Kids who were hoping to compete in the rained-out Columbus Youth Triathlon on June 9 will have two more chances to swim, bike and run against their peers in the next couple of months.
The event that was rained out on June 9 has been rescheduled for Saturday. The parks and recreation department also will host a regularly-scheduled youth triathlon on Aug. 11.
Both events begin at 7 p.m. at Donner Park and are for ages 6 to 14.
“It’s such a good race for kids because all the distances are really short,” race director Jen Morrill said. “It only lasts about 20 minutes, you have lifeguards at the pool, so you have that support, and kids like to ride their bikes and run, so it’s a fun race.”
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Ages 6 to 10 will do a 100-meter swim in the Donner pool, a two-mile bike on surrounding streets and a half-mile run through the park. Ages 11 to 14 will do twice those distances — a 200-meter swim, four-mile bike and mile run.
Awards will be given to the top three boys and girls for 6-year-olds and for ages 7 to 8, 9 to 10, 11 to 12 and 13 to 14. Each participant will receive a medal at the finish line.
“It’s such a kid-friendly event,” Morrill said. “They don’t have to be super-strong swimmers. We put guards in the pool, and we have volunteers at every intersection that are keeping kids going, so they don’t have to know the course.”
This is the eighth year for the youth triathlons. Morrill, who was race director for the Foundation For Youth Columbus Challenge Triathlon, started the youth events with Jim Lemke.
Morrill said about 40 to 60 kids have competed in the previous June races. Thirty-two were preregistered for the June 9 event, and Morrill is expecting about 40 for Saturday
“We get more in August because kids have been swimming throughout the summer, and parents are a little bit more comfortable with them,” Morrill said. “When it was that early week in June, kids had been out of school for maybe a week, and the pool had opened later.”
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Registration for the Columbus Youth Triathlon is available at [email protected] or by calling 812-376-2680 and will be available beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Donner Park. Cost is $35 and includes a race t-shirt and medal at the finish line.
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