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California Kids Triathlon bringing hundreds of youth to Woodland
Daily Democrat


What started out six years ago as a fun way to fill a summertime void has blossomed into the largest kids triathlon in the country with over 1,000 participants scheduled for Woodland on Aug. 10.

Conducted in a traditional swim-bike-run format, the California Kids Triathlon provides athletes (ages 4-17) of all abilities the chance to participate in a fun, safe and most importantly, a fitness-based event. The philosophy behind the triathlon is to build self-confidence as well as to encourage a foundation for daily exercise.

"Woodland is a city that our foundation has been eyeing for quite some time," states Dave Miramontes, president and Executive Director of A Change of Pace. "The city of Woodland offers the perfect market and demographic to serve one of our boards' goals: to educate, promote and enable all kids the opportunity to participate in highly visible, well-attended and professionally produced event that is build around youth fitness."

Miramontes can be contacted at 757-2012, ext. 13, or reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to make arrangement to participate in the triathlon.

"The California Kids Triathlon is more than your average city-based event; it is a regional attraction with a national recognition," Miramontes stated. "In a nutshell, we have reintroduced three common sports in a simple, pure and non-competitive manner. By doing so, we brought the fun back to exercise with no strings attached. Everyone
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who participates is a winner and even our faster athletes blend in with each and every finisher. The common goal for all is to simply to give it a TRY (tri)."

By placing 100 percent of its focus on attempt and completion rather than placement and time, we create a stress-free environment that enables kids to enjoy themselves without any pressure from an outside source.

Competition, high expectations, and the possibility of failure have taken the fun out of many sports and caused hesitation toward future participation.

"Our company believes the California Kids Triathlon is a perfect example of how one can successfully bring the fun back in youth competitive sports while reducing the intimidation factor.," Miramontes stated.

With the rise of childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes continuing to affect our nation, large-scale, well-publicized and well-executed events such as the California Kids Triathlon can serve as an incentive for exercise as well as an event for others to mimic. In California, we seem to have rediscovered a goldmine.