The atmosphere was buzzing in Bolton on Saturday 16 July as over 2,200 IRONKIDS filled the town in North West England for the world’s largest IRONKIDS run event – marking the start of the IRONMAN UK race weekend.
This ‘fun run’ event, open to children aged 3-14, was initiated by IRONMAN and Bolton Council in 2012 and has gone from strength to strength, selling out year on year and having tripled its entries to a 2,500 capacity.
IRONKIDS is all about encouraging kids to lead a healthy, active lifestyle and Bolton Council’s partnership with the event enables a subsidised entry, with a view to motivate as many children as possible of all levels of ability to take part.
The 3-5 year olds ran 500m (accompanied by a parent/guardian), 6-10 year olds 1km, 11-13 year olds 1.5km and the 14 year olds ran a 2.5km race. The 6 years olds saw the largest field of entry with 312 kids running.
Many of those competing were from local schools or clubs taking part either as groups or individually –with some using the event as a way to raise funds for worthy charities. The Rotary Charity Fundraisers will be donating £1,000, given by IRONMAN as a thank you for all their support in the preparation and registering of IRONKIDS, to Bolton’s Harmony Youth Project.
All of the children finished under the iconic IRONMAN finish arch, with each child receiving a special commemorative IRONKIDS t-shirt and a medal after completing the race to celebrate their achievement.
Congratulating many of the IRONKIDS and handing out medals on the finish line was the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Lynda Byrne who commented on the event stating, “It’s a fabulous day and absolutely buzzing. The kids have loved it ,as have the parents and we very much hope to see everyone again next year.”
Sam Brawn, Race Director of IRONMAN UK said, “This is a fantastic start to the weekend’s racing and amazing to see so many kids of all ages taking part, cheered on by their family and friends. Together with Bolton Council, our aim is to give kids the opportunity to be part of a world class event and hopefully inspire them to enjoy many more years of sport and triathlon.”
Many of the IRONKIDS had parents participating in IRONMAN UK, which got underway at 05:55 GMT at Pennington Flash when over 2,000 athletes from 38 countries around the globe took on the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run.
