Hundreds turn out for Tri

The annual Tri For The Kids at Darlington raises money for the Rome Boys & Girls Club.

Hundreds of children and their families from around the region descended on Darlington School Sunday for the 10th annual Tri For The Kids competition.

The USA Triathlon-sanctioned event features three sports — swimming, biking and running — and raises money for the Rome Boys & Girls Club. Patrick McConnell brought his son Evan McConnell, 13, up from Fayette County to hone his skills.

“It’s his first time doing this race, but we have one in Peachtree City,” Patrick McConnell said. “He’s done about 25 so far.”

The triathlon was open to all kids, ages 6 to 15, and most heard about it through their schools. Lisa Marshall, founder of Multisport Explosion, said it’s a regular trip for her athletes from around the metro Atlanta area.

“We have 26 racing today,” she said as she herded her charges into line at the school’s Huffman Athletic Center swimming pool.

Children ages 6 to 9 swam 50 yards, jumped on bikes for a 2.2-mile ride on Cave Spring Road and finished up with a half-mile run.

For ages 10 to 15, the swim was 100 yards, the bike ride was 4.4 miles and the footrace was a mile.

April and Urcel Fields brought their 9-year-old son Preston Fields to compete. His sister Reagan Fields, 7, came for moral support. Preston, who attends The GLOBE Academy, a dual-language charter school in Decatur, played with his teammates while awaiting their turn.

“They’re warming up, just getting used to the weather,” Urcel Preston said as the morning sky threatened rain but didn’t quite follow through.

Each age group was divided into elite, beginner and challenger categories.

Mai Lee Payne, owner of the Rome-based pediatric rehabilitation center Advance for Kids, brought a contingent to compete in the challenger races.

“I’m ready, I’m ready,” a

smiling Maddox Taylor, 7, told his mother Tammie Taylor.

Payne said the children would have shortened versions of the events but each

would participate in the swim, bike race and run.

“They’re all stars,” she said with a smile.

Organizer Beth Smith, a teacher at Darlington,

said there were 207 athletes from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina. She was still totaling receipts Sunday but estimated the Boys & Girls Club would get at least $15,000.

“The kids were troopers!” Smith said. “The weather conditions were not ideal, but everyone raced their hearts out and had smiles at the end of the day. And I can’t say enough about our volunteers. Amazing, as usual.”

Along with Sunday’s event, Tri For The Kids will have raised close to $150,000 for the local club’s afterschool programs.

Photos by Diane Wagner, Rome News-Tribune ABOVE: Lisa Marshall (center), founder of Alpharetta-based Multisport Explosion, calls her charges to line up Sunday for the first race of the swim-bike-run Tri For The Kids triathlon. LEFT: Tri For The Kids competitor Preston Fields (right), 9,...

Diane Wagner / RN-T Mai Lee Payne (right, red hat), owner of Advance Rehabilitation for Kids, calls her team together before the challenger race starts at the 10th annual Tri For The Kids triathlon Sunday morning at Darlington School.

Diane Wagner / RN-T Darlington sophomore Makiya Mayes (right), one of the student volunteers, prepares to high-five and mark the racers as they pass a checkpoint Sunday during the Tri For The Kids.