---

"Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing." -- Scholar G.M. Trevelyan

Ignorance is bliss when you're an 11-year old.

Three local 11-year-olds, Joe Virga, Joe Kimlinger, and Will Gillach, turned in an awe-inspiring performance at the third annual Chisago Lakes Triathlon on Sunday, July 27

The trio teamed up to run the sprint distance relay in 1:40:15, good enough to finish in 14th place out of 28 teams.

The three had their interest sparked in the triathlon by their elders, as both Virga and Kimlinger's fathers run some sort of the triathlon. All three boys had already run in the kids triathlon on the Saturday before the big race day, with the boys finishing one-two-three last year in the event. "The kids event was just really fun," Virga said.

The podium sweep by the trio prompted the elder Virga to reach out to the parents of the other two to suggest that they team up and tackle the sprint distance as a team.

The group was ecstatic about the opportunity.

"I thought it'd be really cool to see what we could do together," Gillach said.

"I thought it might be a little easier to run just one of the legs in the sprint than the whole kids event," Virga added.

It was a natural fit for the group, as each one felt their strongest leg of the race was different. Virga would be the catalyst, paddling in the quarter-mile swim, and he would pass the race off to Gillach, who would pedal his way through the 17-mile bike ride, and Kimlinger would be the closer, running the 3.1 mile distance to the finish line.

With the lineup set, the boys set out on their training.

"I'd just swim the distance that I was going to need to swim, and then I'd go a little farther," Virga said of his training. "And then I would just do short full-speed sprints to build up speed."

The pair alongside of him agreed. Kimlinger ran a race a week prior to the triathlon, and used that training to carry over to the Chisago Lakes event. Gillach biked in long intervals to build up his speed and endurance for the longest leg of the race.

The race began with Virga diving into the placid waters of Chisago Lake, and with the smooth motion of his 11-year-old arms, the Lindstrom native finished the quarter-mile swim in 10:08.

After passing the ankle timer to Gillach, who was perched atop his road bike awaiting Virga, Gillach strapped on his helmet and pedaled off for the 17-mile journey.

With sweat accumulating underneath the hard plastic atop his head, and his legs churning, Gillach crossed the finish line in 1:03:41, and passed the buck off for the last leg of their three-pronged attack on the triathlon.

Although spotting most of the competitors two feet in height and length, Gillach still managed to beat out seven other riders in the average miles per hour category.

Kimlinger bolted off on foot, passing numerous teams on his 3.1-mile trek. Kimlinger chugged across the final finish line in 24:34, good for 14th place overall. Kimlinger's torrid pace of 7:55 per mile was actually sixth best in the field of runners, and it gained the team two spots in the standings and held off the other runners from passing.

"We were so happy with our times," Kimlinger exclaimed. "We all three had good legs and it made for a good final time." And, according to all three boys, it was a toss up as to which event was harder. All three agreed that it was a near deadlock between running the kids triathlon at full speed, or running just one leg of the sprint distance.

All of the boys said they are planning on teaming up again next year, with an aim of shaving between five and 10 minutes off their time.

"We're just going to build up our stamina, and do extra laps throughout the year," Virga said of their "off-season" plans.

"We just need to push harder each time we train," Gillach added.

The boys aren't just running the triathlon for themselves either. All three said they were trying to get some of their friends and other kids to realize how fun it is to run in the triathlon. They all also have younger siblings that they are encouraging to participate in the triathlon.

Not only are they all triathletes, but they are active advocates of the triathlon, something that is rare to find in a group of 11-year olds.

When asked when they might be ready to take on the individual sprint distance, all three laughed and said it'd be a long time, maybe not until they are high school or college-aged.

But, the trio already proved once that they can do something special. High school and college-age seems far-fetched, for a group of guys with this much determination and positive attitudes, to wait to branch off on their own.

But, only time will tell if they decide to start breaking the mold again in their early teens, and go at the triathlon alone.

They might just be ignorant enough to try it.

---