Rec Sports

Sliding mitts are baseball’s ‘must-have,’ even if at youth levels

Youth ballplayer Josiah Jones bats during a youth baseball game in Monroeville, Pa., with his sliding mitt in his back pocket on April 27, 2025. AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen hasn’t had the conversation with 7-year-old son Steel yet, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star knows it’s probably coming at some […]

Published

1 month ago

May 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

134785152_web1_134785152-35551e1173774e6d9c67073d06790b16 — Youth ballplayer Josiah Jones bats during a youth baseball game in Monroeville, Pa., with his sliding mitt in his back pocket on April 27, 2025.

AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar

PITTSBURGH — Andrew McCutchen hasn’t had the conversation with 7-year-old son Steel yet, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star knows it’s probably coming at some point.

Steel, already playing in a youth baseball league, will probably come home at one point and ask his five-time All-Star father if he can have whatever hot item his teammates might be wearing during a given spring.

McCutchen plans to accommodate Steel up to a point. The oldest of McCutchen’s four children is already rocking an arm sleeve, just the way dad does.

Yet if Steel is hoping his father will spring for a sliding mitt — a padded glove a player can slip over one of their hands to protect it should the hand get stepped on while diving headfirst for a base — he probably shouldn’t get his hopes up.

McCutchen, who has stolen 220 bases at the major league level, has never worn one. And he’s quick to point out the next time the cleat of a fielder mashes his hand will also be the first.

Still, the 38-year-old understands. Once upon a time, he was a 20-something who epitomized baseball cool, from his dreadlocks (long since shorn) to his goatee to his rope chain to the occasional skull cap he wore underneath his batting helmet, all of it designed to accentuate McCutchen’s innate blend of talent and charisma.

“It’s all about the drip,” McCutchen said with a smile.

Even if the “drip” (Gen Z slang for stylish clothes and their accessories) emphasizes fashion over function, particularly when it comes to the gloves — which look a bit like oven mitts — that are becoming just as ubiquitous in the Little Leagues as they are in the major leagues.

Safety and self-expression

Former major leaguer Scott Podsednik (career stolen base total: 309) is credited with “inventing” the sliding mitt during the late stages of his 11-year career.

Tired of having his hand stepped on, Podsednik worked with a hand therapist for a solution. The initial mitts were relatively simple. A 2009 picture of Podsednik sliding into second base shows his left hand covered in what looks like a padded modified batting glove, all wrapped in black to match the trim on his Chicago White Sox uniform.

Things have gotten considerably more intricate over the years. Google “sliding mitt designs” and you’ll find themes ranging from the American flag to an ice cream cone to aliens to a poop emoji ( yes, really ).

Scott McMillen, a lawyer in the Chicago area, had no plans to get into the baseball accessory business. He first took notice of sliding mitts when his son Braydon, then 10, pointed out one of his teammates had one and said basically, “Oh hey dad, wouldn’t it be nice if I had one, too.”

They headed to a local sporting goods store, where McMillen was surprised at the variety available.

That was around 2021. By early 2024, McMillen had launched “ Goat’d,” a specialty baseball accessory company with everything from sliding mitts to batting gloves to arm sleeves to headbands and more, many of them religiously inspired.

Sales during their first full year? Over 1 million units.

“We were surprised at how large the marketplace is,” McMillen said.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been.

Youth sports have bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aspen Institute’s 2024 State of Play report noted that the participation levels in sports among children ages 6-17 were the highest they’ve been since 2015. Baseball’s numbers have steadied following a decline. Little League International told The Associated Press last fall that more than 2 million kids played baseball or softball under its umbrella across the world, an uptick over 2019.

Many of those kids are also fans of the game, some of whom may have noticed their favorite major leaguer sporting a mitt when they’re on the bases. Yes, that was San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. sliding across home plate ( feetfirst, by the way ) with a bright yellow mitt on his left hand in the ninth inning of a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh last weekend.

It’s one of the many ways in which the game has evolved over the years. When McMillen grew up, there wasn’t much swag to go around.

