TRICK OR TRI

Our kids have been wanting to do a triathlon for awhile now.  Even when the Ironman came around Shayne and Joel thought about doing it as a relay with Mandy.  So, this year the Turkey Tri changed into the Trick or Tri.  Seems they got 10x more people for this because everyone would leave and go out of town for Thanksgiving and having it over UEA weekend actually got a lot more locals and even visitors that were here for the break.  Joel, Sophie and Josh decided to do the Sprint (400 meter swim - 10 mile bike and 5K run) as a relay.  It was held at the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center.  Sophie swam and got a medal for first place as the faster swimmer OVERALL and then she handed off to Josh who biked.

 

 

 He went up the parking lot to the main road and drove out to Pioneer Road and up to the stop light by Giselles house and back and then did it all over again.  It was a 5 mile loop so they had to do it twice.  He did really well and was really fast for the first lap.  He was riding a mountain bike so he could have gone a lot faster if he had a road bike but he did really well for his first time.  He and George have been practicing by taking the trail that goes to each others house.  It's about 6 miles and they have been doing really well.  This 10 miles was the furthest Josh has ever ridden.  When Josh came back he handed off to Joel and he took off running. 

 He only had to do a 5K so it wasn't much for him but he was sprinting hard at the end and they were about 3 seconds away from taking 3rd place.  But 4th was great too.    Their race went from 9 to 11:30.  George did the beginner triathlon (200 meter swim - 5 mile bike and 1.5 mile run) and it started at noon.

George killed it!  He was the 2nd person out of the water, 1 lady beat him.  But he was the first person on the bike and there was one 50 year old man right behind him.  After the bike he was WAY ahead of everyone.  He was flying.  Then on his run he slowed down.  Lets face it, after we had already swam and then biked we'd slow down too.  The 50 year old man caught up to him and passed him.  Turns out that running was this guys strong suit.  So he ended up beating George by a minute.  It was still so cool!  George took 2nd place OVERALL got a awesome plaque.   His whole got over at 1:30 and that's when Ben and David started their race.

Ben was first because he had a further distance.  He did the kids Sprint which consisted of  100 meter swim, 2 mile bike and 3/4 mile run.  And David's was the beginner kid which was a 50 meter swim, 1 mile bike and 1/2 mile run.  It was so much fun to watch.  Ben was the first one out of the water and 2nd or 3rd on his bike.   Alex was right behind him.  On the bike Alex and Ben were right together and the same on the run until the end when Alex pulled ahead and beat him by a couple seconds.  Come to find out later, John told us that Alex said that every time he wanted to slow down he thought, "I can't let Ben beat me"  and he'd
go faster.  That's a huge compliment!  This was Ben's first triathlon and 2nd real race.  He's done a couple little 1 milers but only 1 5K so he was really nervous.  Joel had been taking him and David over to the rec center to swim and Joel says that Ben beats him every time.

 

Here is Kali.  She competed too

  

Here's Alex just finishing.

I didn't get to see David swim because I was taking pictures of Ben racing but luckily the Wells' stayed to watch them compete and JoEllen took some pictures for me.  They had started the beginners as soon as the sprinters were all in the water so I couldn't be in two places at once.  But I was up on the road right where I could see them pass by on the bike and then run by on the trail.  They had a great time and did an awesome job!  They can't wait to do it again.  There is one in the spring and I'm sure they'll be all signed up.   There's at least one race every month.  I'm glad they like to exercise and especially non team sports.  They bring up your confidence more than the other because you only have to try to beat your old time and don't have to share your triumph at the end with anyone else.  Right now they are just looking forward to the next race to run.  I just got done signing them up for the Turkey Trot on Nov. 16th.  It's just a 5K and all the proceeds go to the local food bank and it's out at the Segmiller's Farm.  It'll be fun. Watch for the blog!