Aug 01, 2013


Close to 110 youngsters put their pedals to the metal at the Kids of Steel Triathlon, which took place at Oso beach in Sharbot Lake on July 28. The event, which saw its fair share of blood, sweat and tears plus lots of smiles and friendly camaraderie, was brought back after an eight-year hiatus by Greg Kealey, founder of the Bytown Storm Triathlon Club based out of Ottawa. Kealey, whose organization runs other similar events in and around the Ottawa area, decided to bring the Kids of Steel back to Sharbot Lake by establishing it as a new series for his club in Eastern Ontario. He was a volunteer at the Kids of Steel in its earlier inception eight years ago.

“Sharbot Lake is a classic venue and a great location”' Kealey said when I spoke to him at the beach on Sunday morning. “There's clean water, a great trail, a great park and the community is behind the event 100%.”

Kealey initially approached well known local triathlete, Rudy Hollywood, and his wife Joan about holding the event here again. The couple had helped run the triathlon years ago, and they encouraged Kealey and put him in touch with staff at the township office to get the approval and cooperation he needed. Both Rudy and Joan said that they were thrilled to see the event back, and Joan was the official Triathlon Ontario referee on Sunday.

Kealey and his team of 30 volunteers were bowled over by the over 110 participants who took part in this, a first-year event. “We were hoping to see 70 registrants but close to 110 signed up, so we are really pleased with the turn out,” he said. Participants traveled from as far away as Ottawa, Toronto, Whitby and Peterborough, and a handful of local youngsters from Sharbot Lake, Maberly and Harrowsmith also took part. For youngsters it was a better than average day of fun in the sun and a chance to compete in a friendly environment. Kealey said the event, especially for the younger participants, is designed to instill a “passion for an active lifestyle and to encourage them to take up swimming, running and biking.”

The day’s races ranged in length from the longest - a 400 metre swim, 10 km bike ride and 4 km run for the older 15 and 16-year-old athletes, to the shortest race - a 50 metre swim, 1.5 km bike ride and 500 metre run for the 6 and 7-year-olds, the youngest participants.

For the older athletes, aged 14 and 15, it was a more serious day due to the fact that the event is a qualifying race for the Ontario Summer Games, which will take place in 2014 in Welland, Ontario. Kealey estimated that by the end of the day, six athletes from the Frontenac and Ottawa regions would have qualified for those games.

I had a chance to speak to local participants, 11-year-old Oliver Bell and 13-year-old Tilda Bron of the Sharbot Lake area. Their father is Dr. Peter Bell of the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, and he helped prepare them for the triathlon. Both were first-time participants, though Tilda vaguely remembered participating eight years ago when she was just four years old.

Another enthusiastic participant was 10-year-old Gabe Ferron-Bouius of Ottawa, a para-athlete and member of the Bytown Storm Troopers Triathlon team, who train with Kealey. Gabe has participated in three Kids of Steel races since he began training with Kealey's club in February this year. He has a half prosthetic leg below his right knee and swims the water portion of the race without his prosthetic leg. His dad will then carry him from the water to a chair, where he puts on his leg and runs to the transition zone to complete the biking and running portion of the event. Gabe was all smiles as he waited for his event to start and, asked if feels he is more challenged than most, he replied that swimming with one leg gives him an added advantage. He said that training for and running triathlons puts him in great shape for his favorite sport - hockey.

Over 30 volunteers assisted at the Sunday triathlon. The local OPP helped man the highway and stopped traffic for the bike portion of the race, the sole portion of the triathlon that took place on Road 38.

With such a good turnout for the reborn Kids of Steel Triathlon, Kealey said that he sees it continuing annually from now on and sees it growing as long as the community responds favorably. Judging by how the day unfolded, the community’s reaction was very positive indeed.

 

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