Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Jackson, You Are An Ironkid!

Posted by CheapRunnerMike

This week has been full of recaps with Michelle's Sprint yesterday and my Olympic on Monday…let's keep it going today with Jackson's Ironkid race!

The Bluewater Triathlon hosts their Sprint and Olympic races on Saturday morning and then they switch gears on Sunday afternoon and hold their Ironkid race.  There are two distances offered, a 50m swim / 2.5K bike / 1K run for kids 9 and under and double the distance at 100m/5K/2K for kids 10 and up.  For only $15, the kids get a great race, a t-shirt, swim cap and goodie bag full of treats (lots of candy!)…great value!

We were still up at the cottage so we loaded the bikes in the Jeep and we were off again to Bright's Grove.

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Once arriving at the school we lined up for registration and the mandatory bike inspection…both kids' bikes passed.  Then we went to go set up our transition areas.

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The race was a beach start and it was scheduled for 1pm, so we headed on down the road to the start area.  Michelle and my parents stayed up at the top of the hill while I went down on the beach to stay with Jackson.  I had wondered about doing the swim with him, but ultimately decided I was just going to let him do this all on his own.  I would be right at the shoreline if he did need me, but he could do this!  Besides, the water was really cold and I didn't want to go in Smile

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There was a little bit of chaos as we waited for the start, but I guess that's to be expected with 100 kids.  There was a false start and then the joy of trying to get the kids all back to the shore for the beach start, but eventually the horn went off, for real, and the swim was on!  I told Jackson to get going and make sure to swim as he only had to go into chest-deep water.  Of course he decided to go into deeper water and it was pretty much face-deep, but he managed to swim as much as he could.

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Once out of the water the kids had to climb a narrow set of rock stairs and then run a couple hundred metres to transition.

Transition went pretty smooth…I was able to help Jackson and this was about the only time I actually did.  I helped him get his shirt on and his shoes tied up, then he grabbed his bike and took off for his 2.5K ride.

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I ran with Jackson as long as I could but I just couldn't keep up.  I was sprinting at top speed but that boy flies on his bike!  We held off on getting him signed up for any triathlons this year because I didn't want him racing with training wheels…as soon as I saw how comfortable he was once learning to ride we let him register.  Safe to say he can handle the bike just fine!

I ran with him up to the point where they turn off the main road and head back into the subdivisions, which was only about 300m.  Kennedy had just passed him so I yelled at him to just chase his sister.  I waited where I was as the kids would do a loop of the neighbourhood and come back to where I was…the older kids would then do a second loop while the younger kids would head back to the school and T2.  Jackson came through just a few seconds after Kennedy and I ran back to transition with him, where we racked his bike and then went out to do the 1K run together.

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The run was along the lakefront path and was a simple out and back.  Jackson had to go out 500m or so and then turn back to the finish line while the older kids went a full kilometre out before coming back.  There was a water station at Jackson's turnaround and he was able to run the whole way there.  We stopped and he had a cup of water, then we started the run back to the finish line.  Jackson had to stop a couple of times on this section as his side hurt…he probably had a little stitch or maybe just some sloshing water.  He got it together though after a short walk break and booted it past his cheering section and then on in to the finish line.

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He crossed the line with a big smile on his face and then it was time to go play at the playground Smile

We stuck around after the race and the kids got to enjoy the post-race BBQ…hot dogs and homemade cookies, yum.  Then it was the awards ceremony and Jackson pulled 3rd place for his age group!  He didn't even know what to do until we told him to go up and get his ribbon.

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So proud of my little guy!  He had himself a great time and he did a great job, never quitting or complaining at all.  With Sunday also being National Ice Cream Day, you know we had to celebrate both of the kids' achievements, so we grabbed some cones at the local ice cream shoppe once we were back to the cottage.

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To the victor go the spoils, and he chose an appropriate flavour for the day…Super Hero!

Way to go Jackson!

Do your kids swim, bike or run?  Would you sign them up for an Ironkid event?

Ice cream…cone, waffle cone or just in a bowl?

11 comments:

  1. I love that they had some tri fun for the iron kids!! So cool! Great job Jackson!

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  2. Fit 'n' Well MommyJuly 23, 2014 at 1:06 PM

    That is awesome that they have iron kids events! I'd love for my son to do one when he gets older!

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  3. He was so excited that he won, but he also said "It doesn't matter what place you come in"...he knows it's about having fun!

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  4. I'm sure he would love it Melissa...all boys seem to like going fast :)

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  5. So true! You guys are teaching him good stuff!!!

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  6. He didn't learn that from me! hahaha

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  7. Hooray for Jackson - I love that picture of Jackson at the beginning of the post!!! What a trooper!
    Hunter wants to do a triathlon at some point.
    No ice cream for me:)

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  8. This is so cute! He did awesome, lucky to have active healthy parents incorporating healthy competition and activities in life! :) I wish I had been involved in more things like this as a kid!

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  9. They probably didn't have these when we were kids...well, at least when I was a kid. You're WAY younger than me!

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