School children and Warrington residents swam, cycled and ran their way to triathlon victory this weekend with not one, but two events taking place as part of this year’s Warrington Festival.
On Friday (September 30th), 80 pupils from schools across Warrington came together to take part in the multi-sport day which was part of British Triathlon’s Go Tri initiative.
Go Tri gives people a taster of the fastest growing sport in the UK in a fun environment where the element of competition is removed but still allows participants to try all three disciplines together.
Pupils from St Andrew’s, St Joseph’s, Oughtrington and Culcheth primary schools completed a 25m swim, followed by a swift change, before heading out on the bikes provided by British Cycling, to complete a 600m course. After this, they then had to take part in a 200m run to complete their triathlon.
As part of the event, pupils from Sir Thomas Boteler High led a sports zone provided by Decathlon and encouraged the pupils to get involved in other sports including archery, table tennis and indoor athletics.
LiveWire also delivered a workshop on sportsmanship for the pupils using the outstanding example of the Brownlee brothers in the recent World Championships which saw one brother carry the other over the line after suffering heat stroke.
The pupils then demonstrated their own sportsmanship skills as they supported and cheered on their class mates across the line.
The public health team also delivered a fun interactive Change4Life workshop for the pupils where they could play games which encouraged them to move more on a daily basis to be healthy.
The event was in partnership with the Warrington School Sport Partnership, British Triathlon, British Cycling, Public Health, Decathlon and LiveWire.
Louise Shannon, health engagement officer at LiveWire, said: “The first schools triathlon event was such a huge success and we hope it put it on again next week. There is also an additional secondary school event planned for the summer.”
Saturday (October 1st) saw the second Orford Park Triathlon take place at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub.
Building on last year’s successful pilot of the Go Tri initiative, this year’s event was even more popular with more than 70 people taking part.
People of all ages from under 16 to over 80 took part in the event, giving many their first taste of a triathlon or multi discipline sport. For others it was the perfect chance to get back into the water after a break or injury.
The event was a huge success and the feedback from participants was outstanding with people commenting on the excellent atmosphere, amazing support, wonderful volunteers, fantastic facility and excellent organisation.
Based on the feedback and the real thirst for the sport, LiveWire is pleased to announce that two more Go Tri events will take place in 2017.
“This was a fabulous event that really embraced the spirit of Go Tri with people supporting each other to try a new sport in a friendly environment,” added Louise.
“We are pleased to announce that we will increase the events we do next year and would also love to explore hosting an affiliated triathlon by working with local triathlon clubs and British Triathlon – so watch this space.”
The Go Tri event marked the last weekend in the Warrington Festival which saw a series of sport, culture and entertainment events take place across the town including this year’s LiveWire Mile, where more than 650 runners completed a one-mile race to and from the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
