A trio of local athletes completed their events and did their best in the recent Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon, held Sunday, July 20 at Seward Park in Seattle.

Not bad, considering none of the triathletes in question are above the age of 10.

Arielle Fentress, 6, of Snoqualmie, and her older brothers, Alex, 7, and Andrew, 9, competed with other children from the Puget Sound area in the event. Arielle, who had turned 6 just one day prior to the event, was competing in her first triathlon; Alex was in his second and Andrew was in his third.

Both Arielle and Alex competed in the Splashers event, in which children swam 50 yards, biked one mile and ran two-tenths of a mile. Andrew competed in the Dashers event, which consisted of a 100 yard swim, a one mile bike ride and a four-tenths-of-a-mile run. This was Andrew’s first Dashers effort.

For her very first triathlon, Arielle did really well, said her mom, Aimee, who was instrumental in introducing her kids to this sport.

Aimee is a triathlete, and has been participating in triathlons for the last couple of years.

All three young triathletes will be attending Snoqualmie Elementary this fall; Aimee will be in the first grade, Alex in the second grade, and Andrew will be in the fourth grade. In his spare time, Andrew swims for a team in Issaquah.

The July event raised money to help in the research of autoimmune diseases, which include such ailments as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The Benaroya Research Institute, at Virginia Mason Medical Center, has been in operation for over 50 years, its mission to unlock the mysteries of the immune system. Research has focused on finding causes and cures for a host of diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.