Race Coverage

Novelty, Personalization & Fun...

Monday, 02 September 2024 00:10

"We're going to (mini) Worlds!"

(Words ny Doobie Kurus, photos courtesy of Jay Dellis)

10 years ago (11 actually if you include the 1+ year of planning the first tri), I wanted to create an event implementing the things I liked about some triathlons that I had participated in myself. Things like doable distances for newcomers, fun prizes, novelty post race food (for all), personalized race bibs, t-shirts people want to wear, good comunication to participants, reasonable entry fees, etc. Flash forward to this year, and after checking off all those things, at first I'd say, "mission accomplished!" But, if you know me, you realize I won't stop there. I already have fun plans for next year's event in the works. ...

So what exactly did happen this year with the Hopkins Royal Triathlon? Was it a race? Did anyone actually win? Why on Earth did you do this in the first place? The why is interesting. Apparently in many other countries outside of the US, they do events like swimming, biking, and running, and even triathlons for the experience. No finisher medals, no t-shirts, no winner, etc. Go figure! Originally our plan was to offer 3 distance option for all 3 disciplines of a traditional triathlon. Just when we thought we had it all dialed in, we got the word a few days before the event that E. coli was present at our beloved Shady Oak Beach, thus forcing us (for the first time ever) to cancel the swim portion. The HoRT has and always will err on the side of safety for our participants and volunteers. We also needed to change up the order of the events to stagger people out on the bike course, so we had people start the race off (at the finish line mats ironically) with their run, followed by the bike, and then back to the finish line (although some opted to do an extra run loop around the lake.) One participant dubbed it a RUN-BIKE-DONE. 

Here's some things you may have missed?

We recognized the people who have done HoRT all 10 years: Jason Larson, Terri Jaksha, Paul Pasko, Michele Pasko, Danny Kagol, Kevin Wolters, Bill Benning, and Josh Sell. Apologies if we missed anyone. Note: The Hopkins Royal Tri was the first triathlon ever for both Jason and Terri. 

We also paid special tribute to the previous 9 recipients of the coveted #1 race bib: Joyce Kurus (2014), Kate Pengelly (2015), Genevieve McJilton (2016), Terri Jaksha (2017), Jeffrey Bergeman (2018), Judy Rykken (2019), John Donaldson (2021), Unny Nambudiripad (2022), Paul Pasko (2023)...AND in 2024...Bill Benning! They all came back for the event this year in some capacity.

We'd like to recognize former pro-triathlete, Heather Lendway, for truly displaying good sportsmanship and giving back to the triathlon community. We issued her a challenge of starting at the back end of the race and we would give her $2 for every person she passed. Let's just say we had to cap it at $500 based on her results. However, when asked to come up to receive her winnings, she asked that the money instead be given to the volunteer groups. WOW! That's what I'd call a professional! Note: The money was given to Barnabas House-the group that does the post race food each year. They are a social group for adults with disabilities just trying to be part of the community just like each of us. They are one of the few volunteer groups that actually does not receive compensation (by their choice), so this was a perfect gesture! This money will help fund some of their events.

We gave away mini-themed prizes (e.g. little boxes of cereal, mini-bottles of olive oil and N/A cider, and Minnie Mouse items.) We served mini-themed post race foods (e.g. donut holes, cocktail wieners, Hershey miniatures chocolate bars, and Clementine cuties.) We had a mini-Cooper as our official pace car. We even had Minnie Mouse out walking about.

What does next year hold in store? We're not sure yet. Will it remain an all mini/choose your race adventure format or will it return to being a traditional triathlon? Speaking of which, will the swim segment come back? We sure hope so! In our search for a destination for mini-Sprint Worlds, maybe we'll have a talk with our friends in Canada to see what we can do about those geese ;)

Ps So who won really?     A: I think we all did!

Doobie Kurus
Commisioner of U-SMALL (United States Miniature Athletic Leisure League)