IRONKIDS: THE FUTURE STARS OF TRIATHLON

Nothing is more apt for the adage “starting them young” than in sports. Because it is widely believed that the younger the athletes start training, the better they will do in their chosen sports.

The Alaska IronKids Philippines aims to do just that and more as it holds its 5th leg at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa on Aug. 4 which will usher in the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Cebu set to happen a day after.

The Alaska IronKids Philippines is the local version of the international IronKids which is also licensed by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).

Since its inception in 1985, the IronKids has seen over 50,000 participants, including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and Olympians Hunter Kemper and Laura Bennett when they were much younger.

Here in the Philippines, the first IronKids competition was held in 2010 organized by the Sunrise Events Inc., which is also responsible for the Cobra Ironman.

Alaska Milk Corp. president and CEO Wilfred Uytengsu Jr., who heads Sunrise Events Inc., said that in organizing these events, they aspire to give the visitors the best possible experience they can have in the Philippines.

Because overtime, the Ironman has become a family activity since participants bring their families with them during races which are usually held during weekends. The Cobra Ironman Philippine is no different, so a race is also created for the kids.

One other aim of the IronKids is to provide a healthy lifestyle for the kids, in Uytengsu’s words “so they will realize that they can also have fun while sweating.”

In Cebu, the triathlon for the kids was started by Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez dubbed SuperTriKids which generated a lot of interest among young Cebuanos.

This triathlon also aims to identify talents for the sports grassroots development, said Rodriguez. A grassroots program will ensure that the sport will be here to stay.