What started out as a women’s only triathlon has now been expanded to include the entire spectrum of the community.
Next September Barrhead’s Queen of Hearts Triathlon will be open not only to women, but men and youth too.
The idea of eventually including men and kids 16 and under is not a new one. Bauer said since the event began four years ago, the committee has been approached many times about expanding the triathlon outside of female-only participation.
“It was initially our intent to branch out into the Kids of Steel after we’d established ourselves for a few years,” said Queen of Hearts committee member Colleen Bauer. “It hadn’t been our initial intention to include men, however it’s been increasingly proposed as an option.”
The committee met in September after the triathlon for a post-race meeting, where they discussed the possibility. On Oct. 17 the decision was brought back to the table and, after carefully considering the pros and cons, put to a vote.
Though the vote resulted in favour of including men and youth, the decision was not unanimous. There were several reservations expressed by the group, including the issue of intimidation.
Bauer said members were worried including men would be a deterrent for some women to participate. Though men and women’s race times would not be compared in the event, just being in the same event as a man can be quite off-putting.
“If it’s your very first triathlon, if you’re not a competitor, if this is something you just want to try and see if you can do it, to be on the same course, in the same field as men, it can be very intimidating,” said Bauer.
However as the event has progressed over the years, Bauer said the committee has noticed a change. During the first and second year, many first-time triathlon participants took part as individual competitors, whereas the last two years local competitors have drifted more towards the group event.
“After trying a triathlon for the first time, what we’ve noticed is they’ve switched more to a team event,” said Bauer. We’re thinking perhaps if you’re doing it as a team, the intimidation factor isn’t the same because you’re working as a group and not as an individual.”
Including men might also encourage more volunteers to help out. Because a lot of the volunteers are women, Bauer said running the event gets difficult if a woman wants to compete in the event as well.
“The difficulty was that many of the men who wanted to help out with the triathlon wanted to also compete, and didn’t want to invest in the triathlon that they couldn’t take part in,” said Bauer. “So we kind of kept running into that same obstacle. We do need men on board.”
Bauer said the committee also wants to keep the triathlon a community event. In order to do this, it has to be open to as many members of the community as possible. Naturally, she said, this includes men and children.
The goal was to create an event that would be empowering. One that would encourage people to participate and challenge themselves on a personal and physical level.
“The idea was to get people motivated, and to get people going. We were targeting women,” said Bauer. “Now we’re saying, why can’t we target men as well and encourage them to get off the couch and get going too?”
The committee has received mixed feedback in regards to their decision to include men and youth. While some women have stated they would not take part if the event was open to men, others welcomed the change.
“Some said that they were actually looking forward to their significant other, whether it be sons or spouses, taking part in the event along with them,” said Bauer.
Although the triathlon won’t just be ladies next year, Bauer said the committee has decided to keep the name unchanged for now. With it being a trial year, she said they want to make sure it’s a success before they go ahead with a name change.
“We don’t know if we will change it. For now we’ll be going forward with the Barrhead Queen of Hearts Triathlon,” said Bauer. “We do still like the idea of the double meaning with the heart, being good for your heart as well as you’ve got to have heart and give it your all.”
There are many triathlons in Alberta throughout the summer months, many of them men and women. Bauer said although the Queen of Hearts Triathlon did have that uniqueness of only ladies, the committee wants the event to last and thrive.
“We all need to try new things,” said Bauer. “In view of expanding and making this an event that is sustainable in the long term, we are going to try this and see what happens.
