Gilroy
– The kids laid it on the line two weeks ago. Now it’s the
adults’ turn.
At Sunday’s Uvas Triathlon in Morgan HIll, triathlon coach
Cristin Reichmuth’s older charges will test their minds and bodies
on a course that includes a 3/4-mile swim, a 16-mile bike ride and
a five-mile run. On April 29, four members of her Hammerheads youth
triathlon team pushed themselves to the limit at the Wildflower
Kids’ Triathlon at Lake San Antonio.
Gilroy – The kids laid it on the line two weeks ago. Now it’s the adults’ turn.
At Sunday’s Uvas Triathlon in Morgan HIll, triathlon coach Cristin Reichmuth’s older charges will test their minds and bodies on a course that includes a 3/4-mile swim, a 16-mile bike ride and a five-mile run. On April 29, four members of her Hammerheads youth triathlon team pushed themselves to the limit at the Wildflower Kids’ Triathlon at Lake San Antonio.
Kimberley Elkerton of Gilroy led the way for the recently formed team at the Hammerheads’ very first triathlon. The 10-year-old was third in her age group at the Wildflower race, which comprised a 1/4-mile swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a two-mile run. Her brother Patrick, 13, was 14th in his age group.
Morgan Hill’s Emma Ball was 10th in the 11-year-old category.
“She did wonderful,” Reichmuth said of Ball. “Her goal for the day was to have a happy day, and she had an incredible day. She had smiles on her face for the entire race.”
Reichmuth had some special praise for her fourth Hammerhead in the triathlon, 11-year-old Kooper Knudsen of Gilroy.
“He won the Hero Award for the team,” said the coach and founder of Body and Mind Solutions, a Gilroy-based company offering “academic, athletic and life coaching.”
“Kooper fell and crashed his bike and saw that he was bleeding from his shoulder and knee during the race. He got back on the bike, finished the 10 miles, finished the run, and as his parents were congratulating him, his mom noticed that he had a huge gouge in his stomach.
He ended up having five stitches. It looked like somebody had taken a melon spoon scoop out of his belly.”
Meanwhile, Ball was having her own troubles. “About halfway through the swim I got kicked in the head and then the shoulder,” she said.
Parents, ready to get your kids into triathlon yet?
Reichmuth, an internationally-ranked triathlete herself, is aware that the grueling races are not for the faint-hearted – her mission, simply, is to convert those faint-hearted into triathletes.
“Reality hurts, however, coaching helps,” goes the line on her Web site, www.bodyandmindsolutions.com.
Finishing the Wildflower Triathlon, she said, was quite an accomplishment for her athletes, especially since it was their very first race on a course ranked as one of the 10-toughest course in the world by Triathlete magazine.
“There were mountains on the bike,” Reichmuth said. “The swim was packed, there were a ton of people out in the water, so they were swimming like salmon going upstream.”
Apparently it was cold, too.
“When I got in the water it was freezing,” said Kimberley Elkerton. “Then I got used to it. I kept on hitting someone, but whenever I tried to pass, they would block me from going forward.”
Now, the coach said, her kids are looking forward to cheering on the adults racing in Morgan HIll on Sunday. Reichmuth’s adults include triathletes from Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister.
The Uvas Triathlon kicks off with a swim in Uvas Reservoir. The bike and road races follow Uvas Road to Oak Glen, on to Sycamore and Watsonville Road and back to Uvas.
“This race favors swimmers and runners,” Reichmuth said. “It has a longer swim and longer run than normal.”
Meanwhile, the Hammerheads next big race is the Silicon Valley Kids’ Triathlon on June 5. Also, the team will host its own race, the Hammerhead Kids’ Triathlon, at Gavilan College on July 17 for kids aged 4-18.
What sort of triathlon does a four-year-old do? According to Reichmuth, it comprises one lap across the swimming pool (floaties are allowed), a 1-mile bike ride and a 1/4-mile walk/run. Parents are allowed to assist.
Interested in training with Cristin Reichmuth? The coach will be starting a half-marathon and marathon training program in the coming weeks. The first meeting is on May 29. Call 406-4112 or e-mail in**@bo******************.com for more information.
