HIGH SCHOOL
LAST WEEK’S TINMAN TRIATHLON can be described as bittersweet for triathlon organizer, participant, coach and teacher Laurie Murray.
Murray finishes up her teaching career this month at EDSS, which included 12 years of organizing the triathlon that sees schools from across the region and beyond participate in a trya-tri – a shorter version of the traditional triathlon, put on by Elmira District Secondary School.
The event had stopped for a few years before a student, Megan Seiling, wanted to revive it after hearing about it from her siblings who had participated. Murray agreed to help get it going again.
“The first year we did it back in 2004 I think we only had 60 or 70 participants, but then it started to take off and grow from there. It’s a lot of work, but when the whole event comes together and all these kids are out having fun doing fitness, it makes it all worthwhile,” Murray said.
Their record is 480 participants and 22 schools. This year saw 450 compete from 19 schools.
She says often there’s a teacher who’s keen on triathlons and they get the students interested. Once the students tell their friends how much fun they had then more come out. Lots of kids start by doing it as a relay and then return the next year to try it solo. It’s a great fitness challenge for them.
“It went very smoothly this year. I was really happy. You never know what kind of wrinkles you’re going to have in it,” Murray said.
EDSS placed third overall with 108 of the 405 competitors coming from the Elmira high school. Alex Schott, Logan Cressman, and John Wang finished third overall in the senior boys’ relay and Emmett Bartley placed third overall in the junior boys’ single for EDSS.
Teachers and staff competed in the first heat of the triathlon, followed by the students. Murray competes every year, this being no exception. She typically does two or three full triathlons per summer.
“I had an injury this year and it’s still pretty sore, but I competed anyway because I wanted to do the last year. If the staff goes through it first and I go through it first then I know that it’s all set up for all the rest of the people that are going to go through the course. And I do like triathlons anyway,” Murray said.
The event has nearly hit its maximum amount of entrees because there isn’t enough space to do many more heats in the pool.
“This year we had a whole heat less entries, but just as many kids pretty much because they were doing relays.”
Thuy Leu will take over the triathlon next year and for the last three years has been doing the entries, which she set up electronically.
Murray’s hopeful the Tinman will continue to inspire students in the years to come to consider doing a triathlon and it will act as an opportunity for them to get out and look after their own personal fitness by training in three different sports. While some students are in it to win it, most are just doing it for fun and to see if they can complete it. She says all the hard work is worthwhile when she sees hundreds of students out having fun, while staying active.
When she retires at the end of the school year, she says she’ll miss the triathlon, coaching field hockey, and teaching, but most of all, the kids.