Triathlon Competitors will include 13-year-old Costa Rican
Competitors during the bike portion of Sunday's Valley of the Sun Triathlon just might find themselves being summarily passed by a 13-year-old boy - and they won't need to be embarrassed by it.

The young man, Diego Barahona de Bell, is one of the top junior triathletes in Central America.

A native of Costa Rica - the son of an American-born mother, Sheila Bell, and a Costa Rican father, Freddy Barahona —-Diego lives in iberia, Guanacaste, which also happens the hometown of Central America's top adult triathlete, Leonardo Chacon.

Both Diego and his sister, 9-year-old Catalina, were originally coached in swimming by Chacon's sister and are now regular competitors in age-group triathlons.

For Diego, races typically consist of a 400-meter swim, a 14-kilometer bike ride and a 3K run.

On Sunday, Diego will be cycling for a family relay team that also includes two aunts, Edlyn Pursell of Houston (the team's swimmer) and Teresa Bell of Tacoma (the runner). Diego and his mom are in Washington to visit her sister Teresa.

"This race, I'm going to look at it mostly as training for future races," Diego said in a telephone interview on Friday. "But I'll try to do my best, also."

He's training for what will be his third Central America and Caribbean Triathlon Championships. His first time didn't turn out well; he fell during his strongest stage, the bicycle, and broke his arm. The next time? He finished fourth — but wasn't quite satisfied.

"I believe I could have done better," he said.