“We had our baseball uniform and our glove (and) everyone looked the same, everyone was the same,” he said. “Now, everyone wants to express themselves individually. The best way to do that without acting like a clown is to wear something that shows people who you are.”

Self-expression, however, doesn’t exactly come cheap, particularly in an era when top-of-the-line bats are $400 or more. What amounts to an entry-level sliding mitt can go for $40, but Goat’d and others have versions that can fetch double that.

That hasn’t stopped sales from being brisk, and McMillen points out it’s not merely a luxury item.

“We don’t play football with 1940s safety equipment,” he said. “You feel better in the (batter’s) box when you have something that protects you, right? With a sliding mitt, it’s also like, ‘Hey this is fun. It’s cool. I want to be like my fave high school player, like my favorite college player.’”

It’s becoming increasingly common for McMillen and other members of the company’s staff to spot Goat’d gear at the field. In recent months, they’ve popped up in youth tournaments from Georgia to Las Vegas, sometimes in the back pockets of players as young as 6 or 7. McMillen can’t help but shake his head to see his product become part of the time-honored tradition of kids imitating their heroes.

Which is good for business and, oh by the way, probably unnecessary.

The pressure to keep up

Here’s the thing: In most — if not all — youth baseball leagues, headfirst slides that would require a player to stretch out their hand to secure the bag are illegal.

In Little League, for example, stealing bases for players 12 and under is rare because the player can take off only after the ball has reached the batter. And even if they do bolt for the next base, they have to slide feetfirst. The only times in Little League that a baserunner can dive headfirst toward a base is when they are returning to it while in a rundown or during a pickoff attempt, both of which are also rare.

That doesn’t stop the players from wanting a sliding mitt. It also doesn’t stop their parents from buying them, all part of the pressure to “keep up with the Jones” that has practically been a part of youth sports culture since the first time somebody came to practice with a batting glove or wristbands.

It’s a phenomenon Chelsea Cahill and her family has known for years. The longtime educator who lives just east of Columbus, Ohio, has spent most of the last decade shuttling her three boys from practice to games to tournaments.

What she and her husband have learned over the years is that some trends come and go, but the pressure to have the right stuff remains.

“There’s always that feeling of ‘This is the next new thing’ or ‘This is what you’ve got to get,’” Cahill said.

They appeased their sons up to a point, but only up to a point.

Last summer their youngest son Braxton, then 11, and the rest of the kids on his travel team kept pestering their parents to buy sliding mitts. Entering the final tournament, the team moms decided to give in.

Sort of.

Rather than plop down that kind of money for something they didn’t actually need, the moms headed to a local dollar store and bought them actual oven mitts — the kind used to pull tonight’s dinner from out of the oven. Average retail price? Less than a cup of coffee at the gas station.

Oh, and the kids loved them, and wore them during the game. Cahill posted video of them playing with the mitts stuck in their back pocket to her TikTok account. The video is now at 12 million views and counting.

“They thought it was hilarious, but we didn’t really think they would wear them for the rest of the tournament,” Cahill said. “We were wrong. They really embraced it!”

Among viewers of that TikTok, by the way, were the people at Goat’d, who sent Braxton a couple of mitts as a result.

The good news is, Cahill now won’t have to buy one for Braxton this spring. Yet there’s also something else she has learned through the years: This time in her boys’ lives is fleeting.

For proof, just look at her calendar. Her two older sons — the ones who played travel baseball just like Braxton, and asked for all the cool stuff their teammates had, just like Braxton has — gave up baseball by the time they got to high school.

Her advice to parents who might be feeling the financial pinch of what it takes to play these days: Relax.

“We’ve learned as parents is to stop taking it so seriously,” she said. “They’re kids. Let them have fun.”

The reality

A day after hundreds of members of the Monroeville Baseball and Softball Association marched through the Pittsburgh suburb’s well-appointed community park, the regular season is in full swing.

All four fields are alive with the chatter of coaches, parents and boys and girls aged anywhere from 5-12.

