SCENES from Triathlon, in which kids competed and bonded. It started with the apprehensive wait on the beach for the “swim” segment — just mist from a hose, a course change made in light of the low water level in the Columbia that day — the gauntlet of noodles (next photo), the bicycle loop, and a short run to finish it.
SCENES from Triathlon, in which kids competed and bonded. It started with the apprehensive wait on the beach for the “swim” segment — just mist from a hose, a course change made in light of the low water level in the Columbia that day — the gauntlet of noodles (next photo), the bicycle loop, and a short run to finish it.
Kids had fun Sept. 15 in an unusually-modified Kids Triathlon event.
The Triathlon drew 294 kids from Portland to Lyle and Mosier.
The fundraiser for school activities and wellness programs yielded $3,000 for each of the five elementary schools in the Hood River County School District: Cascade Locks, May Street, Mid Valley, Parkdale and Westside.
Hood River’s annual Gorge Kids Triathlon on Sept. 15, an act of organized chaos, drew 294 youngsters who started the course with hula-hoops and then “swam” through a hose, just some of the clever twists to the annual event. That’s Jace Castello on the megaphone and Tia Wells handling the hose.
Columbia River water was just too low to safely do an actual swim so kids dropped the hula hoops and then RAN across Waterfront Park beach -- some even taking Castello up on his suggestion they imitate swimming motions as they ran.
Then it was through a gauntlet of foam noodles, up a hill to the park lawn, and through the sprinklers.
Kids hopped on their bikes and then finished with a short run, accompanied by cheers and applause, as wind and rain set in. Volunteers in reflective vests guided them through the course and helped at transition points.
The fundraiser for school activities and wellness programs yielded $3,000 for each of the five elementary schools in the Hood River County School District: Cascade Locks, May Street, Mid-Valley, Parkdale, and Westside.
Volunteers included numerous former participants, “and a ton of people from the district and the community,” said co-organizer Nicole Sibert-Faaborg.
Participation was up from 265 last year, despite the threat wind and rain that arrived near the end of the event.
“Everyone made the most of it,” Sibert-Faaborg said. “It came down a little sideways but it held off enough.”
Many of the kids were already wet, having been sprayed down by a hose at the beach and then running through sprinklers before starting the middle, bicycling, phase.
Co-organizer Jace Castello came up with the hose idea in lieu of the usual swim, due to extremely low water in the Columbia, making any swim across the park beach unsafe.
Tia Wells held the hose on mist setting and kids went in groups of 10, taking up hula hoops and gyrating for a 10-count by Castello on megaphone.
The athletes then “swam” across the beach (some took Castello up on his urging to imitate swim strokes as they ran) where they were met with the next unusual Triathlon feature: A gauntlet of undulating foam swim noodles, wielded by middle schoolers.
From there, the kids ran up the short hill to the lawn, through the sprinklers, hopped on their bikes, did the two-wheeled loop back to the lawn, then ran down Portway and back to the finish line in front of the park, where parents and other supporters cheered them on. It all ended in a blustery squall, but the kids did not seem to mind.
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