KID'S TRIATHLON - Kiwi kid's lifestyle makeover goes swimmingly

MARK Young is exactly the sort of kid the Allens Northland Kids' Triathlon is all about.
A year ago, 11-year-old Mark was a little bigger than he is now, liked his Playstation and the television, and didn't eat the best food.
Now he's been through a Healthy Lifestyles programme run by the Northland District Health Board, and is ready and raring to go in this Sunday's triathlon at Onerahi.
"I like swimming the most, but just free swimming," the Pompallier College student said.
"But in the race I think I like the bike best."
The Healthy Lifestyle programme Mark went through last year is a 10-week course designed to encourage children to eat healthier and make better choices. The children meet with a dietitian and are encouraged to do more exercise.
At the end of the 10-week period the children are encouraged to enter the Allens Kids' Triathlon, and most decide to give it a go.
Mark has been training for the last few weeks, biking up and down his street, doing his paper-run and walking the dog at night.
"We've also been for lots of bushwalks up Parahaki, haven't we?" his mum Chris adds.
Mark has one goal in mind on Sunday. "I just want to complete it," he said.
He has some mates from Pompallier College who are doing the triathlon as well and is looking forward to catching up with them afterwards.
Chris said the Healthy Lifestyles programme has done wonders for Mark and she is very proud he decided to take part in the triathlon.
"I would have thought that his older siblings would actually have been more likely to do it, but instead they're not so interested, Mark decided to and it's just great."
Mark has his three-month review from the programme tomorrow, and both he and his mum are looking forward to a positive improvement.
"Last time when he went for his one-month review he'd grown up height-wise but not gained any weight, so that's a good sign."
Mark said the programme was good and his favourite part was the pedometer he was given as part of it. He has discovered he does more walking in a day than he thought he did.
The triathlon was the brainchild of Whangarei athlete Murray Healy, who wanted the chance for Northland children to enter an event in their own province without having to travel to Auckland.
Entry costs $10 and each child is given a race pack with about $50 worth of goodies. All entrants are in with a chance to win one of 10 Apollo bikes. Last year there were 783 entries in the event.
• There's still time to enter the Allens Kids' Triathlon, which is coming up this Sunday.
It's a 150m swim, 2km bike and 1km run, for children aged 8-14.
Go to www.northlandtri.co.nz and enter online, or get an entry form from your school. No entries are accepted on the day.