IronKids

Lake Stevens holds a IronMan 70.3 race every year and this year had it's first annual IronKids run.

The four big kids were very excited to give it a shot and run this race. Since it was so close to our house we decided to make it happen for them.

Our good friends came to the race as well with their kids and insanity ensued! Joanna and I did triathlons last summer so these kiddos have been to a LOT of race venues. It was a lot of fun to have them be the stars of the show this time.

Reid and Isaac. Too young to join in the insanity this year. The cut off was age 3 and older.

Lucy and Gwen periodically play triathlon so I knew they were very prepared mentally for this race.

The event was split into two different age/distance categories. There was a half mile run for the younger group (or those that just wanted to do one lap) and a mile run for the older group.

We put Toby and Gwen into the first group with just one lap. They are both 3 so we figured it was a good call. Gwen wanted to run and hold Toby's hand the whole time. It didn't end up working out that way. Toby wanted to run much faster than Gwen can.

I didn't come fully prepared to run and Joanna did. So I took pictures of all her crew and she went on a run with Gwen. She ran the whole time too. I was impressed!

Headed toward the finish line!

Two IronKids!

After all the little/one lap kids finished they set up for the longer race. There were many more kids that were running this one and apparently there was a huge pile up at the starting line.

Andrew as always did a great job running. He has great form and really has a lot of hustle in him.

Lucy was THRILLED with the race. She kept running the entire time. She is very ready to do a kids triathlon next year. The one close to us is for kids 6 and up. So next year for her.

Zane apparently had a small fall at the beginning of the race (not during the pile up but shortly after the start of the race). Combine that with the fact that he had already kinda determined in his mind that he was walking this race made for a very grumpy race face.

After seeing Zane and Levi on the course I jetted up to the finish line to catch photos of the kids as they came through. Andrew was the first one of our crew to finish.

Lucy finished strong!

And then we waited. And waited. They started to shut down the course. They announced that the last kids had finished. And still we didn't see Zane and Levi. I mentioned to one of the race officials that there were two more kids out there, they were just walking. So they sent an official out there to find them. SIGH. Finally we saw Levi and then there was Zane. Walking up the chute with a grumpy look on his face. He still got a medal.

The whole IronKid crew!

Future 70.3 finishers? We shall see...