Bagas kids embrace triathlon as part of healthy lifestyle

Athena and Aidan Bagas, together with mom Dianne, are a picture of a happiness after finishing the Alaska IronKids. Photo by Randolph Leongson

SUBIC – In a competition where the older kids are expected to dominate, the young ones still manage to steal the show.

And this year’s edition of Alaska IronKids was no different, with four-year-old Athena Bagas capturing the hearts of the spectators on Saturday at Remy Field here as she finished two laps in the run course for Team Borlain-Bagas in the Relay Short category.

Though she logged nine minutes and 50 seconds to complete her part, Bagas’ mother Dianne couldn’t be any prouder.

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“It’s the same feeling I had last year which is happiness,” she said, as she was flanked by Athena and her seven-year-old son Aiden.

Dianne, an ultra-marathoner herself from Malate, Manila, had encouraged her kids live with a healthy lifestyle especially with their family’s medical history, and she’s happy that they embraced triathlon with love and enthusiams.

“Both sides of our family have a history of diabetes and cancer,” she said.

The Bagas siblings have taken on swimming as one of their hobbies, while the rest of the family frequently go on nightly bike rides along Manila Bay and join fun runs.

But Dianne reiterated that her kids not out for the glory of the competition, but rather the goal of keeping her children healthy as they grow older.

“We’re doing this not for competition but for recreation. But our purpose here is to raise our children in healthy ways,” she said.