Games Were Crawling With Competitors

If Olympic medals were given for the most comical ways to get across a finish line, all competitors in the third annual Baby Games would have won gold.

Delightful chaos was the order of the day at the Westminster Mall weekend event, where one “race” was delayed when all the competitors sat down for a group cry.

And in another event, an apparent victory was thwarted when one baby, nearing the finish line, turned around and crawled in the opposite direction.

The games “were really, really funny,” said Marizda Kenworthy whose 13-month-old son Jason captured second place in the Baby Walk, where tykes 12 to 18 months old try to push small shopping carts down a 30-foot mat.

“My son was so excited, clapping and doing everything like he knew what was going on,” Kenworthy said.

In another event, the Baby Crawl, babies 6 to 12 months old made their way toward a parent waiting on the other side of the mat.

And in the final event, the Baby Hoop Shoot, youngsters from 12 to 18 months old tried to be the first to walk down the mat and place a foam ball in a small basketball hoop. (This year’s winner clocked a time of 47 seconds.)

The event was founded in 1993 by Stephanie Greene, the mall’s marketing director.

“The mall has a very large base of families that shop here loyally,” she said. “I thought this would be a great summertime event for those families.”

This year’s Baby Games took on an Olympic theme, with music and some Olympic-themed prizes.

With more than 100 participants and nearly 500 spectators, this year’s games were the mall’s most successful yet, Greene said.

“Typically we average 80 or 90 kids and their parents, and the odd person who stops to watch,” she said. “This time the whole upstairs level was packed.”