All Around Ashburn: Kids Swim, Bike, and Run for MS

Thursday morning kids from Ashburn got up early during their summer break to participate in a charity triathlon event. Though there were some veterans, this event was the first triathlon for most of the kids and earns them the title “Triathlete”.

As part of their Kids Helping Kids charity outreach program, the Broadlands' swim team hosted its first annual triathlon, raising $3,000 to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. The event was open to all children, whether they're on the Broadlands swim team or not. The cause is an important one to swim team coach Shannon McCongagha; she has a family member affected by the disease. The non-competitive event awarded each participant with a medal and a t-shirt.

The kids from the Broadlands' swim team were excited to help their coach with a cause she believes in, but most gave other reasons for doing the event. One boy admitted, “My mom wanted me to.” The bronzed medal depicting all three events on red-white-and-striped ribbon was a hot commodity and incentive for many of the kids. But there were others, like Grace, who said, “I did it to get exercise!” Six-year-old Brody, whose parents are triathletes, has already done two other kids' triathlons: “I like doing triathlons because I want to be in first place someday.” 

This was the first year for the event, and the team plans to do it every year. Most of the kids enjoyed the swimming and biking legs of the race best. Matigan told me the hardest part was the run at the end, “running isn't my best thing and ... when I got there I was already exhausted.” Perhaps next year, once word gets out to the local track clubs and Girls on the Run groups, they'll join the swimmers for this friendly cross-training event to help kids with MS.