Just signed my kids up for first triathalon
07-28-24, 07:32 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Just signed my kids up for first triathalon
Greetings.
I just signed up three kids (ages 6, 8, and 11), for a kid's triathalon on August 11th at a YMCA in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. This will be their first experience in this discipline. It is mostly for fun and everybody gets a medal and all that, but it is also a USA Triathalon sanctioned event with registration and bibs. The ,kids swim about 100 yards in the pool (depending on age group), bike a mile or two, then run 1/2 or 3/4 mile. After the racing, they have a big party with a DJ and a bubble truck.
The YMCA uses this even as the culmination of their summer camp program. The campers train for it each week. My kid are coming from about an hour away, so they will be new to everything. We will have to train at home.
I just signed up three kids (ages 6, 8, and 11), for a kid's triathalon on August 11th at a YMCA in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. This will be their first experience in this discipline. It is mostly for fun and everybody gets a medal and all that, but it is also a USA Triathalon sanctioned event with registration and bibs. The ,kids swim about 100 yards in the pool (depending on age group), bike a mile or two, then run 1/2 or 3/4 mile. After the racing, they have a big party with a DJ and a bubble truck.
The YMCA uses this even as the culmination of their summer camp program. The campers train for it each week. My kid are coming from about an hour away, so they will be new to everything. We will have to train at home.
07-28-24, 03:44 PM
#2
Should be a fun event. Distances aren't very long, even for 6 and 8 year olds. Should be a good start and hopefully they enjoy it and want to do it more. Do you get to be on course with them?
08-06-24, 05:19 PM
#4
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I have great memories of my eldest daughter doing her first triathlon when she was around 6 or so. She had a basket on the front of her bike with her favorite stuffed animal in it. I hope they enjoy it and they (and you) end up with some great memories.
08-06-24, 05:22 PM
#5
Oh man, that's great! There's what I call an "ultra-mini-mini-Tri" happening near me in September that my daughter wants to try out. It consists of a 7-lap pool swim (175 yards), a 2.4 mile bike ride, and a .6 mile run! I'll do it with her, side-by-side!
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08-06-24, 05:39 PM
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She did the swim and run by herself, and I ran next to her on the bike. My best memory was me doing an all out sprint on a down slope trying to keep up, she hit a speed bump (one of the flatter types) she got about 2 feet of air, stuffed animal got about 4 feet of air, and upon landing all was good. Stuffed animal and daughter both made it and I didn't have a heart attack.
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08-06-24, 08:12 PM
#8
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Thread Starter
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Only parents of kids under 6 are allowed (required, actually) to accompany their kids. The pool swim has no parent viewing at all due to severe space limitations. Parents are encouraged to cheer from one main area immediately outside of the pool that serves as the two transition zones and also the finish line.
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08-12-24, 06:40 PM
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
So my kids completed the triathalon yesterday. There was a total of about 500 participants.
Pros:
Everyone had fun. We had a blast.
Very well organized
Totally family friendly
Free swim cap and goggles in addition to the t-shirt and medal you knew you were getting
Lots of kid friendly post-race snacks
"Athletes village" with lots of activities (bounce house, bubbles, bracelet making, fire truck, etc.)
Very professional timing with all splits
Distances were very age appropriate - challenging to all and only a few quit before the end
Excellent DJ and announcers
Kids could choose a swim wrist band - green for swim team level, yellow for swimmers, and red for little kids that needed constant supervision and/or a wall/rope/kickboard. The greens went out first, followed by the yellows and reds.
A bike shop was there to offer free mechanical help to anyone that needed it.
200 volunteers for 500 participants.
Boys and girls raced together - not an issue
They had a special race for the babies (3-5 year olds) that got to bring a parent with them at every step. They never left the parking lot. I can see this for kids who might have had an older sibling in the race, but I suspect most 3-year-olds would be just as happy going to the playground than doing all the race stuff.
There was one child with an obvious physical impairment (cerebral palsy?) who completed the bike and run sections of the race in a bike trailer pulled by his dad.
Cons:
With three kids in three age groups, you miss things like a kid finishing while you are waiting for another to come out of the pool.
Had to be there at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. I assume this minimizes the disruptions due to closing some streets
Rampant "cheating". Some kids had better than world record times on the swim - I have to assume that some kids came in and looked at the pool and then left without swimming. Other kids averaged 28mph on the bike. While this is obviously possible, I believe that it far more likely that they simply did 14mph like most of the others, but skipped the second lap. I don't have a huge problem with kids chickening out of the swim or even accidentally skipping the second bike lap. The downside is that these kids push down the places of everyone that completed all the distances. My oldest completed the race and was let down to hear he came in 61st out of 85 (or something like that).
