Over 3000 kids swim, cycle and run for fun - and a medal

Austin Carter talks to his dad Hamish on the finish line after taking part in the Weet-Bix Tryathlon yesterday. Photo / Greg Bowker

There was something familiar about a flushed, curly-haired seven-year-old who picked up a medal at the finish line yesterday.

Finally old enough to participate in the Weet-Bix Tryathlon series, Austin Carter had already completed the courses at Narrowneck Beach in February and at Mt Maunganui last weekend it seemed more than evident that he has taken after his famous father Hamish Carter.

Between gulps of water and deep puffs of air, Austin told the Herald the course in St Heliers was the hardest he had done the bike ride was so long.

He was one of more than 3,000 young participants to descend on Vellenoweth Green yesterday morning.

Wearing rubber caps and goggles, pushing mountain bikes, carrying flags, the athletes and their support crews wove between one another to arrange their transition gear in colour co-ordinated rows on Vellenoweth Green then fuelled up on Weet-Bix.

Seven-year-old Tjasa Arandjus nervously adjusted her goggles as her dad pointed out the cycle track and the run.

Meanwhile ten-year-old 'veteran' triathlete Sarah Baird tested the sea it was warm-enough, she said.

At 9am, in a spray of floundering limbs, the athletes organised into age groups by the colour of their swimming caps minced the water using any stroke they were capable of, while a jostling crowd of parents pointed digital cameras.

Lifeguards stopped some backstrokers from swimming to Rangitoto, while less-confident swimmers walked between the buoys a distance of 100m for seven to ten year-olds and 200m for the older participants.

Peeling back their swimming caps the swimmers then powered up the beach and into the bike transition yard.Those in teams tagged their cyclists, and triathletes scanned the field for their bike.

Just one or two overwhelmed pint-sized athletes wandered helplessly down the rows with fat tears rolling down their cheeks until support crew steered them in the right direction.

Gabriel Orchard, 8, was lucky to have had a head start on his swim, before losing his bike in the sea of spokes and handlebars.

"I told dad I should have put a balloon on my bike," he said.

But he quickly dried his feet, tugged on his socks and shoes, pulled the numbered Weet-Bix T-shirts over his head and snapped the clasps on his helmet, paused to take a chomp from a banana and a swig of water, then pedalled off on the 2km ride 4km for the older kids as his supporters cheered through the fence.

Legs still flying, those returning from the cycle leg jumped off their bikes, removed their helmets and shot off in the other direction on their 1.5km run.

Some caught their pedals on other athlete's spokes while others forgot to take off their helmets and carried on running, but they were still beaming between their gasps as they crossed the finish line and were presented a medal by one of their sporting heroes.

Best friends Patrick Gleeson and Oliver Johnson, both eight years-old, were exhausted but couldn't be more proud of completing the Tryathlon.

Oliver, who has battled major health difficulties since he was a tot, had never tried anything like it, but decided to tag-team the legs with Patrick.

Patrick was one of the first of the eight-year-old boys to emerge from the swim he tagged Oliver who completed the 2km cycle.

Oliver would struggle to run 1.5km afterwards, but he was determined to cross the finish line and so Weet-Bix made a special allowance for the two boys to complete the final leg together.

The boys made a pact to finish "no matter what" and were elated to cross the line and receive a medal from Hamish Carter.

They are both already talking about doing it next year and Oliver is so inspired he is talking about doing another bike race in a few months' time.

The Auckland Tryathlon is the tenth event in the 2009 Tryathlon series, which features a total of 11 events across New Zealand. The final event at New Plymouth will be held on Friday.

Over the past 17 years more than 170,000 New Zealand children have taken part in similar events.

Weet-Bix Senior Brand Manager Tanne Andrews said the event was "all about kids getting out there and giving it a go while having a fun day out with their friends and families."