DeKALB | The Kishwaukee Family YMCA held their 6th Annual Indoor Triathlon on Sunday.

The event began at 8 a.m. and ended with an awards ceremony at noon.

The triathlon attracted 105 participants from all over the county. It was divided into eight waves to accommodate everyone. 

“We have more people this year than last year,” said YMCA Program Director Sue Munz. “Every year more people come.”

The event attracted people of all ages. The minimum age to compete was 9 years old.

“The biking was the hardest part since it was right after the swimming,” said Pat Beardsley of Genoa, the eldest participant at the event.

The YMCA event was based on time instead of distance, as in a traditional triathlon. It consisted of a 10 minute swim, a 20 minute bike ride and a 15 minute run.

“Kids, families and older people can all participate because they can go as slow or fast as they want, and everyone ends at the same time,” Munz said.

Unlike most triathlons, the YMCA annual event is always held at this time of year.

“We have the event in February because it gives people a change to try a [triathlon] or train for one before the outdoor ones begin,” Munz said.

The participants are encouraged to fill out a survey at the end to help improve future triathlons.

“We tweaked things a bit from last year,” said Brittany Gieseke, YMCA intern. “The communication was a lot better.”

The triathlon had medals for first, second and third place in each age group, and also had unusual awards for best family team, eldest participant and youngest participant.

Results are posted online at www.kishymca.org. As of press time, the Northern Star was unable to get the names of the triathlon winners.