‘Race-aholic’ never stops competing Not even getting hit by a dump truck can keep Clermont triathlete Kevin Grogan down long.
By Joe Williams | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 3, 2005
CLERMONT – Kevin Grogan was going for a triathlon trifecta last fall when tragedy nearly struck.
Clermont’s Grogan, 31, was in the midst of competing in a string of three iron-distance triathlons within a four-week span when he was hit by a dump truck during a training ride in southern Lake County.
A broken collarbone and a fractured ankle ended his attempt to compete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii, the Great Floridian Triathlon in Clermont and Ironman Florida in Panama City in succession. The accident occurred just a few days before the Ironman Florida race, the third and final leg of his attempt to pull off his own version of a triple play – something that fellow triathlete Joe Bonness of Naples has accomplished in the past.
It may have ended his attempt to pull off the triathlon threesome last year, but his enthusiasm for the sport has not been tempered.
Grogan will be among the field of about 500 triathletes expected to compete Sunday in the first race of the Central Florida Triathlon Series, which begins at 7:30 a.m. at Clermont’s Waterfront Park.
The race, a sprint-distance race that includes a .25-mile swim, 11-mile bicycle ride and a 3-mile run, is the first in a four-part series that also will include events on July 10, Aug. 14 and Sept. 11. There also will be a 5K (3.1-mile) road race at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning and a kids triathlon at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Grogan plans to attempt to complete in three iron-distance races in a row again this year, though he has altered his schedule slightly.
He again will do the Great Floridian and Ironman Florida, but in place of going to Hawaii, he instead will do an iron-distance race in Las Vegas (the Silverman triathlon).
Grogan may be one of the busiest triathletes in the state – if not the nation.
“Kevin Grogan is a race-aholic,” said Fred Sommer, president of CFT/Sommer Sports, the company that produces the sprint series. “He races just about every weekend.”
Already this season, he has competed in Ironman Arizona and, just last week, he did two races, the Lake Louisa Sprint Triathlon Series race in Clermont on Thursday and a triathlon in Ormond Beach over the weekend.
“I probably do at least one race a week,” Grogan said. “A lot of my buddies kid me about it, but I enjoy going to races, seeing a lot of familiar faces.”
Said wife Kimberly: “He is even trying to do races in the middle of the week now.”
But Grogan is not alone in his love of triathlons.
Also competing in the race will be Kimberly, 26, who has returned to triathlon competition after giving birth to the couple’s first child, Gavin, on Feb. 18.
Actually, Kimberly competed in the Tri-America Clermont Sprint Triathlon in early April, just five weeks after Gavin was born. She finished third overall among the female competitors.
Though Kevin, a physical education teacher at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Clermont, is probably best at iron-distance triathlons – races that include a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle and 26.2-mile run – he competes in any race, at any distance.
While Kevin lives for the competition, Kimberly said she enjoys the training.
“I like to spread mine out more,” Kimberly said about her racing schedule. “I like training more than I like racing.”
Kevin started competing in triathlons in 1999. Kimberly began doing races in 2001.
The couple moved from Birmingham, Ala., to Clermont, which has earned the unofficial title as the World’s Triathlon Destination.
“In Birmingham, there were not too many races, which was one reason why we left Birmingham,” Kimberly said. “Another reason was I started doing some triathlons and got on the Olympic Development team that was here .”
While the Grogans will be in the field, the favorite in the race will be Bill Picciano, a sprint-distance specialist, who has won the series championship in the past.
But, the field is not expected to be as big as it has been for the first race in the series. Sommer said smaller fields for races are a problem that triathlons around the country are facing. Though there may be more triathletes than ever, there also are more triathlons than ever competing for the athletes.
“There are two new sprint series starting up in Miami, a new sprint series in the Tampa market, plus there are races just about every weekend somewhere,” Sommer said. “And, people just don’t travel for sprint races like they do for international-distance and iron-distance races. If there is one closer to home, that is the one they will do.”
That is one reason why the Grogans are doing the series in Clermont – because their home is actually right along the race course.
“I want to support the local races,” Kevin said. "Fred does a professional job with his races. They do super events. Plus a lot of people will show up there. All my friends will be there.
“I like doing the longer races, but there is nothing like going out to these races on a Sunday morning and seeing the camaraderie. And there is nothing like competing.”