Long Island fitness competition has race for kids as young as 8

Hybrid fitness competitions are spreading like wildfire right now, hooking everyone from hardcore marathoners to singles looking for love.John Collins, co-founder of Long Island City fitness center The Trinity, noticed kids at his gym paying close attention to adult members training for the Trinity Games, a Hyrox-style competition the gym hosts.“When we see the kids working out in the gym [in the kids class], they’re very keen to do what they see the adults doing,” Collins told The Post.Inspired by a race in Dublin where kids and parents completed the same exercises, he and co-founder Seamus Keane created a free junior edition of the event for kids ages 8 to 13.“It’s all about inspiring the next generation,” Collins said.“We want kids to see exercise as something fun, something exciting, something social.”The race is intended to give all kids the confidence boost that comes with crossing a finish line and hearing crowds cheering for them, with Collins noting that for some “it could be their first ever fitness event.”There was also the goal of getting kids moving, especially important as only 20% to 28% of American children and teens get the recommended daily amount of physical activity.‘We want to give them opportunities to get outside, move their bodies, be more active and create positive memories associated with exercise,” Collins added.The inaugural event saw kids show up to the waterfront at Culture Lab LIC on a chilly Saturday afternoon following the second annual adults’ competition.Modeled after the grueling Hyrox workout that’s gone global, teams of two took on burpees, lunges, wall balls, SkiErg, row machines and a farmer’s carry interspersed by short runs.While the adults completed 800-meter runs in between exercises, the kids’ event wasn’t timed, excluded weights and halved the running distance at 400 meters.They also ditched the assault bike, as many of the younger competitors couldn’t even reach the pedals.After wat...