Not really a negative so much, but due to the limitations of the pool, kids would go out in groups of about 12 at a time. Occasionally you could catch somebody from a previous group or be passed by someone that started the swim after you, but most kids pretty much raced in these small groups.
Also, from a standpoint of beating others, the swim really didn't factor in at all - either you could do it or you couldn't. This actually worked out great for my kids, who are strongest on the bikes.
Pros:
Everyone had fun. We had a blast.
Very well organized
Totally family friendly
Free swim cap and goggles in addition to the t-shirt and medal you knew you were getting
Lots of kid friendly post-race snacks
"Athletes village" with lots of activities (bounce house, bubbles, bracelet making, fire truck, etc.)
Very professional timing with all splits
Distances were very age appropriate - challenging to all and only a few quit before the end
Excellent DJ and announcers
Kids could choose a swim wrist band - green for swim team level, yellow for swimmers, and red for little kids that needed constant supervision and/or a wall/rope/kickboard. The greens went out first, followed by the yellows and reds.
A bike shop was there to offer free mechanical help to anyone that needed it.
200 volunteers for 500 participants.
Boys and girls raced together - not an issue
They had a special race for the babies (3-5 year olds) that got to bring a parent with them at every step. They never left the parking lot. I can see this for kids who might have had an older sibling in the race, but I suspect most 3-year-olds would be just as happy going to the playground than doing all the race stuff.
There was one child with an obvious physical impairment (cerebral palsy?) who completed the bike and run sections of the race in a bike trailer pulled by his dad.
Cons:
With three kids in three age groups, you miss things like a kid finishing while you are waiting for another to come out of the pool.
Had to be there at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. I assume this minimizes the disruptions due to closing some streets
Rampant "cheating". Some kids had better than world record times on the swim - I have to assume that some kids came in and looked at the pool and then left without swimming. Other kids averaged 28mph on the bike. While this is obviously possible, I believe that it far more likely that they simply did 14mph like most of the others, but skipped the second lap. I don't have a huge problem with kids chickening out of the swim or even accidentally skipping the second bike lap. The downside is that these kids push down the places of everyone that completed all the distances. My oldest completed the race and was let down to hear he came in 61st out of 85 (or something like that).
Not really a negative so much, but due to the limitations of the pool, kids would go out in groups of about 12 at a time. Occasionally you could catch somebody from a previous group or be passed by someone that started the swim after you, but most kids pretty much raced in these small groups.
Also, from a standpoint of beating others, the swim really didn't factor in at all - either you could do it or you couldn't. This actually worked out great for my kids, who are strongest on the bikes.
08-12-24, 07:14 PM
#10
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So my kids completed the triathalon yesterday. There was a total of about 500 participants.
Pros:
Everyone had fun. We had a blast.
Very well organized
Totally family friendly
Free swim cap and goggles in addition to the t-shirt and medal you knew you were getting
Lots of kid friendly post-race snacks
"Athletes village" with lots of activities (bounce house, bubbles, bracelet making, fire truck, etc.)
Very professional timing with all splits
Distances were very age appropriate - challenging to all and only a few quit before the end
Excellent DJ and announcers
Kids could choose a swim wrist band - green for swim team level, yellow for swimmers, and red for little kids that needed constant supervision and/or a wall/rope/kickboard. The greens went out first, followed by the yellows and reds.
A bike shop was there to offer free mechanical help to anyone that needed it.
200 volunteers for 500 participants.
Boys and girls raced together - not an issue
They had a special race for the babies (3-5 year olds) that got to bring a parent with them at every step. They never left the parking lot. I can see this for kids who might have had an older sibling in the race, but I suspect most 3-year-olds would be just as happy going to the playground than doing all the race stuff.
There was one child with an obvious physical impairment (cerebral palsy?) who completed the bike and run sections of the race in a bike trailer pulled by his dad.
Cons:
With three kids in three age groups, you miss things like a kid finishing while you are waiting for another to come out of the pool.
Had to be there at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. I assume this minimizes the disruptions due to closing some streets
Rampant "cheating". Some kids had better than world record times on the swim - I have to assume that some kids came in and looked at the pool and then left without swimming. Other kids averaged 28mph on the bike. While this is obviously possible, I believe that it far more likely that they simply did 14mph like most of the others, but skipped the second lap. I don't have a huge problem with kids chickening out of the swim or even accidentally skipping the second bike lap. The downside is that these kids push down the places of everyone that completed all the distances. My oldest completed the race and was let down to hear he came in 61st out of 85 (or something like that).
