
{"id":6089,"date":"2009-06-04T07:23:28","date_gmt":"2009-06-04T15:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=6089"},"modified":"2009-06-04T07:23:28","modified_gmt":"2009-06-04T15:23:28","slug":"youth-triathlon-is-all-smiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/06\/04\/youth-triathlon-is-all-smiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth triathlon is all smiles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/revisedp5292320.jpg\" alt=\"This long-course participant is a model of intensity as he finishes the swim and heads for his bicycle. Photo by Beth Mechum\" width=\"150\" height=\"113\" align=\"left\" \/><strong>By Beth mechum<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Intermittent rain showers couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wash away the juggler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flames or dampen the spirits of the 435 participants who competed in the third annual Swim for Smiles Triathlon early Sunday morning at Chapel Hill Country Club.<\/p>\n<p>In what was half carnival, half sporting event, Swim for Smiles Foundation co-creator Gary Kayye made sure to note it was all smiles.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be better,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kayye said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That rain that we had right as it started cooled everything off, the parents are really happy, the kids are having a lot of fun and the races started on time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The triathlon was open to anyone aged six to 18 and included both long-course and short-course races for those of any skill level.<\/p>\n<p>Near the finish line you could see the participants red faced and exhausted as they rounded the last turn. They were greeted with a high five, a medal and the promise of gummy bears and frozen yogurt. Most bounced back quickly.<\/p>\n<p>There was a magician, a juggler and a balloon-animal maker**** to keep siblings and parents entertained while their loved ones sweated it out on the course.<\/p>\n<p>Long-course participant Justin Laatz, 12, of Chapel Hill said he was most proud of knocking at least a minute off his time from last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I really wanted to do this because it was something I think I can really shine in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Laatz said.<\/p>\n<p>Alison Smith, 16, of Chapel Hill placed second among girls in the long-course race, but laughed when asked how she felt about her victory.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a runner, not a swimmer, so I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel great starting out swimming behind all the 8 year olds,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Smith said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But then I felt better with the biking and running. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really tiring though.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Smith said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d come back as long as she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able, partly because of the competition and a lot because of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all the free stuff we get.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The Swim for Smiles Foundation, based in Chapel Hill, is an organization that raises money for the North Carolina Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hospital through multi-sport events for kids.<\/p>\n<p>Kayye first came up with the idea for the foundation when his 4-year-old daughter (now 13, and a participant in the triathlon) was ill and in and out of hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>Though exact numbers aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t totaled yet, Kayye said he expects the event will raise about $30,000 for the Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Having spent a lot time in hospitals, I realized clearly what parents go through when their kids get sick and what the hospital goes through to help the parents,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kayye said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and it made me want to give back.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/resizedp5292325.jpg\" alt=\"Long course participant exemplifies the Swim for Smiles name while running to his bicycle grinning ear to ear. Photo by Beth Mechum\" width=\"150\" height=\"113\" align=\"left\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Beth mechum Staff Writer Intermittent rain showers couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wash away the juggler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flames or dampen the spirits of the 435 participants who competed in the third annual Swim for Smiles Triathlon early Sunday morning at Chapel Hill Country Club. In what was half carnival, half sporting event, Swim for Smiles Foundation co-creator Gary Kayye&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6092,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6089\/revisions\/6092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}