"I had a fantastic time at the Lost Loon Triathlon. It had all the fun of competitive events and none of the stress, making it one of my all-time favorites. Plus, you don’t even have to get wet for the water event! Afterwards, while eating way too much food at the potluck feast, I met some great folks from the greater Nashville area. My 14-year-old son is looking forward to participating next year, solely on my enthusiastic description. What better recommendation is that?"

- Kell Black, Clarksville, TN

"I had a fantastic time at the Lost Loon Triathlon! If there is such a thing as a 'laid-back' triathlon, this is it! The event was well organized, family-friendly and a lot of fun. My favorite part was crossing the imaginary finish line and squeezing the loon stuffed animal that was hidden in a tree. The event also supports a great cause -- the Harpeth River Watershed Association. I would highly recommend this race to anyone who enjoys the great outdoors!

- Sharmila Murthy, Nashville

"It was really fun. I got to do the bike ride. I mostly ate pizza and some bread and cake. The biking was pretty hard but not too hard. It was in nature. There are a lot of other kids out there. It is fun because you get to try lots of different things. I've canoed before with my dad in Michigan. And I've run in a race before. Here is what I would tell other kids: It is really fun!"

- Savannah Groos, age 8, Nashville

"It's a great event for the whole family. As standard urban dweller, we don’t often get a chance to do the outdoor thing. It’s a rare opportunity to get out into nature and it's a good workout, even for those of us who aspire to be weekend athletes. You can get through it without being too sore afterwards. It can be competitive, particularly for those who want it to be competitive. It breaks out by ages; it's hard for us to compete with the 20-and-under crowd, who seem to be at the front every year. I am always exhausted when I am done. One year, I think it was the first year, I was not a little bit upset after we held our own on the bike and the canoe. Carrington, my wife, and I decided to walk the trail portion and came in dead last. That is more humiliation that I had bargained for! We like taking our kids-age 1, 2 and 3-to the Lost loon. There are enough other families and friends milling about to look after our kids wise we are competing. It's great for families."

- David A. Fox, Nashville

"The Lost Loon is a lot of fun. The canoeing was hard because of the wind but the biking and running or walking was extremely fun. It is not very competitive but mostly about family fun. Well, except for the people up front; you could see them on the bike loops and some of them were pretty into it. I did it with my dad. You don't really have to be experienced in canoeing or biking or running/walking. They also give out a canoe paddle, but not to the winners. I liked that because it meant that the slower teams all had a better chance of getting something at the awards ceremony. I would highly recommend the cake and the pizza. I also had some of the homemade cookies and a power bar. I will definitely do it again next year. Why? Because it is a lot of fun. I appreciated the race t-shirt but mine was too big. I use mine to sleep in. One more thing: I enjoyed squeezing the little loon when we finished the race. It squeaks."

- Max Barry, age 12, Nashville

"My family has participated in the Lost Loon every year since it started. It's fun for the whole family (kids age 6, 8 and 10) to bike, run and canoe together. Willy puts on a heck of an event every year rain or shine. See you next year!"

- Tim Niarhos, Nashville

"It’s fun and you get to experience things that you probably have never done before. This could be canoeing, or hiking in nature. That's cool. You get a lot of exercise. It's not just for athletes. You can walk, as opposed to running. You can only do part of the course if you are tired, like not doing all three loops on the bike. The Gatorade was good--also the pizza. My advice to other kids thinking about doing the Lost Loon: Just do it! You can bend the rules and just do the parts you want to do!"

- Rosario Falzone, age 11, Nashville

"It's good exercise and it's really fun to do. It was really fun to go on the water in the canoes with my mom and daddy. I ran but I didn't bike. My dad bikes. It's out in nature. There are a lot of people and they can help you. It's not scary. You can go at your own pace. There are a lot of kids and a lot of grown-ups. The food is great. I liked the pizza and the bread that my mom makes. My favorite part was the awards because we ran when we weren't supposed to which was kind of weird. So they gave us an award which was a canoe paddle with rhinestones on it."

- Ry Dukes, age 7, Nashville

"I came in from New York. It's definitely worth coming in from out of town for the race if you want to spend the time and the money to have a really fun time. Once you do it once, you will want to come back. I was surprised at how loosely organized the event was.

The Lost Loon is great fun and you don’t have to be a great athlete to do it. The rules are pretty flexible. If you stop half way and turn around, nobody cares at all. It’s okay if you want to want to walk or to go slowly. The age range is from about 2 to 80; I saw a mom pushing her toddler in a stroller on the course.

