2 Ironkids categories scrapped; participants, parents cry foul

PARTICIPANTS and their parents cried foul with the cancellation of the 6-to-8 and 9-to-10 categories of the 2013 Alaska IronKids Triathlon yesterday due to bad weather.

About 30 minutes before the second wave—consisting of the partcipants in the 6 to 8 and 9 to 10 categories—were supposed to be released, the heavy downpour started and the winds picked up, prompting the organizers to hold off and eventually cancel the short course categories at about 8 a.m.

Race director Ani de Leon-Brown said she made the decision to cancel the remaining categories for the safety of the kids.

“We wanted to wait it out but we only have a small window to do so. This is the 70.3 weekend, we already pushed to extend using the bike transition area for the 70.3 to 10 a.m., my race was supposed to end at 9 a.m.,” De Leon-Brown explained.

She added that they would have wanted to see the race through as they also spent a lot to organize the race.

However, a group of parents from Davao claimed organizers did not wait long enough. They said the sun was already out by 8 a.m. They said that organizers should have checked the hourly weather update so  they would have known that no more rains were forecasted after 8 a.m.

Organizers offered to refund the registration fee and to give the finisher’s medal.

But the parents said that mitigation was not enough. They should have thought of an alternative race.

“What is the P1,000 registration fee. That is just enough to pay for one training. We spent double in coming here for our kids to race. We are staying in a hotel not an inn. There is 40 in our group and 12 of our kids were not able to race,” said a Davao parent who refused to be named.

He added that they came because they wanted their kids to get used to their categories before going up to the higher level.

According to the father, an aquathlon would have been a good alternative race because it does not need a big transition area.

However, De Leon-Brown said she checked the paths after the rain stopped and found a lot of leaves that could make the route slippery and be dangerous for the kids.

Because of this, most of the kids expressed disappointment because they gave up their entire summer to train for the event.
Six-year-old Dhexia Myle Bersabal of Cebu said she was looking forward to getting a finishers’ medal. It would have been her first time to race in the event.

The Torralba sisters, Meg and Mya, said it was okay that they were not able to race but they still felt disappointed because they trained hard for it.

Top contenders Tara Borlain and Shyra Ruth Uy, who were both excited to go up against Tahlia Jane McCormack, the daughter of IronMan two-time World Champion Chris “Macca” McCormack, said they were disappointed because they were looking forward to racing against a noted contender. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON