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Friday, March 29, 2024

Local triathlon for kids to raise money for children’s charity

On Saturday morning, about 100 kids will be sprinting around Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The All Kidz Studxent Organization is partnering with All Kidz Inc., a Gainesville-based charity, to host the eighth-annual Kids4Kids Triathlon. Children between ages of 4 and 18 can participate in the race, where they will begin at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center pool, bike around campus and finish with laps around the stadium. Registration is $50 per child.

The triathlon, which begins at 8 a.m., is raising money for All Kidz Inc., a nonprofit children’s charity, said Dr. Tana Carson, 31, the vice president of All Kidz Inc. and adviser for the All Kidz Student Organization. It’s the first time the triathlon is being held at UF, Carson said.

The race is the first big event for All Kidz Student Organization at the UF, a spinoff of All Kidz Inc. The organization’s mission is to raise funds for charity and provide meaningful activities for children with special needs, Carson said.

“It’s so cool to see these kids with different abilities conquer this course,” she said. “Kids are helping other kids through their participation.”

The organization took over the event after Kids4Kids Florida, the charity that hosted it for the past seven years, relocated.

Last year, the triathlon brought in more than 100 participants, said Kyle Platek, the president of All Kidz Inc.

“It’s a very unique event in that it’s inclusive, so it allows kids with special needs to be able to participate along kids who don’t any type of disability,” the 29-year-old said.

This year they’re hoping for 300 participants, he said. So far, 101 people have signed up.

The distance of the triathlon course varies by age group. Disabled children will have their own customized course. Volunteers of the student organization will help children along the course, which is estimated to take about two hours to complete.

“There’s a lot of newness to it,” Platek said. “But it’s an event that’s familiar to the community.”

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