Weetbix Tryathlon Memorial Park
About 3000 people were at Memorial Park on Sunday for the Weetbix Kids TRYathlon. With that number of people comes a few surprises!
One of the most notable ones was Liam Messam (Chief, All Black, Rubbish Man...Google it). He was a trooper-there from 10am, he spent the entire time getting his photo taken. With mums! Isn't it funny how women are more shameless than men when it comes to an attractive member of the opposite sex?
Most of them had their kids with them in the "anxious line to Liam". They had their eyes glazed over and firmly fixed on the legendary Chief, while acting like they were hearing the excited chatter of their children next to them.
I know that look well-I used to be a fat kid and it's how I looked at cake. If I was Liam, I would have been right on the border of excited and scared for my life! He handled it well, though I'm not sure whether it was his media training that got him through or the waist-high fence he was standing behind.
Sarah Walker, our Olympic BMX silver medallist, was there too. She was awesome and signed so many autographs her hands looked like an attacked zebra. She had vivid all over her shirt too, from where she snuggled up next to the kid's T-shirt she'd just signed for a photo.
She's a good-looking girl, though there were no men throwing themselves at her. Men clearly have much more decorum (I did notice a few dads whip out the iPhone for a cheeky pic though).At least men would never use their children for shameless selfies with an attractive sports star, would we?! Don't answer that.
The event itself is so well-run you feel like you are just part of a moving train. I love MC-ing it, getting up on the big Weetbix container and giving stuff away. The view from up there is pretty special ? a sea of blue T-shirts and tiring parents.
It's a great place to re-affirm the energy that those little humans have. I talked to heaps throughout the day with the microphone and pretty much all of them reckoned they could have done it all again straight away. Are kids getting fitter or are they just learning to talk a bigger game?!
Either way, the sense of accomplishment and pride from all involved is what makes it an event that should be a rite of passage for all kids.
Despite all of this, and the beautiful weather, my favourite part of the day was the lady I talked to about pigeons. Specifically the fact that her 32-year-old husband races them. Yup, that still happens. He has 100 of them.
This dude drives from Tauranga to Putaruru every week, with a van full of pigeons (can you imagine the mess and smell, let alone the noise?). He then opens the van and releases the birds (I imagine a Mr Burns-type character releasing the hounds). He then drives back to Tauranga and waits.
They do national ones too where they drive to Invercargill and let the little buggers go. Apparently they always make it back, but aren't fans of fog. I asked if he rode a horse and wore armour too. Nope, just loves the thrill of dropping off birds and waiting for their return. Each to their own!
More than anything it made me even happier about living here. I love that when you think you've heard it all about a place, or seen a lot of what it has to offer, there is always someone out there doing something amazing that never even crossed your mind.
I am, however, glad that he's not my neighbour. Cleaning the poo off the roof would be a nightmare!
(Will Johnston is the host of Will and Bridget in the Morning-Classic Hits 95FM Breakfast Show in the Bay of Plenty. Listen every weekday from 6-9am.)