Connor Dunnigan said he honestly didn't know what to expect from his first triathlon.

The 13-year-old from Ellicott City competes on the Phelps Luck swim team, bikes casually with his friends and has done his share of running, but had never before done all three together.

"I thought it would be something fun to try because I like all three things," Connor said of his decision to sign up for the first Tri Columbia Kidz Triathlon July 27. "At first I was just trying to finish and make sure I didn't fall, but once I got going, I thought I could do pretty well."

Sprinting to the finish line, Connor not only did well, but actually ended up winning his age group with a time of 26 minutes, 8 seconds on the course that meandered its way through the Clemens Crossing neighborhood in Columbia. Check Rec Sports for complete results.

In all, there were 105 participants, a field made up of boys and girls ranging in age from 7 to 14, for an event that race director Rob Vigorito said went off extremely smooth.

"It's been great and we knew it would be," Vigorito said while taking a break from cheering on the kids as they crossed the finish line. "We have a good history, with 25 years of the Columbia (Triathlon) and a couple years with the Iron Girl, so it's not like we're just starting out of the box. We decided to limit it to 100 kids this first year, keep it manageable, and it's worked well."

The vast majority of the field had no prior triathlon experience before the race, although a TRI USA triathlon Camp held by Judi Carbary and Liz Flynn earlier in the summer helped combat that. The 50 or so children that participated in the camp learned about pacing themselves, how to get in and out of the transition area and the basics about what goes into a triathlon.

"The biggest thing with this kind of event is safety and I think the camp really helped with that," Carbary said. "We took it one step at a time so that they knew exactly what they needed to do and it was nice that we were able to prepare them on the same race course."

The course, which was set at different lengths for the different age groups, started in the Clemens Crossing pool. The kids swam 50, 100 or 200 yards depending on their age group (7-10, 11-12 or 13-14), then biked two or four miles and finished with either a half or full mile run.

While Dunnigan was the first male to finish, 14-year-old Rachel Quinn, from Sandy Spring, was the first female to cross the line. Also competing in her first triathlon, Rachel finished with a time of 29:48 and had the fastest time of anyone, male or female, in the 200-yard swim portion (2:48).

"My dad does triathlons and I had actually wanted to do one for awhile," Rachel said. "I do swim team during the summer, and I run while playing other sports, but I actually hadn't owned a bike since I was 10, so that was a little different. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun. I'm hoping to work my way up and do Iron Girl next summer."

The race brought out a lot of families that had multiple participants. Connor's younger brother, Nolan, and younger sister, Bridget, each completed the course as well. Ryan, Jack and Sarah Farrall, siblings Connor, Emma, Clara and Maggie Wagh, along with Kaitlyn, Alex and Chris Sims were also among those families with three children participating.

With the success of this year's event, Vigorito says that he fully expects the size of the field for next summer to double.

"We are seeing in Howard County, Columbia in particular, a very active, vibrant community, and that's why you've seen such a great response to the Iron Girl and now to this," he said. "We've been gradually trying to introduce the concept of triathlon into all ages and with that people are realizing that you don't have to throw a football, dunk a basketball, pitch a baseball or kick a soccer ball to excel in athletics and be active."

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