Wednesday 5 March 2008

AR for kids by kids

The Alverinos children have been regular AR Sprint participants for some time now. They also get involved in longer events as support crew for dad Alec. And now young David (12), and his friend Roelf (13), are presenting a children's adventure race; it is an event "organised by kids, supported by adults".

Alec, David's dad, gave me a call about 2 weeks ago to say that David had said to him that he wanted to present an event for children. He had already found a location and he had called Life Med 911 to get them onboard as medical support. The details have now been wrapped up and the first RAD Racing event will be presented on Saturday, 29 March in Olifantsfontein. They even have an event website at http://www.radracing.co.za/.

This past Sunday at the Joburg SPUR Adventure I was surprised to see so many entrants under the age of 16 taking part - with parents or with like-aged friends. There was even a good handful of 9-year olds. At only 15km in total with non-technical terrain, this event was child friendly. But some of the 25-35km events may be just a tad too difficult.

What is really neat about Roelf and David's event is that they are offering different distance courses for each of the three age groups; 5km for 8-10 yr, 9km for 11-12 yr and 11km for 13-14 yr. The event incorporates three disciplines: trail running, mtb and tubing.

If you're a parent, get your children signed up and let other parents and your child's school know about this event. I have little doubt that each participant will thoroughly enjoy this race as it has been created by one of their own.

David and Roelf, good luck! You are both commended for having the courage and enthusiasm to put this event together.

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