Television
In the news - Nov. 8, 2013
|
|
Radio
Newspaper
Siesta Key triathletes find Olympic inspiration
By ERICA NEWPORT Correspondent
At daybreak on Saturday, 600 triathletes lined the white sand beach at Siesta Key Beach, armed with tinted goggles and timing bands.
Crowds of onlookers staked out shadowy spots and tipped up water bottles as the 4th annual Siesta Olympic and Sprint Triathlon started at 7 a.m.
The temperature was 75 degrees. As the first athletes neared the finish less than two hours later, it was a steamy 85 degrees.
“Just getting out to the beach, with sun and packed sand, was brutal,” said Ryan Post, 23, one of the divisional winners of the race. “It's really inspiring to be doing this at the same time of the Olympics. You just got to kick it down when it gets tough.”
One athlete raced for two. Greg Simony, 33, has pushed, pulled and carried disabled children with him on triathlons and marathons over the years for his nonprofit organization, Care2Tri.
Simony ran 3.1 miles, swam nearly a mile and biked 24.8 miles with Seth Morano, 11, a child with cerebral palsy, in tow.
As the two crossed over the finish line, Seth held his medal snug and shouted, “Soon I'll be like Michael Phelps!”
As they finished, Simony stopped running, dropped to his knees, winded, and peered into the buggy. Seth was grinning ear-to-ear.
They both beamed as Simony caught his breath.
“This race symbolizes the human life,” Simony said. “You can always quit when it gets hard, but we just keep going.”
With three different courses, the athletes trekked north from Siesta Beach to Turtle Beach and back.
Simony said for him and Seth, safety spotters included, the cycling was the toughest trek. The buggy Seth rode in dragged in the wind.
Seth admitted he got a little scared as he sat in the bright yellow kayak, balancing himself against the current, knowing Simony's head was in the water, focused on the swim, pulling him along.
“I was very nervous on the water,” Seth said. “But my dad said to scream and just do a war cry. The waters started out really rough, then got really calm. My favorite part was getting the medal.”
Participants ranged from 10 to 79, and were from all corners of Florida and the United States.
At daybreak on Saturday, 600 triathletes lined the white sand beach at Siesta Key Beach, armed with tinted goggles and timing bands.
Crowds of onlookers staked out shadowy spots and tipped up water bottles as the 4th annual Siesta Olympic and Sprint Triathlon started at 7 a.m.
The temperature was 75 degrees. As the first athletes neared the finish less than two hours later, it was a steamy 85 degrees.
“Just getting out to the beach, with sun and packed sand, was brutal,” said Ryan Post, 23, one of the divisional winners of the race. “It's really inspiring to be doing this at the same time of the Olympics. You just got to kick it down when it gets tough.”
One athlete raced for two. Greg Simony, 33, has pushed, pulled and carried disabled children with him on triathlons and marathons over the years for his nonprofit organization, Care2Tri.
Simony ran 3.1 miles, swam nearly a mile and biked 24.8 miles with Seth Morano, 11, a child with cerebral palsy, in tow.
As the two crossed over the finish line, Seth held his medal snug and shouted, “Soon I'll be like Michael Phelps!”
As they finished, Simony stopped running, dropped to his knees, winded, and peered into the buggy. Seth was grinning ear-to-ear.
They both beamed as Simony caught his breath.
“This race symbolizes the human life,” Simony said. “You can always quit when it gets hard, but we just keep going.”
With three different courses, the athletes trekked north from Siesta Beach to Turtle Beach and back.
Simony said for him and Seth, safety spotters included, the cycling was the toughest trek. The buggy Seth rode in dragged in the wind.
Seth admitted he got a little scared as he sat in the bright yellow kayak, balancing himself against the current, knowing Simony's head was in the water, focused on the swim, pulling him along.
“I was very nervous on the water,” Seth said. “But my dad said to scream and just do a war cry. The waters started out really rough, then got really calm. My favorite part was getting the medal.”
Participants ranged from 10 to 79, and were from all corners of Florida and the United States.
Magazine
|
|