Over on Field 1, the Rays are in the middle of their season opener. Playing first base, Josiah Jones has his glove at the ready, with a black sliding mitt noticeably sticking out of his left back pocket.

Per the league rules, the Rays and the other players at the “Bronco” level (ages 11-12), play actual full-on baseball. They can take leads and steal bases whenever they like, though headfirst slides are only allowed when returning to a base, just like in Little League.

Longtime MBSA executive commissioner Josh Plassmeyer is milling about, trying to keep tabs on everything. Plassmeyer outlawed sliding mitts on his son Grant’s 10-and-under tournament team, calling them a “distraction” because players would spend so much time fiddling with them once they got to first base, they would miss signs from the third-base coach.

About 50 feet away, Jones settles into the box and rips a ball to left-center field. His long legs carry him past first base, and he cruises into second with an easy double.

As his teammates erupted in the dugout, Jones beamed for a brief moment. Then, as the opposing pitcher stepped onto the rubber, he took an aggressive lead off second and eyed third.

His back pocket, the one where his sliding mitt had been 30 minutes before, was empty.

Link

Rec Sports

A Trilogy Which Endures Through The Generations

Father’s Day is a time of warm reflection for me. It is a day I give thanks for my dad, Ernest Adornato Jr., and the precious gift he shared with me, as a very young boy. That gift, the love of sports, inspired and challenged me throughout my youth. Sports taught me how to compete, […]

Published

27 minutes ago

June 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Father’s Day is a time of warm reflection for me.

It is a day I give thanks for my dad, Ernest Adornato Jr., and the precious gift he shared with me, as a very young boy. That gift, the love of sports, inspired and challenged me throughout my youth. Sports taught me how to compete, on the field, in school and in life. And sports became a cherished way of life, as an important part of my career for more than four decades now.

Dad, who passed at the age of 90 on Aug. 9, 2022, was a first generation American born to Italian immigrants, Ernest and Mary Adornato.

Dad was known as Juidy (juh-dee) to friends and family, largely because his mother’s broken English twisted the word Junior into that pronunciation. As a young man, his handsome good looks made him a dead ringer for the King of Rock-n-Roll, Elvis Presley. He served his country in the United States Marine Corps and settled into a long career as a brewery worker.

Born and raised in Highlandtown, a blue-collar bastion of Baltimore City, dad was described as quiet, yet mischievous. As an athlete, he was a bit undersized but fiercely competitive. He played football and baseball in the sandlot leagues of East Baltimore, excelled at racketball and volleyball and played senior softball well into his 70’s. In the final two decades of his life he became an avid golfer, hitting as many as 500 balls per day all the way up to the final weeks of his life.

He instilled his love of sports in his two sons, coaching us on various baseball teams and encouraging our efforts in other sports as our No. 1 supporter. He rarely missed a game.

Prior to joining High School On SI in 2022, I operated my own high school sports web site in Maryland, which I sold to The Baltimore Banner. In introducing our site to the Banner’s audience, I penned the following words about the exact moment I fell in love with sports. My dad was front and center in the story.

I vividly remember the day.

Already an avid sports fan and aspiring young athlete, my love affair was cemented on one gorgeous afternoon in the summer of 1968. It was my first Orioles game.

The excitement built as we drove up 33rd Street and caught a glimpse of Memorial Stadium off in the distance. Not one to fight the traffic on the parking lot, much less pay the $4 fee for the right to park right next to the ballpark, my dad weaved his way through the adjacent neighborhoods until we found a spot on the street.

I was too excited to be concerned about the half mile (or so) jaunt. I practically floated as my anticipation built with every step. I was oblivious to the thousands of other fans filtering along the same sidewalks, but as we reached the stadium lot, the smell of ball park hot dogs, the color, the chirp of the vendors and the murmur of the crowd began to intoxicate me.

I hadn’t seen anything yet.

My dad stepped up to the window and purchased our seats and in we went. The lower concourse seemed massive. I tried to pull free from his grip and rush up one of the nearby tunnels into the stadium’s seating bowl, but my father held firm and said, “No. We go over here.”

