Oh My My, What an Excellent Tri!

The La Porte County Family YMCA hosted their 34th Annual Triathlon on Saturday morning at Soldiers Memorial Park. It was a gorgeous day and the racers were pumped. The course started out with a quarter mile swim through the lake at the park, a 12.4-mile bike ride and ended with a 3.3-mile run. Participants were able to race as individuals or in groups of up to three people.

After the race, participants were able to refuel with a generous spread of food, get massage care provided by IU Health La Porte Hospital’s Mobil Unit, and music was provided to entertain everyone throughout the day.

“This is an amazing health and wellness event. The Y is all about opening the doors to all who want to get health and wellness into their lives. And this 34th Annual Triathlon is a great way to do that,” Vanessa Franklin, Marketing Coordinator for the La Porte County Family YMCA, said. “It is a half triathlon. So it’s perfect for those who have been thinking about trying the sport but haven’t quite gotten into it yet so it’s a great transition. We have 50 and 60-year-olds all the way down to 12 and 13-year-olds. It’s a really great event where you can see all walks of life.”

Franklin said that planning for the triathlon began in January of this year. The entire staff from the Y gets involved and there are many volunteers that give their time and support to the event.

And they pulled it off. The triathlon was a wonderful event and in the end the participants, though quite tired, were all smiles as they enjoyed the post race celebration with the families and friends that came out to support them.

“This has gone great. We’ve had perfect weather today. We were concerned a little with the rain from yesterday but things were fine,” Cindy Berchem, CEO of the La Porte County Family YMCA, said. “We have some great athletes here. Everyone’s having a wonderful time. We have a lot of people that volunteered with a lot of talent and time. I had over 100 people that help make this happen. I’m happy with the results. I’d like to thank our volunteers, all of our staff that pulled together and most importantly our athletes and participants who have taken part in our triathlon.”

Click here to see the entire photo gallery from the triathlon!

Sponsors for the 34th Annual La Porte County Family YMCA Triathlon: La Porte County Family YMCA; Smith Ready Mix; Industrial Maintenance Welding and Machining Co., Inc.; Serenity Springs; Larson Danielson; Buffalo Wild Wings; House of Fara; Tri Kappa; Ludwig; La Porte Insurance Agency; Family Express; HRR Enterprises, Inc.; Parkinson & Hinton; The Rotary Club of La Porte; IU Health La Porte Hospital; LaPorteCountyLife.com; Central States Manufacturing, Inc.; Aero Metals, Inc.; Davis Disability Group; Valerie R. Martinsen, DDS; Life Fitness; LaPorte Savings Bank; Al’s Supermarkets; Horizon Bank; General Insurance Services; Kiwanis International; Lewis Bakery; Newby Lewis Kaminski T. Jones, LLP.

 Photo shown below is overall winner David Story with a time of 1:01:18.