Back in December, it was announced that Bermuda – home of current triathlon world champ Flora Duffy – would host international triathlon events in 2018, 2019, and 2020, which is a pretty big deal. Not America’s Cup big deal, but a pretty decent-sized deal nonetheless. The International Triathlon Union (ITU for short) therefore saw fit to have a sprint triathlon here this past weekend, which was complete with a kids duathlon (run bike run, no swim!) and the usual race for the ‘age groupers’.
Apparently the kids’ event was going to be a regular triathlon with a swim, but a few days before the race had changed this to exclude the swim, much to Josh’s preference! (He wasn’t going to do the race if he had to swim in Hamilton harbour, and frankly I don’t blame him!) So we dusted off his Tri Hedz kit and gave his road bike a once over and took it out to practice with Ryley the day before. (Ryley just graduated to a larger, and pinker, bike as well and wanted to take it for a spin… hooray Roo!)
We were up very early on Sunday (much too early for me due to a very late-night Oilers game the night before) and managed to get breakfast and out the door to be on time for the 7:15am start of the juniors’ race.
There weren’t too many kids in Josh’s race, however he had a few school buddies alongside him. They had a few laughs beforehand, but then it was race time… and out came the serious faces!
The early morning sun was nice – should get up early more often!
Josh put in a good effort and managed a 3rd place finish, with a time of 17:15, which was just 38 seconds behind his buddy (and our new neighbor) Callum and 21 seconds behind his other mate Rory. Of the three Josh had the fastest run times – he’s getting quick – so with a little practice on the transitions & bike he’ll have a chance at a win in the future…! What was really cool to see was the three of them exchanging hand shakes and congratulatory fist bumps after the race. Good kids.
Of course, Jenn was on the starting list in the age group event – with this being a sprint event, this was a short race compared to her usual endeavors! Maybe that’s why she was so smiley. 😉
Jenn had a good race, too, finishing in 3rd in her age group (26th of 50 overall) in a time of 1:23:49 – nicely done! She said she felt pretty decent throughout, even though it was getting a bit warm during the race (heat is her nemesis during these things). But her day wasn’t done yet…
The ‘main event’ today was the men’s and women’s Elite races (most of the competitors were from Canada and the US, with a few Bermudians and others in there too), and in order for these races to be held they rely on volunteers. For this and other upcoming international events they require the volunteers to take a training course to be qualified to do so. Jenn had taken the course recently and was the official penalty box “T.O.” (technical official). Josh and Ryley, of course, were the unofficial penalty box T.O.s!
The Elite races were pretty cool to see, especially with an unencumbered view from about 6 feet away! It was good practice taking photos of people zooming by on their bikes…
After the Elite races were the prize giving ceremonies, the kids were (sort of) patient in waiting their turn… they ended up not having an official announced ceremony but we put them on the podium anyway for photos!
Hooray for our young champs!
It was a long day, all in – but I must say the kids were really good all day – up early, staying through all the races and then helping with clean-up at the end! We ended up having an early meal at the Picked Onion across the street before heading home around 3:30 or so for a nap (at least I had a nap, I’m only assuming Jenn did as she would have deserved it more than I)!