Will Johnston: Try-Athlon draws sporting stars and crowds

It's not often I feel a little short, but when the O'Dea brothers (left) and Casey Kopua (right) stand next to you all at the same time, that usually does it! Photo / Supplied

COMMENT: As a 6ft 4 swaying-in-the-wind lanky gentleman, it's not often I feel a little short, but when the O'Dea brothers and Casey Kopua stand next to you all at the same time, that usually does it!

They were all ambassadors at the Mt Maunganui leg of the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon last Sunday at Arataki Park.

It was supposed to happen late November last year, but the rain said 'no'!
Can you imagine setting up multiple shipping containers worth of equipment for a triathlon for 1500 people and their supporters and then having to pack that all up in the rain and mud and not even run the event?

I'd need more than Weet-Bix to get me through that as an event organiser.

So, I'm stoked they came back and did it all again in the beautiful Mount sun last Sunday!
It was when I was standing on one of said shipping containers as a stage doing the 'running man', the 'bicycle' and the 'eating your Weet-Bix' dance moves to warm up the participants, that I thought about how cool this event really is.

Firstly, there were some of the best beach volleyball players, that are both almost two metres tall, and one of the best netballers the world has ever seen standing next to me being complete geese! It was also cool to see Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller and Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless up there awkwardly doing the warm up.

When you work in any public domain, it requires you to stand and move your body in a way you're not completely comfortable with from time to time.

It's what athletes/politicians/radio announcers look like when warming up a crowd behind the energiser bunny that is 'Weet-Bix Guy'!

Weet-Bix Guy is a legend in his own right. He runs the finishing chute with literally hundreds of kids, repetitively over that whole event. He needs to be wearing a FitBit and counting those steps for sure.

The event went without a hitch. Each age group started when it was meant to, every kid who started it finished it, there was help on hand across every level and there was plenty of entertainment for parents and kids alike outside of the TRYathlon.

Even the lost kids' tent was fun it seemed. It's inevitable that kids and parents get separated at these kinds of things, but they were so well looked after until we could reunite them.

I almost wanted to be a lost kid so I could hang in there. Still, my favourite lost people who were 'misplaced' were a set of grandparents we had to call for.

Their fully-grown son (in his 40s) and his kids were in the lost kids' tent looking for nana and granddad. Apparently it's a regular thing, the oldies get too in to all of the kids' entertainment.

If that isn't nana goals, I'm not sure what is!

I recommend you sign up for the next Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon as soon as possible, it's always a good day. Look for the four giraffe-like people swaying in the breeze on top of a shipping container and come say hi next time!

• Will Johnston is the local 9am-3pm host for The Hits Bay of Plenty 95FM. He's also a celebrant and MC. Follow Will on Instagram on @radiowill