Canterbury Triathlon 2013

On the 13 March 2013 we had the Canterbury Triathlon which was held at Pegasus Lake.

When we arrived we unloaded our bikes and started to make our way into the grounds. I could see crowds of people from other schools piling across the bridge. When we got into the grounds we made our way to the transition area and parked our bikes on the bike stands provided. We then got our helmets, shoes and towels out and place them beside our bikes ready for the race!

We walked over and meet up with the rest of our team. The following kids were the ones who made it into the Canterbury Triathlon from Springston School:

1.   Harriet
2.   Haidee
3.   Alice
4.   Lucy
5.  Heather and
6.  Macaulay!

We’re all very excited but nervous for our race we decide that we should get wet before the race so then during the race we wouldn’t find it so cold! We ran down to the water’s edge and dipped our feet in the lake. It was not very warm, but I went for a dive!! It’s was cold but quite refreshing.

We get called over to line up in our age groups for our races. While we are in our lines we each get given numbers to identify us and mark our times against the other competitors. The first age group to go was the 9 year old boys then not long after was Heather’s race the 9 year old girls, working up from there to the oldest age group the 12+ girls….

The races were fun, tiring and exciting. We started off with a 75 metre swim for the 9 and 10 year olds and a 100 metre swim for the 11 and 12+ year olds in the Pegasus Lake.  For the swim, on the word of “Go!” everyone sprinted into the water and dived in (it wasn’t warm!!).  

We then had a 4km bike - for the 9 and 10 year olds - or an 8km bike for the 11 and 12+ year olds. It was on the road, some of the corners had gravel on them, so you had to be careful not to fall off. On the way back it was a head wind, so I had to pedal hard! But it was worth it.

Last of all we had a 2.5km run for all the age groups (9 - 12+years). The run was right around the Pegasus Lake…

For the run, because I had just done a bike, my legs felt like jelly so it made it harder to run….but luckily after a while the feeling went away. Unluckily, not that long after my jelly legs, I started to get stitch, but I decided that it would be better to run through it - so I did.    I was just about at the finish line when I made my final sprint!, It felt great to finish it.

To cool off we all went into the cold lake and went for a dive it was really cool and refreshing.

We all had lots of fun and I thought it was a great experience!!

A few days later our placings and times came out and are shown below

Harriet: 11 years             57th          - time: 40:10

Alice: 11 years                52nd         - time: 39:02

Haidee: 12 years             55th          - time: 40:37

Lucy: 10 years                26th          - time:  26:02

Macaulay: 10 years    55th          - time : 26.34

By Alice K