The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

Photographs

Ryan's first run	Scooting
Scooting	The Run
The Run	The Finish
Waiting to start	Running in
The swim	Getting out
Getting out	Leaving transition
The Bike	Running to the finish
Medals	Medals

Today marked an important event in the lives of both of our children, they completed their very first multisport events!  April has been saying that she wanted to do a triathlon since she was five years old, something about being like her mad mummy and Ryan was adamant that he wanted to take part too when he heard about the scootathon.  The children's races were the start of the weekend of racing organised by pacesetter events at the Rother Valley Country Park - The Rother Valley Triathlon Festival.  We all travelled down there nice and early to make sure we had time to get ourselves sorted, work out what as what and generally enjoy the day out.  Daniel and I were there to cheer the kids on, as were Gran and Grandpa (my Mum and Dad) and Nuala (the kids' swimming teacher) and her family.  We were all so proud of them just for wanting to do it in the first place and they'd both put a lot of effort into training for it.  Ryan had been running and scooting around Pugneys lake in Wakefield, April'd been cycling and running around it, not to mention getting her first taste of open water swimming in it!  Anyway, the racing!

Ryan's race was first.  He was taking part in the scootathon which was for children aged between 5 and 8.  He is 7, but rather small for his age and was still among the smallest there, not the smallest though.  I took him into transition and helped him find the racking place where he needed to leave his scooter and his helmet, then we went together to the race briefing.  Basically they were told to follow Morgan on his bike and that they couldn't possibly get lost!  Then it was time for parents to vacate transition and for the children to get ready for their race start.  Ryan seemed really excited as he waited for it to begin.

We couldn't really see what was going on during the first run (400m) and we waited anxiously to see him appear around the corner to head back towards transition.  Loads of kids came flying past and then Ryan.  He was nigh on at the back and clearly didn't care in the slightest, he was grinning from ear to ear.  He ran happily past us and into transition, soon reappearing, complete with helmet and scooter.  On the scooter he was still smiling broadly but also looked more focussed.  He was going pretty fast and managed to scoot past a few other children.  We saw quite a bit of the 300m scoot section as they were scooting around the central area, we watched at one side then ran to other to see him as he came down there.  He zoomed off back into transition and soon emerged without scooter and helmet.  By that time he really looked like he'd stepped it up a gear, he was really going for it.  Most importantly, he was still all smiles.  He ran that last 200m and came down to the finish line with a big smile and his arms over his head in celebration.  His entire cheering crew about screamed themselves hoarse.  He did brilliantly and really enjoyed doing it.  he's already asking to do something similar again and saying that he'll do a triathlon when he's old enough!  So, definitely a success.  Well done, Ryan.  What a little star!  He completed the course in 6:36, finishing with two other children behind him in the end.  Great performance.

April's race was second and she and I were both rather nervous as it approached.  She is 8 and was taking part in the kids' triathlon, for children aged between 8 and 15.  I took her into transition and helped her to get sorted too, not that she needed much help, she's clearly absorbed a lot about all this from watching me do it.  We were reassured to be told that somebody would get her bike down from the racking for her - it was the usual size racking and her bike dangled from it in mid air and is far too heavy for her to lift down.  She was a bit panicky after her race briefing because she couldn't really hear what was being said but seemed to feel an awful lot better once I'd explained it to her.  Also, her swimming wave was going to be the final one, so she'd have time to watch the others and see what was expected of her from that.  I felt quite nervous as I left her in transition and went to the lakeside to watch her - yes, 50m of open water swimming for her first ever tri!

The older children went in the earlier waves, so we cheered them on while waiting with baited breath for April.  She did really well, she was one of the first to have the nerve to get down into the water.  She was the slowest swimmer in her wave, although not, I think, in the entire event.  However, she was clearly last in the water and one of the police divers stayed near her, I could hear him encouraging her and we were all yelling like mad from the bank.  She didn't give up, she kept on going using breaststroke and trying her best.  We were worried she'd be put off by being at the back, but she came out of the water and ran determinedly into transition.  The moment that we knew she hadn't let it get to her was when she ran out of transition.  She really ran, she flew past another child while pushing her bike and zoomed off to the mount line.  Then it was a seemingly long wait for us for her to come back towards us.  The 3K cycle went away and around the lake and we could only wait for her to return.  It seems to take ages, but that's just the perspective of those waiting, because when she reappeared there were considerably more children behind her than there had been.  She was red in the face, clearly 'giving it some welly' to use her brother's expression and she was all smiles too.  She raced into transition and came quickly back out again, even having remembered to put her cap on.  She was grinning as she ran past us to head out for her 1500m run.  We cheered and yelled then headed for the finish line to wait for her there.  She came flying down to the finish in 41:56, finishing with six children behind her, four of whom were in the 10-12 age category.  She too completed her race with smiles and raised arms.  She too almost immediately said she wanted to do another one.  We are so proud of her.  That was a lot for such a little girl to do, she tried really hard and clearly enjoyed the experience.  Fanstatic!