Strenuous but fun.

The first-ever Whidbey Island Junior Triathlon Sunday afternoon at John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool attracted 34 competitors between the ages of 6 and 12 and at the end of the three events, there was a bunch of tired boys and girls and a crowd of proud parents.

Sponsored by the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District and organized by pool director Craig Carlson, the triathlon consisted of swimming 10 widths of the pool, a total of 147 yards, followed by a 2,000-yard bicycle ride and finally a foot race of another 600 yards.

Despite being the first event of its kind held exclusively for young competitors on the island, Carlson made order out what could have been chaos.

“I’ve organized a number of these events in past years,” he said. “When I was in Ellensburg, we used to have them all the time and I think we must have had at least 20 of them.”

After Carlson explained the rules and walked parents and competitors through the course, it was time for the action to begin.

The kids were split into two groups, those age 10-and-under and the 11- to-12-year-olds, and Carlson cautioned the older group of competitors would not start until all of the younger kids had completed the final leg of the three events.

“We don’t want any confusion and we don’t want anybody to get hurt,” he said.

Assisted by pool lifeguards strategically positioned along the course to keep unwary pedestrians from being run down, the younger kids dove in the pool for the first leg of the race.

First out of the pool was Dakota Powers, one of the top swimmers on the North Whidbey Aquajets, who hurriedly put on his shoes and helmet before jumping on his bicycle for the five-lap race around the baseball field south of the pool complex.

Not far behind was Jacob Freese followed by Lauryn Plush, the first of the 9- to-10-year-old girls.

Powers won the race, lapping most of the competition on his bicycle, and finished in a time of 10:16.

Plush was the first girl to cross the finish line at 12:12.

The girls race was a close one with Emily Huffer finishing just one second behind Plush at 12:13.

“I’m happy, but I also feel sick a little,” Huffer said. “I’m really tired.”

“I’m a little tired, it’s hard work but fun,” a winded Powers said after the race.

Plush said this is the first triathlon she’d ever done.

“I really liked it, it was a lot of fun.”

In the 11- to-12-year-old division, Caley Powers was the boys winner and said he did as well as he expected.

“I beat my brother’s time, I’m glad about that,” he said.

Caley Powers finished with a time of 9:06.

For the girls, Danae Nash was the winner, finishing the three events in a time of 12:14.

“I did as well as I thought I would. I’m really happy now,” she said.

After the race all the competitors were treated to Gatorade and watermelon in celebration of their accomplishments.

All of them agreed it was a fun afternoon and they would be back next year.

“We had fun and everything worked out,” Carlson said.