Harper's First Triathlon

On the morning of July 4th, Harper participated in the Cherry Bomb Triathlon at the city park.  She absolutely loves to run in races, but had never done a triathlon.  This year she was old enough to participate in the 8-9 year old division.  I could tell she was a little nervous about the swimming part...swimming isn't her strong suit.  She was up and at 'em early that morning despite the late night of fireworks the night before.  We loaded up her bike and headed to the park.  She got her number, greeted her "competitors" (all her friends) and we waited.  While we waited for the race to start, her bike tire blew!  Flat as flat can be...the innertube had split.  Two minutes before the race, she found a bike to borrow from a girl in the upper age division.  Whew!  Disaster avoided.
First up...a 25 m swim in the pool at 8:00 am in the morning...chilly!  She took off like a rocket and swam her heart out, but was 2nd to the last getting out of the pool.  She walked quickly to her bike and threw on her shoes. I hollered at her to put on her shorts but she said, "I don't want to!"  She was on a mission.  She hopped on the borrowed bike and pedaled her legs as fast as they could go.  After the 1/2 mile bike ride, she was in 3rd place.  She quickly racked her bike, took off her helmet and started the event that she does best...running.  The run was an out and back.  I saw her on her way out in 3rd place, but when she appeared again on the return...she was in 1st place!  She pumped her arms and concentrated and finished the race in 8 mins 40 seconds.  Congratulations Cherry Bomb Triathlon Champion!