(Le Mars) — Swimming a distance of 300 meters, bicycling 15 miles, and finally
running a 5-K. Its all part of the 10th annual Le Mars YMCA Sprint Tri-athlon
held this morning. A total of 120 competitors from several states
competed in this year’s event. Angela Loutsch with the Le Mars YMCA is the
coordinator and explains the event.
Two competitors in this year’s Sprint Tri-athlon make up the “Extreme Team”. The
Extreme Team is Le Mars’ own Wayne Marty at age 84, the oldest competitor, and
his granddaughter Sasha at age 15, one of the youngest competitors. This is the ninth time Wayne Marty has competed in the Sprint Tri-athlon, although he and his granddaughter split the duties. Sasha did the swimming and running events while Wayne rode the bicycle the 15 miles. This is the first time Sasha has competed in a tri-athlon, and after crossing the finish line, Sasha talks about her performance.
This is Wayne Marty’s ninth year to compete in the Le Mars YMCA Sprint Tri-athlon, and he talks about how the bicycle ride had some challenges.
Sasha runs Cross-Country for West Des Moines, and says that helped her prepare for today’s event. Although she admits to trying a similar tri-athlon in the past, but did not finish.
Wayne Marty says once there were three generations of the Marty family that participated in the Sprint Tri-athlon, and he hopes to encourage his family to again participate in a future Le Mars Tri-athlon.
Sasha says she hopes to return next year to compete again, and as for Wayne? He says its too early to know.
Photos of Saturday’s Sprint Tri-athlon