The trophy ceremony at the end of the race is interesting. Last year's winner picks the award for this year, but nobody knows what it will be until the end of the race. It could go to the muddiest team. They call it out and everybody laughs and claps. The real winners—if you can call them that—they don’t seem to care either. Nobody much follows the rules. There is tons and tons and tons of pizza--way too much. And it’s good pizza too. There is also a pretty decent fire to huddle around if it’s cold."

- Tom Rosenblatt, age 14, Edgemont, New York

"The Lost Loon is a bicycle-canoe-trail run triathlon fundraiser for the Harpeth River Watershed. It's not certified or timed - totally & completely for fun. I did the cycling portion -- 9-mile ride, 3x over a 3-mile loop through the park roads & parking lots. The highlight was a killer downhill to a hairpin turn around and back up the steep hill from a virtual standstill because unless you are a trick rider you couldn't hit the turn too hard because it's a hairpin - you'd wipe out.

The canoe portion was a challenge -- the skies had cleared, and the sun had warmed things up a bit, but canoeing in 20+ mph winds is a challenge. There were whitecaps on little old Couchville Lake! In case you don't know anything about canoeing & wind -- you really can't afford to let your canoe get sideways to the wind. If the wind is fairly strong, you've got to actually head directly into it or have it directly at your back. There's no cutting across the wind in a canoe. if the buoys for which you are aiming aren't placed precisely with the wind, or if the wind, say, changes -- you are up the proverbial creek. [haha]

Mix together a couple dozen canoers with varying levels of expertise and high levels of excitement, copious rocky shoreline, and forceful waves -- you've got a recipe for disaster. But, there was no disaster. Just a bunch of canoes going literally every which away and a bunch of people paddling madly, pushing off from rocks & shorelines, using paddles to pole through sand, laughing, yelling, and getting very wet. Not a single canoe dumped, and that just goes to show you. Not sure what it goes to show you, but it must go to show you something.

The last leg is a 4 mile run in the woods - that part was up to my running buddy, and she did it fast, of course, because she is speedy.

That's it. There are no chips & clocks, the course is not certified. There is free pizza & cake, and a sort of potluck of powerbars, gatorade, and the best homemade oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve ever had.

- Rebecca Burgoyne, Nashville
(excerpted from the Nashville Striders website)

"It's a lot of fun to do. For the past few years I have been on a 10 and 11 year old team. You can do it at any age you want and it just is a lot of fun. Kids are just as important as grownups and it is just all fun!! Also the food is great. Anything from homemade bread to Papa John's Pizza. It's a great feling when you are done!"

 - Zack Stern, age 11, Nashville

It was fun and cool and awesome and stuff. But I am only 10 so what do I know. Seriously, it was really fun to bike 9 miles.

- Dylan Groos, age 10, Nashville

My race partner and I were both new to the Loon and we had a blast in spite of the threatening weather and the winds of biblical proportion on little Couchville Lake. To be sent off into the elements by emcee and race director Willy's good natured, zany personality and to be greeted upon finishing with enough free pizza and oatmeal cookies to feed multitudes made for a great day. It was a free race, but having such a good time and with such a worthy organization as the beneficiary (Harpeth River Watershed Association), I reached for my checkbook and I will be back in '08.

- John Hilley, Nashville

So we came in third. No hard feelings, but next year I want to see some random drug tests.

- Luke Froeb, La Jolla, CA

The Lost Loon is one of my favorite events of the spring! Our family has only missed one since it began, and this was the first year for our 3 year old daughter to join the competition. She was so proud of the half mile loop she did on her "big girl bike" with training wheels. And her 10 year old big brother wowed us all with his competitive spirit that kicked in after saying he was only going to do 1 loop on the bike on the drive out to the event. He ended up doing 2 loops (6 miles) on the bike, the full canoe portion with Dad and little sis around the lake, and the full 4 miles on the trail run/walk!!!

A beautiful outdoor location, a family friendly event, and you get a little exercise, too. All while supporting the extremely worthy Harpeth River Watershed Association. It all makes for a fabulous, fun-filled, healthy day!!!

- Mary Entrekin Agee, Nashville Race perfect!!!! With one exception: need a new loon...

- Betsy Stern, Edgemont, New YorkWe had a great time! It was our first Lost Loon and we're already plotting an improved strategy for next year's event. Since we were the first to show this year, we were branded as "Team #1" - a curse! Next year we might arrive first again, but we're going to hang back and get a number with less pressure attached. Thanks for a great event!

- Gayle & Joyce, Team BornToPaddle.com, NashvilleIt was a great experience. My 5 year old participated with me on the bike and the canoe and he loved it. Awesome family atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

- Denny Marshall, Rossville