Over here was the entrance to one of the stadium’s massive ramp towers which led to the upper deck. Anxious to see the field and the players, all I saw as we began our steep, zigzag ascent up the outside of the stadium was a wider view of the parking lot.

I was starting to become impatient but, about halfway up, it happened.

Through a narrow opening where the upper and lower decks separated, I gazed through a chain-link fence and got my first glimpse of the field. The vision was stunning.

Lush green grass framed the perfectly raked reddish-tan infield dirt. The bright orange popped from the white uniforms of the hometown Orioles and all of the other sights and sounds moved me unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

From that moment forward I was a sports junkie and, although I did not know at the time, my journey to becoming a sport journalist was underway.

Being a sports journalist was not my first goal. I wanted to be a professional athlete. Despite the fact that I lacked the physical talents to fulfill that dream, playing sports provided more joy than I could ever imagine. The teammates, the victories, the loses and the dreams, they remain with you always. I played nearly every organized sport, at one point or another, with baseball and football being my favorites. Along the way, I learned that I had an aptitude for wrestling, which allowed me to compete as a Division I athlete at Towson University. For more than two decades, I ran a national caliber men’s slow-pitch softball team and, like my father, have developed a love of golf.

As a sports journalist, I found the next best thing to getting paid to play the games.

I have had a front row seat to some of our country’s greatest athletes in their most formative years, as high school athletes. It has never been hard to spot the ones destined to turn professional. There is just something extra special that is abundantly clear when you see them play.

Most of those athletes, just like myself and many others who developed a love for sports, also owe a debt of gratitude to their dads. The bond between fathers and sons through sports is one of the most enduring and emotionally resonant relationships in many families.

Fathers often use sports as a way to teach life lessons — perseverance, teamwork, humility, resilience in defeat, and grace in victory. These moments become a way to communicate values that extend far beyond the field of competition.

For some, especially in families or cultures where emotional expression isn’t always verbal, sports become a love language of their own. A nod of approval after a big play, a high five in the stands, or even the silence shared following a tough loss can say more than words ever could.

On this day, I salute Ernest Adornato, Jr. and all dads who have shared their love of sports with their sons and daughters. It is a special gift each us can share.

Link

Rec Sports

Agustin Lizarraga ready for Battle of the Badges boxing debut

Lizarraga, who will be representing the CA Department of Corrections, has loved boxing his whole life but never competed as he dealt with his weight issues. SAN DIEGO — The 20th annual Battle of the Badges boxing event, featuring first responders and military members, will take place on June 14 aboard the USS Midway in […]

Published

47 minutes ago

June 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Lizarraga, who will be representing the CA Department of Corrections, has loved boxing his whole life but never competed as he dealt with his weight issues.

SAN DIEGO — The 20th annual Battle of the Badges boxing event, featuring first responders and military members, will take place on June 14 aboard the USS Midway in San Diego. The competition aims to raise funds for the Community Youth Athletic Center in San Diego while showcasing the athletic prowess of public servants.

One of the fighters is ready for his moment after all he has been through.

Among the competitors is Agustin Lizarraga, representing the California Department of Corrections in San Diego, who will be participating in his first-ever boxing match. Lizarraga’s journey to the ring is a testament to personal transformation and determination.

He has loved the sport and been doing some training for 15 to 16 years though.

He has always wanted to compete. But he said he never did, as he dealt with obesity. At 5 feet 7 inches, he weighed 285 pounds.

His doctor told him he needed to make changes.

“He started explaining I would have complications because I was pretty physical,” Lizarraga said. “My knees, especially, my diabetes, which I couldn’t control it because of what I would eat.“

His father went through complications with diabetes. His uncle died due to complications of diabetes.

He knew he had to make a change for the people he cared about the most. “I want to be here longer for my kids,” he said. “I mean, they’re getting older. They kind of look up to me. That’s kind of what got me to change.”

