave our athlete his own bike and told him to finish the race with it, and he’d meet him at the finish line. WOW!
- Sponsor Involvement: Our sponsors were out in force this year. We had the great team from Middleton Sports & Fitness at the finish line, The Little Gym leading warm-ups and stretches, and many of our sponsors were in attendance watching their kids participate! I am honored to work with such amazing sponsors who support our organization in so many ways.
What We Can Improve:
- Bike Loop: While the new turnaround helped decrease the number of loops issue, we still had some confusion for some of our earliest long course athletes on the bike loop. While we do communicate in many ways that the course is two loops and thoroughly educate our volunteers as well, it is very difficult to make sure that all long course athletes do their two loops. Next year we plan to add two additional methods of communication:
- Loop/Finish sandwich board sign in the road
- Duct/Tape or chalk writing to help form “lanes”
- Parking clarity: We’re going to continue to do our best to communicate which lots open and close for our participants and volunteers. We had several close calls with folks trying to leave when there were still athletes present. For the most part, people were very patient and waited until the coast was clear to exit, so thank you to those who waited and worked with our volunteers to ensure the safety of all kids.
We’re really looking forward to seeing all the great photos from the day for our photo contest, so remember to send those smiles to info@tri4schools.org by Friday, 8/22!
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