Back in August, the village where we live held a mini-triathlon for kids aged between 3-11.
The event used our the village swimming pool, and we coned off parts of the road for the bike and run legs.
At the event, Namfon and I were introduced to the organiser, a lady in our village called Keng.
She has been organising this event for a couple of years, and also let us know about a bigger event that was happening in October, for kids all over Bangkok!
That sounds cool, "we'd love to come and help support with that!!"
Prior to the event, Keng had asked me to help present medals to the kids and take some photos with them. Namfon had also been asked to be the MC in English!!
At first, we thought we would just help a little, so were quite surprised we got assigned such important tasks!
The event was held at Thupatemi Stadium, which is in Lam Luk Ka and is the home to Air Force Central FC.
We arrived there around 8.30am and was put straight into action, Namfon as MC and myself as supervisor!!
The kids were split into 5 different groups. There was 3-6 years old, 7-10 years old and 11-15 years old.
These age groups were then also split into kids who had never done a triathlon (Fun TRYathlon) and before and those who had (TRYathlon Mini Race).
The distances were set out like this:
Fun TRYathlon
3-6 years old - 15m swim, 800m bike, 100m run
7-10 years old - 25m swim, 2k bike, 400m run
11-15 years old - 25m swim, 3k bike, 800m run
TRYathlon Mini Race
7-10 years old - 50m swim, 3k bike, 800m run
11-15 years old - 100m swim, 5k bike, 1k run
The organizers did a great job setting up the transition area and coning off the area around the stadium for the bike and run legs.
I also discovered that the stadium has a free running track which the public can use. Also got a 25m and 50m pool, which are available and much closer to my home than the other options at Thammasat or Rangsit Uni.
There is also a road that goes around the outside of the stadium which looks to be good for cycling, so it should be an ideal place for some brick workouts!
Back to the event, and it was great to see so many kids taking part and really getting into it.
Doing a triathlon can be a great way for them to do a variety of different activities to keep fit and healthy, as well as giving them a great sense of achievement :
Myself and another triathlete, Claudio from Italy, were positioned at the finish line to present the kids with their medals as they crossed the line.
Some kids came up the finishing ramp with a big sprint, others were fighting their last breath to cross the line.... a great achievement for all of them!!
Myself and another triathlete, Claudio from Italy, were positioned at the finish line to present the kids with their medals as they crossed the line.
Some kids came up the finishing ramp with a big sprint, others were fighting their last breath to cross the line.... a great achievement for all of them!!
Namfon also did an awesome job as MC, with only 2 days to prepare the script which she had to translate from Thai to English! Maybe a future sideline career in MCing!!
Overall, a really fun morning and something we were very happy to be invited to help support. Looking forward to the next event in March 2019!
Here's a few pictures from the event.....
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