Greater Trail’s up-and-coming athletes swam, rode, and ran their way to a fun finish as the Trail Parks and Recreation hosted its annual Kid’s Triathlon at the Trail Aquatic and Leisure Centre on Saturday.
Close to 80 kids ages four to 12 participated in the event. The young tri-athletes started in the pool, then hopped on their bikes for a ride down Columbia Avenue and finally, ran the last leg of the journey to the finish line. Each of the five age groups had a slightly different course, but every race ended in the Butler Park baseball diamond where tents were set up with refreshments and fresh fruit to help beat the heat and quench racer’s thirst.
Bonnie Cassar of Salmo, grandmother to two of the racers, Kayla, 6, and Jillian, 8, says events like the triathlon are important to the kids because it promotes good habits.
“We want to encourage our kids to stay healthy and personally, growing up, we just ran around, so its nice to see an organized event,” she said after both granddaughters finished their triathlon. “It’s nice to have it organized because it also gives the kids a goal. There is a beginning and an end.”
Cassar says it is also about having a good time and maintaining good health by staying active.
“Keeping our kids healthy is what it is all about, and of course, having fun,” she said. “This is absolutely fantastic. It is something nice for the kids.”
The City of Trail’s Recreation Coordinator, Lisa Manaigre, says the day was a huge success and she was excited to see the level of enthusiasm and participation the kids brought to the course.
“It was a great success and we had lots of kids. We had 77 kids,” she said. “It was a beautiful day and they had a blast. It is a challenging course and they really do have to try to get to the finish line and I think that was the best part of what I saw. It was so great to see kids happy and trying hard to accomplish something.”
Manaigre wanted to make sure to thank all of the sponsors in particular the ones that kept the athletes safe.
“We couldn’t have done it without SafeStart Safety. I want to make a huge mention of them,” she said. “They are the ones that flagged the roads and controlled traffic and it was all volunteers.”