Not really a negative so much, but due to the limitations of the pool, kids would go out in groups of about 12 at a time. Occasionally you could catch somebody from a previous group or be passed by someone that started the swim after you, but most kids pretty much raced in these small groups.
Also, from a standpoint of beating others, the swim really didn't factor in at all - either you could do it or you couldn't. This actually worked out great for my kids, who are strongest on the bikes.
Pros:
Everyone had fun. We had a blast.
Very well organized
Totally family friendly
Free swim cap and goggles in addition to the t-shirt and medal you knew you were getting
Lots of kid friendly post-race snacks
"Athletes village" with lots of activities (bounce house, bubbles, bracelet making, fire truck, etc.)
Very professional timing with all splits
Distances were very age appropriate - challenging to all and only a few quit before the end
Excellent DJ and announcers
Kids could choose a swim wrist band - green for swim team level, yellow for swimmers, and red for little kids that needed constant supervision and/or a wall/rope/kickboard. The greens went out first, followed by the yellows and reds.
A bike shop was there to offer free mechanical help to anyone that needed it.
200 volunteers for 500 participants.
Boys and girls raced together - not an issue
They had a special race for the babies (3-5 year olds) that got to bring a parent with them at every step. They never left the parking lot. I can see this for kids who might have had an older sibling in the race, but I suspect most 3-year-olds would be just as happy going to the playground than doing all the race stuff.
There was one child with an obvious physical impairment (cerebral palsy?) who completed the bike and run sections of the race in a bike trailer pulled by his dad.
Cons:
With three kids in three age groups, you miss things like a kid finishing while you are waiting for another to come out of the pool.
Had to be there at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. I assume this minimizes the disruptions due to closing some streets
Rampant "cheating". Some kids had better than world record times on the swim - I have to assume that some kids came in and looked at the pool and then left without swimming. Other kids averaged 28mph on the bike. While this is obviously possible, I believe that it far more likely that they simply did 14mph like most of the others, but skipped the second lap. I don't have a huge problem with kids chickening out of the swim or even accidentally skipping the second bike lap. The downside is that these kids push down the places of everyone that completed all the distances. My oldest completed the race and was let down to hear he came in 61st out of 85 (or something like that).
Not really a negative so much, but due to the limitations of the pool, kids would go out in groups of about 12 at a time. Occasionally you could catch somebody from a previous group or be passed by someone that started the swim after you, but most kids pretty much raced in these small groups.
Also, from a standpoint of beating others, the swim really didn't factor in at all - either you could do it or you couldn't. This actually worked out great for my kids, who are strongest on the bikes.
08-14-24, 02:59 PM
#11
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It sounds like there was a lot of fun things besides the triathlon. I hope your kid had fun. I agree with @Steve B. swimming is the least important part of a triathlon (by my "handle" I am also a swimmer) but I do think at least being comfortable with swimming helps calm any fear.
08-15-24, 09:17 AM
#12
Sr Member on Sr bikes
Just want to comment about the swim. IRT what’s mentioned above…from a percentage, yes, it is the shortest, least significant part of the race. For those of us who are swimmers…especially in a sprint tri with a short swim…the swim is really little more than an inconvenience that lasts only several minutes. But if you’re not an experienced swimmer…and by “experienced” I mean not only a ‘capable’ swimmer, but also an experienced open water swimmer…then the swim can be quite daunting for you. Don’t underestimate the swim.
Dan
Dan
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08-15-24, 11:51 PM
#13
Just want to comment about the swim. IRT what’s mentioned above…from a percentage, yes, it is the shortest, least significant part of the race. For those of us who are swimmers…especially in a sprint tri with a short swim…the swim is really little more than an inconvenience that lasts only several minutes. But if you’re not an experienced swimmer…and by “experienced” I mean not only a ‘capable’ swimmer, but also an experienced open water swimmer…then the swim can be quite daunting for you. Don’t underestimate the swim.
Dan
Dan
08-16-24, 08:12 AM
#14
Sr Member on Sr bikes
That’s pretty much the way I explain it to newbies looking to do their first tri too. I use a Yogi Berra quote: “Ninety percent of the game is half mental. The other half is physical.”
Dan
Dan
08-16-24, 10:12 AM
#15
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Just want to comment about the swim. IRT what’s mentioned above…from a percentage, yes, it is the shortest, least significant part of the race. For those of us who are swimmers…especially in a sprint tri with a short swim…the swim is really little more than an inconvenience that lasts only several minutes. But if you’re not an experienced swimmer…and by “experienced” I mean not only a ‘capable’ swimmer, but also an experienced open water swimmer…then the swim can be quite daunting for you. Don’t underestimate the swim.
Dan
Dan
