St. Anthony’s Triathlon journal: Sarasota man helps people with … – Tampabay.com

ST. PETERSBURG Greg Simony finished the sprint division of the St. Anthony's Triathlon in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 38 seconds Sunday, but throughout the race he was "attached."

In each of the swimming, biking and running phases, Simony was either pulling or pushing a participant from the Sarasota area with cerebral palsy.

In the 750-meter swim, Simony pulled along Kelly Marsh in a specifically designed raft. In the 20-kilometer bike ride, Simony pulled Nadia McKinnon in an oversized stroller hooked to his bike. And on the 10K run, he pushed Jeff Park in the same stroller that easily transitioned in the transition area.

For Simony, 38, this was nothing new. Since 2010, he has helped dozens of people with disabilities experience races through the organization he founded, Care2Tri ( care2tri.org).

"I wanted to do something that challenged me and that was bigger than me," Simony said. "In this case, when you take the focus off yourself, you end up helping others."

Simony plans to push and pull many others through more races, but he also hopes to host a race featuring only entrants with disabilities or runners attached to people with disabilities. "It's in the works," he said.

Wind whips up waves

The wind kicked up in the morning and made the water off Spa Beach choppier than normal, which led race officials to shorten the swim portion of the Olympic-distance race from 1.5 kilometers to 900 meters. It was a decision that women's winner Lauren Goss, of Boulder, Colo., said she understood: "I was a little bummed that we didn't do the full swim, but I do think it was the right decision to shorten the swim. It was pretty tough with the distance we did swim."

Forty-plus and fast

The sprint division (750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 10K run) featured a tight race among the top athletes, the top five of whom were between 40 and 44 years old. The winner was Jeffrey Zickus, 44, of Atlanta (1 hour, 5 minutes, 43 seconds), followed by Miami's Bernardo Perez, 42; Clermont's Anthony Aseere, 41; Port Charlotte's Todd Carpenter, 44; and Melbourne's Julio Castillo, 43. In the women's division, the top two finishers were also in their 40s. Celia Dubey, 45, of Tarpon Springs, won in 1:11:29 (11th overall), and Ivonne Pedrero, 44, of Miami was second in 1:11:48 (12th overall).

Medical report

Four participants were hospitalized, two for cardiac issues and two for orthopedic injuries, triathlon spokeswoman Beth Hardy said. Three were taken to St. Anthony's Hospital and one to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. The number of hospitalized is in line with past races, Hardy said. Usually between two and 10 participants are hospitalized.

Times staff writer Kathryn Varn contributed to this report.

St. Anthony's Triathlon journal: Sarasota man helps people with cerebral palsy experience race 04/30/17 [Last modified: Sunday, April 30, 2017 8:13pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

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