Lizarraga underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2022. It is a medical weight loss procedure aimed at relieving complications like diabetes. The surgery alters the digestive system to restrict food intake and reduce calorie absorption

The surgery helped him drop from 285 pounds to 155 pounds.

The recovery process wasn’t easy, but over time he was able to fully exercise and train hard at the sport he loves.

Now he is about to compete in his first boxing match ever.

“I want to be able to achieve something like this at least once in my life,” Lizarraga said. “Just knowing it is going to a good cause makes it even better.”

As he prepares to enter the ring, he wants to win and is ready for his moment.

“It’s been hard,” he said. “It’s not easy with work, family, exercise and trying to get in shape for this. It’s hard work. But don’t give up. Don’t give up. If you’re trying to accomplish something in life don’t give up.”

The Battle of the Badges will take place on June 14 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the USS Midway. Competitors will represent various agencies, including the National City Police Department, San Diego Fire Department, US Marines, US Navy Veterans, California Department of Corrections, Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Palm Springs Police Department, and Chula Vista Fire Department.

Link

Rec Sports

Two Firefighters Earn EMTB Certification – Peak of Ohio

The Huntsville Volunteer Fire Department is celebrating two of its own, after Firefighters Erik Weeks and Amy Stevens successfully completed their Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMTB) certification. Both Weeks and Stevens recently passed the state-required exams and are set to begin serving in their new roles once their certifications are officially processed. The milestone expands the […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Both Weeks and Stevens recently passed the state-required exams and are set to begin serving in their new roles once their certifications are officially processed.

The milestone expands the department’s emergency medical response capabilities and reflects the continued commitment of its team members.

Stevens will also volunteer her EMT skills with Wayne Township Fire & Rescue.

“We’re incredibly proud of Erik and Amy for their hard work and dedication,” the department shared. “This is a big step forward—not just for them, but for the entire community.”

Link

Rec Sports

Little League concludes regular season

The Oak Ridge Youth Association Little League baseball program’s regular season ended on May 31, and the playoffs concluded on June 11. The baseball league is for players ages 4 to 15. The league’s goal is to teach kids the fundamentals of baseball, develop their skills, and grow a true passion for the game. ORYA […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Oak Ridge Youth Association Little League baseball program’s regular season ended on May 31, and the playoffs concluded on June 11.

The baseball league is for players ages 4 to 15. The league’s goal is to teach kids the fundamentals of baseball, develop their skills, and grow a true passion for the game. ORYA offers spring and fall seasons, with games primarily played at Oak Ridge Town Park and Oak Ridge Elementary School. Depending on age level, each player will play eight to 10 regular season games and participate in a post-season league tournament.

The league has five age divisions: Shetland (ages 4 to 6), Pinto (ages 6 to 8), Mustang (ages 8 to 10, Broncos (ages 10-12) and Pony (ages 12 to 15).

Another goal of the ORYA Little League is to make the competition as even as possible, Director Michael Connelly said.

“You can see that in all the divisions. No one team completely dominates,” he said.

Connelly and others also made sure all the players in the league had great uniforms this season.

“We gave them Major League uniforms this season. They had Major League uniforms and hats. We found a vendor that would give us the Major League uniforms with their names on it,” Connelly said.

In the older divisions, the Oak Ridge All-Stars teams were selected, and District 2 All-Star play has already begun.

The ORYA has a number of sports for local youth. In addition to baseball, there is a football program a softball league, a soccer league, a cheerleading program, a basketball league for boys and girls and a boys’ and girls’ lacrosse league. Starting in 2022, ORYA also has had a rugby program. ORYA also has a rowing program as a partner with the North Carolina Rowing Club.

For more information about ORYA youth sports programs, visit their website at https://www.orya.org.

Link

Rec Sports

Former Rays player supports youth through new facility • St Pete Catalyst

Sean Rodriguez spent 13 years in Major League Baseball despite a difficult childhood. His new sports training facility in Largo will provide a refuge for local kids navigating similar circumstances. Rodriguez, a first-generation U.S. citizen, was a Tampa Bay Ray for six years and has long called St. Petersburg home. He founded R3 Athletics, a […]

Published

4 hours ago

June 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Sean Rodriguez spent 13 years in Major League Baseball despite a difficult childhood. His new sports training facility in Largo will provide a refuge for local kids navigating similar circumstances.

