More than 250 kids swam, biked and ran their way through the course for the annual 麻豆社国产Youth Triathlon on Sunday.
In fact, so many young people wanted to participate that the organizers had to turn away about 40 people, the most ever, said Carole O鈥橞rennan, one of the race directors.
Participant numbers were limited due to the space required for competitors to get on and off their bikes, she said. 鈥淲e do not have room in the transition area to set up more bikes.鈥�
The switching takes place right outside Brennan Park, with the cycling and running course designed to bring the athletes back to the main site to begin each leg of the race.
Most of the participants are from Squamish, Whistler and the North Shore, and the event even attracted one person from Calgary this year.
On top of the regular race, another 28 very young participants took part in the Tiny Tri, a miniature version on a small course. A few even brought along a parent as guide, while one found a novel way to get around the bike course by substituting a scooter for a bicycle.
The races went smoothly, although the weather turned out to be a little cooler and a lot windier than expected.
鈥淚t was a great event,鈥� said Sarah Ruttan, another race director, who added that 鈥渋t was a little windy for the racers.鈥�
After everyone finished, the competitors gathered inside the gymnasium at Brennan Park for prize draws, medals and awards.
Participants swam between 50 and 300 metres, biked one to 8.5 kilometres and ran 500 metres to four kilometres depending on their age groupings.
For kids age seven and under, the girls鈥� winner was Alyssa Guerin with a time of 9:32.8 while Levi Spindler won for the boys at 8:49.1. The Lightning Rabbits won the relay with 10:27.7.
Among the eight- and nine-year-olds, Cael Eley was the top boy with 22:52.2 while Hadley Todd was the top girl at 23:52.7. Ridgeway Rockettes won the relay with a time of 24:49.8.
Erin Husken was first among 10-11 girls with a time of 26:48.6, while Tommy Lafreniere was the top boy at 26:53.8. Team Bashman won the relay by clocking 27:33.2.
For girls 12 and 13, Kaila Lafreniere won with a time of 39:45.3, and for the boys, Bryn McColl won with 40:50.3. The Birken Beasts won the relay with 43:07.8.
Colin Chatfield was best among 14- and 15-year-old boys with a 46.42.4 time, and Linnea Uunila was tops among girls with 47:40.8.
Brandon Cheal was the lone competitor in 16 and up, finishing with a time of 1:15:29.3.
鈥淲e have some very talented kids in Squamish,鈥� Ruttan said.
The organizing team will meet in a couple of weeks to debrief about this year鈥檚 event, then break until October when they start planning the 2017 edition of the race.
The group has 14 core volunteers, while more than 75 show up on race day to help run the event.
鈥淲e could always use more volunteers on race day,鈥� Ruttan added.
