9-Year-Old Girl Finishes 4th in Youth Triathlon

Sunday morning, a 9-year-old girl from Severn swam, biked and ran a mini-triathlon in just 30 minutes.

Yes, you read that correctly. A 9-year-old completed a triathlon and she did it in a half-hour.

Lauren Greenhill, who will be a fourth-grader this fall at finished fourth this weekend at the in Annapolis after swimming 100 yards, biking four miles and running a mile.

The young athlete took first place last year as an 8-year-old with a time of 33 minutes, but competed with 10-year-olds this year and took fourth despite increasing her previous time by three minutes.

A member of the Severna Park Stingrays swim team, Greenhill felt confident about the swim but said she trained for two weeks prior to both races by riding her bike around the neighborhood. She also said the run was the hardest part of the race.

“The run was uphill. I was really tired,” Greenhill said. “I just try to pace myself. I’ll jog and then when I’m in the home stretch I’ll really start to run.”

Greenhill didn’t label herself as competitive and said she enjoys the races because she gets to meet new people and because it’s a great way to stay healthy.

Keeping children active was a theme for Jenn Bistrack, the community health and aquatics coordinator for Annapolis Recreation and Parks.

“The decisions we make today become the instincts for our kids in the future,” Bistrack said during the award ceremony.

Despite finishing in a lower position than last year, Greenhill was very happy to lower her time by three minutes.

The 9-year-old said she hopes to go to college at the U.S. Naval Academy.