Rodriguez, a first-generation U.S. citizen, was a Tampa Bay Ray for six years and has long called St. Petersburg home. He founded R3 Athletics, a youth baseball league, and opened The Yard in April.

The Yard is a state-of-the-art, nonprofit training facility that equally emphasizes both athletic skills and character development. Rodriguez said it is a welcoming and fun place for the community to escape the ultra-competitiveness and negativity that now permeate youth sports.

“I was less fortunate as a kid – I didn’t necessarily have a lot of opportunities unless there were families, coaches or teams that were willing to just take me on and basically do it for free,” Rodriguez told the Catalyst. “So, that is the nonprofit side of what we’re trying to do.”

Rodriquez, known for his versatility, played every position but catcher during his career. One of his most memorable moments with the Rays came in May 2014 when his three-run, walk-off homer at Tropicana Field snapped a four-game losing streak.

Baseball is in his blood. His father, who now works at The Yard, has coached baseball professionally for over 40 years.

Sean Rodriguez played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2010 through 2014. St. Petersburg remained home, despite subsequent stops in Pittsburgh (twice), Atlanta, Philadelphia and his native Miami.

An American dream

Rodriguez’s parents had an arduous path to America. His mother was able to fly to Miami after winning Cuba’s immigration lottery. His father was a physician, and the Fidel Castro regime was reluctant to relinquish “anyone who had any kind of value.”

A guard held his grandfather and father, then about 9, at gunpoint when they attempted to flee the communist country via boat. Another guard questioned why they would “shoot one of our own” and let the two leave.

“They had a lot in Cuba; tons and tons of resources,” Rodriguez said. “They left all of that to come over here and start from scratch.”

He said his grandfather, who died in 2006, never regretted leaving everything he owned to start a new life in a “flawed” yet “amazing country.” Rodriguez was born and raised in Miami and moved to St. Petersburg in 2009 after the Anaheim Angels traded him to the Rays.

He and his wife bought a house in 2010 so his autistic son could remain closer to therapists. They decided to stay in St. Petersburg once his baseball career ended and purchased another home in 2020.

“We absolutely love it,” Rodriguez said. “It has been a blessing.”

Giving back

While his parents instilled Christian values, Rodriguez said he was “a little too self-driven” as a young adult. He then met his close friend and business partner, Ron Davis, when his son played recreational baseball in Pinellas Park.

Their relationship evolved, and Rodriguez continued meeting “great, like-minded people with the right intentions and a genuine passion to just pour into the community.”

The two launched R3, a traveling youth baseball organization that now boasts 14 area teams. They also found it challenging to share practice fields with other “very competitive” clubs.

Rodriquez said many coaches and parents “lose sight of what the purpose is behind putting these kids on a diamond.” While he was “out for blood” when he played competitively – “it was win or die” – pre-teens should be “having a blast.”

“The Yard was meant to be somewhere where anyone and everyone can go train,” Rodriguez said. “It doesn’t have to just be our R3 kids. It’s designed to be a place where we can bring people together.

“It’s just building each other up from within and trying to build better human beings.”

The Yard also offers a recovery and yoga room.

Rodriquez’s brother, who has also played and coached professionally, also works at The Yard. His wife shares administrative duties alongside the spouses of other coaches.

The facility is family-oriented with “enough professionalism and state-of-the-art equipment” to foster future champions. The Yard offers batting cages, private and group training, a recovery room with saunas, cold plunges and heat therapy, yoga, camps and strength, agility and endurance equipment.

Rodriguez said the overarching goal is to provide professional-grade services in a positive atmosphere. The facility at 11683 87th St. welcomes athletes of all ages and abilities. Aaron Sanchez, an MLB pitcher, recently trained at The Yard.

