Sisters Athletic Club hosts Try-a-Tri

Sisters Athletic Club (SAC) hosted their sixth annual Try-a-Tri on Saturday, June 2, and the newly added kids' triathlon was one of the highlights of the event.

"The event is geared towards beginners," said SAC owner Tate Metcalf. "It's for the first-time triathlete who wants to try the sport."

Fifty adults and 30 kids participated. Adults swam 425 yards, rode 12 miles on their bike and finished with a 5K- (3.1-mile) run.

The top three individual finishers were: Ben Crockett (1:06:37), Dick Buckles (1:06:39) and Sebastian Bach-Bacon (1:06:41).

Danielle Schiller, a first-time competitor said, "This is the first time for me in about 30 years. I just wanted to do it before I hit 50, which is next week. I'm just happy I finished. It's a great event and I'm really glad I did it."

The crowd loved the addition of the kids' triathlon and smiles, cheers, high fives and open arms greeted the kids as they crossed the finish line.

The kids were divided into two categories: 5-and-under and 6-through-11 years of age.

Only five kids competed in the 5-and-under category with two of them just 3 years old. They stole the show as they swam or kicked while hanging onto their paddle board 25 yards in the pool, rode their tiny bikes a quarter of a mile and finished on foot with a 300-yard run.

Twenty-five kids, ranging from 6 to 11, swam 50 yards, biked one mile and then ran a half-mile to finish.

The kids loved the event and shared what they thought about the experience.

Nine-year-old Lydia Bartlett said, "It was really fun. My favorite part was the swimming because it's one of my favorite things to do."

Brothers, Kaden and Kolbi Cotner, ages 7 and 5 respectively, both told The Nugget they did it because their daddy does triathlons and they want to be like their dad.

Kaden said, "In the swim I got rammed into a wall but I got out and started biking. I was going so fast the wind was in my face when it was supposed to be at my back. My favorite part was the bike because I got to go speedy fast down a hill."

Eli Palanuk, 6 years old, said, "It was awesome. You got to swim, run and bike. The bike was the best because you got to ride really far and riding is my favorite."

Metcalf told The Nugget that SAC will definitely host the event again next year.

"I love this event to introduce people to the great world of triathlon," said Metcalf. "It's family-orientated so with the kids' event they got to experience the same thing."