By Sara Ballenger

Children and their families celebrated “Healthy Kids Day,” Saturday, at the El Camino YMCA. Kids could participate in a variety of activities ranging from face painting to coloring in their own Red Cross Earthquake Safety coloring book.

“It’s a national YMCA event day, different Ys do different things,” said Lesley Scutero, a YMCA employee. “We do it every year, mixing some fun in with some health information. Kids get an idea of what it means to be healthy,” she said.

One of the main events of “Healthy Kids Day,” was the third annual Junior Triathalon. Kids 8-14 were scheduled to compete in swimming, biking and running. However, due to rain, this year’s event was limited to running and swimming.

“It was a real disappointment that we had to cancel the bike, but safety is first,” said Mary Posey, the organizer of this year’s race.

There are two course options in which the children competed, depending on their skill level or inclination. The long course consisted of swimming 400 yards and running three-quarters of a mile. The short course consisted of swimming 200 yards and running a half mile.

“I think it’s a neat thing for the kids, a positive,” said Linda Rogers of Sunnyvale, whose children competed in the event. “It was very fun and very lively, and all the kids crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces.”

After finishing the race, the competitors were presented with a certificate, T-shirt, and a YMCA swim cap to commemorate their participation.

“I thought it was a lot better than last year,” said 8-year-old Eric Posey, who competed in the long course. “My legs are tired, but I still think I accomplished something,” he said.

Competition was only part of the celebrations. The Mountain View Police Department offered fingerprinting for children.

“We are very supportive of these type of events. We like to get involved in any way we can,” said James Bennett, community relations officer for the department.

Fingerprinting was done by the Police Explorers, a group of young adults who volunteer with the MVPD to give back to their communities, Bennett said.

Community service was yet another highlight of the event, as the majority of people staffing the tables were volunteers. At the “Healthy Snack” table, volunteers from the Los Altos High School Youth Advisory Council were serving up peanut butter, celery, fruit and raisins.

“I am having so much fun with all of these kids,” said Annie Van Thillo, a Youth Advisory Council volunteer. “You hear the kids talking and they are actually getting something out of this, which is exciting,” she said.

“I just thought really we were going to be looking at stuff, not making stuff,” said 7-year-old Danielle Horowitz of Mountain View, as she made “slime” on the “Rock-It Science” bus with her family. “It feels mostly like rubber,” she said, as she squeezed her homemade slime through her hands. “It’s fun.”

The Horowitz family plans to be back next year.

For more information about the El Camino branch of the YMCA, call 969-9622.