The Pat Griskus Sprint Triathlon

In July 1987, Ironman triathlete Walt Tajmajer and others organized a local sprint race, which was then held at Bantam Lake. There were approximately 250 triathletes, and Honorary Chairman was Pat Griskus. Pat was a nationally recognized runner and triathlete who competed using an artificial leg. He had lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident at age 19, but he ultimately accomplished his goals of running road races, marathon, ultra-marathons, and triathlons, all over the U.S. and Canada, setting world records for amputees. He completed the prestigious Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (140.6 miles total) in October 1985 and 1986. He was the first amputee to do the Ironman, and at that time, the only one to have accomplished this twice. In October 1987, he was in Hawaii training for Ironman, when he was struck and killed by a truck. The sprint triathlon was renamed in memory of Pat Griskus. Now in its 21st year, there are over 500 triathletes, and many volunteers and sponsors involved. The race has earned a fine reputation as a quality event and has raised over $180,000 for charity. See original here .

Dom Gillen grew up in a neighboring town. If I recall correctly, the Griskus was the first triathlon he raced in and the first he won. Dom and Tyler Johnson, who is his cousin, went up to this race conducted in Quassy Amusement Park, Middlebury CT. The competition was fierce, with Chris Thomas, from Easton CT, who is another registered pro triathlete with a full time job, there to test the cousins. And our friends Wolfgang Emerling and Ian Ray. There was even a special guest appearance by our old pro team manager, Tom Schuler (hey Tom! you should have called!). A bunch of TARGETRAINING clients went, including Mike Driscoll.

The official results are here. Looks as if Dom and Tyler were able to come in first and second, but Tyler had to run fast to make up ground. We are hoping Dom will be able to put together a brief race report with more action in it.

The Republican American Milford's Mark Jaffee wrote a cool article on it as well. Here. MIDDLEBURY — While the predicted thunderstorms never showed up at Quassy Amusement Park on Wednesday evening, thousands of spectators and nearly 500 competitors certainly were present.Including Domenic Gillen.The Milford resident captured his third BMW of Watertown Pat Griskus Sprint Tri- athlon championship at Quassy Amusement Park.Under ideal water temperature of 78 degrees and air temperatures in the 90s, the former UConn swimmer and ex-New Preston resident completed the half-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run in 56 minutes, 37 seconds. He beat out his cousin, Tyler Johnson of Chester (58:15), by not quite two minutes.“If the race was a little longer, Tyler would have caught me,” said Gillen, 30. “He made up a lot of ground.”Johnson, 28, a former distance runner at Auburn University, wasn’t so sure that he could have outrun his relative.“Maybe, but I don’t know about that today,” said Johnson. “I don’t think Domenic is giving himself enough credit. It was a real good race.”MIDDLEBURY — While the predicted thunderstorms never showed up at Quassy Amusement Park on Wednesday evening, thousands of spectators and nearly 500 competitors certainly were present.Including Domenic Gillen.The Milford resident captured his third BMW of Watertown Pat Griskus Sprint Tri- athlon championship at Quassy Amusement Park.Under ideal water temperature of 78 degrees and air temperatures in the 90s, the former UConn swimmer and ex-New Preston resident completed the half-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run in 56 minutes, 37 seconds. He beat out his cousin, Tyler Johnson of Chester (58:15), by not quite two minutes.“If the race was a little longer, Tyler would have caught me,” said Gillen, 30. “He made up a lot of ground.”Johnson, 28, a former distance runner at Auburn University, wasn’t so sure that he could have outrun his relative.“Maybe, but I don’t know about that today,” said Johnson. “I don’t think Domenic is giving himself enough credit. It was a real good race.”