Pharmasave’s Okanagan Falls third annual junior triathlon today is at max capacity with more than 200 kids participating.
There distances are different for the age groups of three to seven, eight and nine, 10 to 11-years-old and 12-13.
Kids aged three to seven complete a 30-metre swim, 800-m bike ride and 250-m run. Kids aged eight to nine will swim for 75-m, bike 1,600-m and run for 800-m. Ten to 11-year-olds will complete a 75-m swim, bike 3,200-m and run for 1,600 and 12- to 13-year-olds will swim 150-m, bike 4,000 and run 1,600.
Race day is from 8 to 11 a.m. and as athletes cross the finish line, Penticton’s Steve King will announce their names. After they have finished, children receive a finisher’s medal, fresh cookies and icy cold chocolate milk.
The triathlon begins with a swim at Kenyon Beach (Skaha Lake), followed by a bike ride on park paths and closed roads (in and around Kenyon Park and Christie Memorial Park) and finishes with a run through a giant inflatable finish line.
In keeping things fun and easy, there will be volunteer “pace bunnies” with giant ears so that the kids have someone to follow while biking and running. The bike and run courses are very close to each other, so a colour-coded arrow system has been created to keep the bigger athletes going in the right direction.
The triathlon is a Kids of Steel sanctioned event through TriBC.
For more information on the event, check www.okfallsjrtri.com.
