Some of the island’s smallest athletes gathered at Cramer’s Park Sunday to see who could swim, bike and run the fastest at the V.I. Triathlon Federation’s Grand Finale Junior Triathlon.
The event may not have carried the same pomp and gravitas as the St. Croix Ironman 70.3, but it was unquestionably cuter.
The youngest competitors in the race were just five years old. While some of the older kids wore sleek racing swimsuits, most of the youngsters showed up in the striped or polka-dotted outfits they wear on a normal beach day. In the transition area, many of the bikes were pink and a few still had training wheels.
The race was the final installment of a series of youth races the triathlon federation organizes every year during the fall, winter and spring months.
Jay Gleason said his son, Kaeden, couldn’t wait to start competing, having grown up around triathlons. Gleason competes himself and during the last two installments of the St. Croix Ironman 70.3, his family has hosted pro athletes at their home. He said having a world-class triathlon on the island to inspire young athletes was a rare gift.
“There’s only so many of those races around the entire world and to have one here in such a small community, we’re pretty blessed,” he said.
Elizabeth Armstrong, whose daughter, Charlotte Halk, was competing, said the outdoor nature of life on St. Croix was ideal from raising little triathletes.
She said the weather was always ideal for training and there were plenty of events throughout the year hosted by groups like the triathlon federation or the Dolphins Swim Team for kids to participate in.
Charlotte said she’d been running triathlons for three years already and she enjoyed racing, though she wasn’t always crazy about the run. She said she struggled a little on the last leg in the race, though it didn’t show in her time, which was the best for any girl or boy in the 7-8 age group.
“It had a long course. It was really, really long,” she said.
The race was most popular amongst the younger age groups, but a pair of older competitors, one boy and one girl, registered for the 12-15 age group.
Sophie Dean wasn’t fazed by the lack of competition and battled through a cold to finish. After the race, she said through a stuffy nose that the reason she chose to race while sick was because she had competed in every other race this season and it was her goal to complete them all.
After the race, Theresa Harper of the triathlon federation, awarded Dean and several other racers with a special award for competing in every race that season. Later, she said that it could sometimes be tough to keep kids interested, but overall the youth races had a strong core of participants.
She said that often kids get involved because their parents are triathletes, but sometimes it works in reverse. She’s had a few parents follow their children’s example and start training for races themselves. She said at the last event they even had a parent/child team division so families could race together.
Harper was pleased with the finale and said it was a little easier to organize this year because IHOP had raised money through donations since February to sponsor the race.
The children competed at different distances based on their age groups. The 5-6 age group completed a 25-meter swim, a .5-mile bike ride and .25-mile run. The 7-8 age group completed a 50-meter swim, a .5-mile bike ride and .25-mile run. The 9-11 age group completed a 100-meter swim, a 1-mile bike ride and a .5-mile run. The 12-15 age group completed a 200-meter swim, a 3-mile bike ride and a 1-mile run.
More information about youth triathlons is online at www.vitf.org.
Sunday’s Results:
5-6 age group
1 – Kaeden Gleason 7:51
2 – Mason Lambert 8:07
3 – Kirra Lambert 8:55
4 – Blade Dodson 11:20
5 – Barrett Walker 11:43
6 – Parker Sheraw 11:53
7 – Aidan Bass 13:24
8 – Cole Sommer 14:15
7-8 age group
1 – Charlotte Halk 8:34
2 – Joey Croney 9:08
3 – Brenna Dodson 9:43
4 – Odin Andrews 11:08
5 – Kristle Casey 11:26
9-11 age group
1 – Mikey Dizon-Bumann 11:51
2 – Colby Moran 12:04
3 – Nati Kuipers 12:53
4 – Brice Richards 14:24
5 – Stefan Moorman 16:05
6 – Shanice Muller 17:46
7 – Komaj Donadelle 18:46
8 – Erin Andrews 19:43
9 – Zavira Wilson 23:14
10 – Sydney Cornwall DNF
12-15 age group
1 – Dominic Pugliese 30:26
2 – Sophie Dean 37:33
