JCC Youth Triathlon Race Recap - 6/24/12

It wasn't me this time racing, it was the 4 year old!
Riah had always said she wanted to race like daddy does, so we found the JCC Youth Triathlon that had a division for 5 and under!

It was more laid back than the older kids' race and the parents could help out and be on the course.


It was odd worrying about her racing and not me...
Usually I'm busy getting my hydration and gear ready before heading to the race, but this time I was packing a 4T pink swim suit, kid's water socks and a toddler bike with training wheels.  No, I don't usually ride a pink bike with training wheels, but I can if I need to.

The big kids started at 7am, the young kids were suppose to start at 7:45am.  We showed up with kids fed, bike and helmet ready at 7:20am to get her signed in and ready.

Sadly, the were running SEVERELY behind.  Riah's group didn't start until 9:30am.  Now, for those of you with a 4 and a 1 year old, you know that time is of the essence.  They got up early, they were hungry and it was getting hot.  We planned to be done by 8am.  We didn't get done until 10am.  That sucked with a very grumpy 1 year old that wanted to play in the water (but could not since it was closed for the event) and a 4 year old not understanding why she didn't get to race yet.

We just about left when they FINALLY started lining them up.

Riah went to the "water-run" group since she's not 100% on swimming yet.  She water walked two laps in the wading pool.  Hit the bike course and rode 0.75 miles.  Hit the run and ran 0.25 miles.

The sweet part was that she didn't stop and get tired of it.  She's had moments in the past where she would get bored with something and want to stop.  But, she was a trooper and ran to the turnarounds without me having to be by her side the entire time.

She got confused on the course at one point, but after a quick redirection, she was back at it.

After the race she was awarded her little medal and a cup of water.  She was very proud of herself and declared, "I was first!".

Good form.  Very little heal strike.  ;)

Now, since there was no chip timing and it was a time trial start, there's not denying or confirming her claim about first place.  We did inform her that right now it didn't really matter.  When she gets older, it might matter more, but it was more important that she finished.


The race was a blast...
But the race was only 10 minutes of the 4 plus hours to get there and wait to get started.  I wish there was a way that we could have kept tabs on the start time for the Tots.  They were way off on start times and I'm not sure that was because of poor planning or just unforeseen circumstances.

In retrospect we should have dropped off the 1 year old or had someone come and watch him so he could get his sleep and we could have two parents to keep track of a 4 year old that was getting more and more testy as the time went by.

The event was a good event for youth.  They had their top game going for the older kids, but the Tots race was a mild cluster F.  I wasn't sure where to drop her little bike off at.  I didn't see anything about what her race course would look like.  It wasn't a huge issue since it wasn't that much distance, but it would have been good for picture locations and staging spectators.

I'm not sure if we will try and find another one this year, but it may be something we try after a year of recovery.  It also depends on how much the kiddo pushes to do another one.


You have to be happy when the kid enjoys the activity...
She seemed to genuinely enjoy the race.  It was all she could talk about and very proud to show her medal off.  She was also fixated on being first.  Something we have to keep in check to keep the ego down and grace up.  ;)

She was very much looking forward to it the entire week leading up to it.  You have to be happy when you invest that much time and effort into an event for your kid and they actually enjoy it!  So often we parents get wrapped up in providing activity choices for our kids only to have the kid no like it.

Who knows, maybe triathlons will become a part of her interests, but for now it was just fun to watch her run around.

Welcome to the gun show and our numbers on our arm.