Camp Kinser hosts 6th annual open triathlon

Photo By Lance Cpl. Kris Daberkoe | Service members and members of the Okinawan community begin the 5-kilometer run during the 6th Annual Camp Kinser Open Triathlon July 17. More than 230 people participated in the triathlon, which was sponsored by The Marine Corps Community Services Semper Fit program.  

CAMP KINSER, OKINAWA, JAPAN

07.22.2011

Story by Lance Cpl. Kris Daberkoe 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP KINSER, Japan - More than 230 service members and members of the Okinawan community participated in the 6th Annual Camp Kinser Open Triathlon on Camp Kinser July 17.

The participants persevered though a 5-kilometer run, a 15-kilometer bicycle ride and a 400-meter swim during the most popular triathlon to be sponsored by Marine Corps Community Services Semper Fit, according to said Michael Boughton, an assistant athletic director with MCCS Semper Fit.

“The purpose of this triathlon is to encourage people to be physically active,” said Boughton. “The Kinser triathlon tends to have the most participants because Camp Kinser is a family base and is close to Naha.”

During the triathlon, everyone raced side-by-side to the finish, said Boughton.

For some triathlon participants, the drive to participate in such a feat of endurance comes from the adrenaline rush of pushing one’s body to its limits.

“There is a moment where your heart is accelerated and your breath is steady and you experience a heightened sense of things,” said Sophia Galich, a race spectator and information technology contractor with Marine Corps Base Camp Butler.

In the final stretch of the triathlon, Koichiro Ikeda, a race participant, swam past two other competitors to take first place.

“I was nervous about how I was going to perform in this race because northern Japan is a lot colder than Okinawa,” said Ikeda, a Hokkaido, Japan, native. “I’m very happy to have won.”

• Date Taken: 07.22.2011
• Date Posted: 07.21.2011 20:53
• Story ID: 74108
• Location: CAMP KINSER, OKINAWA, JP