The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

Today was a day for standing by and watching, cheering very loudly and willing them on. The kids were out there competing again. They both really enjoyed these events last year and were very keen to take part in them again - even when faced with another dip in the lake! Once again we took a good sized cheering committee down to the Rother Valley to support them in their efforts, not quite as big a one as last year, but still. Daniel and I were there (of course), but also my Mum and Dad, so they were suitably yelled for as they raced.

Ryan's scootathon was first. It was really very entertaining. There were more children taking part than last year and they decided to run it in two waves. That's where things started to get a bit complicated. they sent the girls off first, with an adult in front for them to follow. When the boys were sent on their way a few minutes later they were without a leader, presumably they thought they'd still be able to see the stragglers from the girls. This didn't turn out to be the case. Some of the boys ended up running rather further than they needed to in that first section due to going some distance off course. Ryan managed to stay on track because he heard the marshals yelling at them and turned towards them, thus avoiding too much of a detour. He arrived back in transition with his customary big smile on his face, then got somewhat lost trying to find his scooter. I really felt for him, wandering about trying to find it. Still, he took it all in his stride and didn't seem bothered at all. Then he had a major fight with his helmet and couldn't get it fastened. Eventually one of the photographers attached it to his head for him! I was worried that he'd be upset after all that, but no. He still came zooming out of transition smiling all over his face. After that his race went much more smoothly, he scooted quickly around the course, dropped off the scooter and completed the final run without incident. He was welcomed back by a cheering family and was once again very chuffed with his medal. Well done, Ryan! No times were published for this race this year, maybe due to the confusion and going off course. Mind you, who cares what his time was? He completed the race, he really enjoyed doing it and we're very proud of him.

Then it was April's turn to step up to the start line. I was a bit worried because she hadn't done any open water swimming training this time, there simply hadn't been opportunity to get her out there. Also, she'd only had one practise swim in the wetsuit. I needn't have worried. April's swimming has come on an awful lot in the last year and it really showed. She is now swimming several times a week with the City of Leeds Swimming Development E squad and the improvement was obvious. She got straight in there when it was time for her wave and made sure she got herself wet prior to the start. Once the horn went she was off, no breaststroke, no floundering, no looking at all concerned. She swam confidently in the middle of the pack, not letting other swimmers or the chill of the water put her off. She said later that she'd been kicked in the face by another swimmer but that she knew she just needed to keep going so she ignored it and carried! Pretty mature attitude from a 9 year old, plenty of adults struggle with that sort of thing. She came out in the middle of her wave this time, so no being left miles behind this time either. She ran out and into transition all smiles too, got herself sorted out pretty quickly and off she went onto the bike. It seemed a terribly long time waiting for her to reappear on the bike, and I don't think she was very speedy, but she reappeared eventually. A very muddy little girl came pedalling round the final corner of the cycle leg, the weather wasn't exactly good! She put her bike back and ran out looking tired but still pretty happy about it all and was cheered loudly in at the end where she received a well deserved medal. Her overall time is shown on the website as 25:46. A lot faster than last year. She tried so hard and the swimming was brilliant this time. We're really proud of her too. Fabulous job, April!