However, molding youth remains a focus, and Rodriguez plans to incorporate a “homeschool dynamic” with a classroom setting. The Yard provides scholarships for underserved kids in the community.

“My genuine hope is to find a way to make this a spot where people can come through and say, ‘Ok, if I book ahead of time, I’m good. I got a spot, and I don’t even need to pay,’” Rodriguez added. “And feel like it’s a viable product. A lot of people try to put something out, and sometimes it can feel either watered down or driven by the wrong purpose.”

Link

Rec Sports

Triathlon returns to Fairmont for 18th year | News, Sports, Jobs

FAIRMONT — Swimsuits are on. Bikes are off the bike racks. Shoes are tied. They’re ready to go. Youth and adult athletes from across southern and central Minnesota and northern Iowa will put their skills in swimming, cycling and running to the test at the sixth annual Marty’s Youth Triathlon and the 18th annual Fairmont […]

Published

5 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Amanda Forstrom has been on the Fairmont Triathlon committee for two years and assists with planning, along with seven other individuals. A Fairmont native, Forstrom prizes the Fairmont community, and additionally, as a physical therapist and athlete, holds the races close to her heart. Before joining the committee, Forstrom was a volunteer and a competitor herself.

“It’s nice to contribute to this good event here in Fairmont,” Forstrom said. “[Since] I’m a physical therapist, I appreciate events that promote good health.”

The weekend will be full of entertainment for spectators at Gomsrud Park, and excitement and intensity for competitors.

The adult races include a quarter-mile to-and-back swim at Budd or Hall Lake. Lifeguards will be present on kayaks for emergency assistance. In the 12-mile bike race, competitors will ride west out of Gomsrud Park onto Lair Road, north on County Road 39, west on County Road 22, south on County Road 37 and then return to Gomsrud Park. Finally, in the five-kilometer/3.1 mile sprint, competitors run east out of Gomsrud Park on Lair Road, turn south on a bike trail to Belle Vue Road, east to Prairie Avenue, north to Cardinal Street, through Johnson Street, west to Prairie Avenue, north to the Aquatic Park, and finally returning to Lair Road and the finish. The Olympic competitors will race the same route for a second lap before completion.

The Marty’s Youth Triathlon separates racers by age (from 5 to 15 years old) in distinguished classes. Forstrom stated that distance and length vary with age and the ability of the children. Ages 5 to 8 will compete in a 25-minute pool swim with flotation devices allowed, a mile bike ride and a quarter-mile run. Ages 9 to 11 will compete in a 25-minute pool swim with flotation devices allowed, a 1.8-mile bike and a half-mile run. Ages 12 to 15 will compete in a 50-minute pool swim, a 3.5-mile bike ride and a one-mile run.

“It’s really fun to watch,” Forstrom stated.

According to Fostrom, more than 200 people have registered including approximately 75 racers in Marty’s Youth Triathlon, 60 racers in the 5K Bacon Fun Run/Walk and 61 racers in the Fairmont Trathlon. Forstrom remarked that the events are very age diverse, with the youngest competitor 5 years old and the oldest in their 80s.

“It’s encouraging to see how many people signed up this year,” Formstrom remarked. “These are activities you can do for most of your life.”

Forstrom agreed that the event is very significant to Fairmont culture and builds a strong sense of community.

“It takes a lot of volunteers to help put on an event like this,” she said.

Marty’s Youth Triathlon kicks off at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, June 20, and the Fairmont Triathlon and 5K Bacon Fun Run/Walk 5K will begin at 8:30 and 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 21. Food and refreshments will be served for the racers following the events. Participating athletes are encouraged to make sure their gear is organized, their bike is functioning and that they drink plenty of water.

Registration is required to compete. The deadline to be guaranteed a t-shirt has passed, but it’s not too late to join the races. Registration and more information for athletes, volunteers and spectators can be completed by visiting the official website at www.fairmonttriathlon.org, the Fairmont Area Community Calendar or visiting Gomsrud Park (5K/Fairmont Triathlon) or Fairmont Aquatic Park (Marty’s Youth Triathlon) for same-day registration.