For the 13th year, the Wilmington Family YMCA is hosting a kids’ triathlon to help children build confidence, independence and healthy habits.
As many as 200 kids ages 5 to 13 will take part in the swim, bike and run the morning of July 25. Course distances will vary depending on the child’s age, but the race starts and finishes at the YMCA’s main location at 2710 Market St. Start times are staggered to avoid a traffic jam in the first leg of the race, a swim in the six-lane pool.
The kids then run to the transition area and pull on their cycling gear. Race organizer Aileen Sutton said 5- and 6-year-olds are allowed assistance from one parent in the transition area, but older children must navigate the transitions by themselves. Over 80 race organizers are on site to assist the kids if necessary, but Sutton said children are encouraged to complete as much of the race as possible independently.
Not only does that heighten the kids’ feeling of accomplishment at the finish line, Sutton said, it also teaches the children skills like independence and confidence that they can use in all aspects of their life.
“We have a kids’ triathlon training program . . . and one of the big things we try to teach is independence,” Sutton said. “If your tire is kind of flat, we’re going to ask you to pump up your own tire, or things like getting your shoes on, tying your shoe laces . . . there’s a lot of these unique skills that I think as adults we take for granted.”
To encourage more young children to try the race, Sutton said organizers allow training wheels for the bike leg.
“A lot of youth triathlons don’t allow [that],” she said, “but we do, so we have a really cool range of ages and abilities, especially with the little ones that are just trying to get their feet wet and try something new.”
After mounting their bicycles, the kids will take off down Market Street, which will have one lane blocked for the event. Both the run and the bike are entirely on pavement, taking the kids through the Forest Hills neighborhood. The final leg of the race, the run, finishes in the soccer field behind the YMCA.
“We have an announcer there at the finish line,” Sutton said, “and as they cross, the announcer says their name on the loudspeaker and where they’re from, just like the [adult] triathlons.”
The soccer field where the racers finish will be transformed into a family-friendly celebration, she said, with an inflatable house and an ice cream vendor. Last year, Heather Patterson waited by the finish line for her daughter Zooey Patterson to race across. She had enrolled her daughter in the YMCA’s summer tri-club for kids, but despite that extra practice, Patterson said her daughter was nervous the morning of the race.
“She’d really never done anything like that before, and I think she was most nervous for the swim,” Heather Patterson said. “But it definitely showed her what she could do . . . she was pretty proud of herself after finishing the race that day.”
That pride, earned from trying something new and succeeding, endured through the year and this time she goes into the race with more excitement than nerves.
“She all year long has said that she wanted to do it again this year, she couldn’t wait for it,” Patterson said. “She’s really been looking forward to it.”
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