Sydney Platsman, 8, makes her way down a
simulated rock wall on a wooden pyramid at the
Mini Pole Pedal Paddle on Sunday. Platsman, a
second-grader, competed in the second- and
third-grade category at the event at the Les
Schwab Amphitheater in Bend.
Photo by: Anthony Dimaano, The Bulletin
Bend Bulletin: May 22. 2006
Rainy weather didn't dampen the spirits of hundreds of pint-sized competitors who turned out to compete in the Mini Pole Pedal Paddle event Sunday afternoon.
Despite a nearly two-hour delay, nearly 1,100 kids - almost twice as many as last year - showed up to raft, bike and run an obstacle course that was expanded for this year's competition.
Still winded from her stint on the course, 9-year-old Obsidian Walterman lamented dropping a wristband she needed to hand off before the next member of her team could run the course.
The Three Rivers Elementary School third-grader dropped the band as she tried to scale a gridded rope wall, new to the course this year. Fortunately she realized her mistake right away so she didn't have to run back and get it.
"At first I was really scared, but then I saw everybody else do it and I got more confident," Obsidian said. "Climbing the rope was really hard, that's why I dropped the wristband."
Walterman's teammate, 8-year-old Abby Barber, came up with their team name - the Quick Chicks. Five of the six girls on the team were returning to compete for a second year, said Abby, who is in the third grade at Tumalo Elementary School.
And they hoped to do as well as last year when they won their age group.
The annual Mini Pole Pedal Paddle is a fundraiser for the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation.
This year 183 six-member teams, ranging in age from kindergarten to fifth grade, ponied up the 90 bucks to participate in the event.
Each team started out together rafting down the Deschutes River with a guide. After jumping out at a point near the Les Schwab Amphitheater, five teammates waited while the sixth hopped on a bike with the team wristband and rode a course around the amphitheater.
After a wristband handoff, four team members ran a nine stage obstacle course in succession. The course included hurdles, a pyramid with hand and footholds for climbing, a maze and a pen filled with inflated plastic balls to impede runners as they tried to make their way through.
After the four completed the course the last team member took off running, making a loop that circled the competition area.
Because of the rain delay, many racers showed up well before their heats actually started.
Mikayla Cant, 11, and her five teammates on the Rapid Rolling Racers passed the time by cheering on younger competitors.
"I was kinda disappointed because I thought we'd come and get to go right away," Mikayla, a fifth-grader at Buckingham Elementary School, said. "So I'm just trying to keep pumped up and stuff by cheering."
The Average Joes - a team of five boys and one girl competing in the fourth- and fifth-grade category - spent their morning talking strategy, said James Bachman, whose son was on the team.
"They talked about who should be where in the boat and how to exchange the wristband," Bachman said. "They decided they're going to climb to the top of the pyramid and jump instead of climbing down the back side."
Bachman's 10-year-old son Kade is in fourth grade at Trinity Lutheran School and said he decided on the team name after watching the movie "Dodgeball."
"That was the name of the winning team in the movie," Kade said.
Kade's teammate, Nick Umbarger, 10, seemed to think the group would follow in their namesakes' footsteps. When the Trinity Lutheran fourth-grader was asked which part of the competition he was most excited about, his response was unflinching.
"I'm looking most forward to winning," Nick said.