Link to bigger image: http://i49.tinypic.com/qqu254.jpg

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/keyword/kevin-grogan

Interesting stuff.  12 years of multisport has gone by fast!

The 5th Annual Tri-Cooter saw it’s largest field ever, but that wasn’t enough to take the Overall Win from the “CooterMan” himself. Kevin Grogan, who led the race to a 54:00 finish, a new course record.  Click on the race logo to see all the RESULTS from this exciting event!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/orl-sportsltriathlon30093009sep30,0,151940.story?track=rss-topicgallery

CLERMONT — Kevin Grogan didn’t win the 25th annual Florida Challenge Triathlon at Clermont Waterfront Park Sunday. That, in itself, is an oddity. Grogan has had quite a dominating triathlon season, sweeping all three Clermont races in the Central Florida Triathlon Series during the summer.

He followed that up with the championship in the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon in September.

But on Sunday all Grogan, 36, could manage was a second-place finish.

The race, a half-Ironman distance with a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bicycle and 13.1-mile run, was a little out of Grogan’s league. A business owner and a family man, Grogan is unable to put in the adequate amount of training time to be in peak form for a race that distance.

“Two-thirds of the way through the bike, I was saying to myself, this isn’t a sprint,” Grogan said. “I went out hard the first 20 miles and was with [fourth-place finisher] Ed Donner before I backed off a little. You can’t go out like this in a distance race.”

Still, it was quite a respectable showing for Grogan, who finished in 4 hours, 46 minutes, 6 seconds, which was about 20 minutes behind the man who won the race: Clermont’s Zach Ruble, 27, 9 years youger than Grogan and sometimes his training partner. Ruble finished in 4:26:49, just before the first of several rain storms moved through Clermont during Sunday afternoon.

Grogan was a big supporter of Ruble’s during the race.

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Grogan said. “He lives the dream. He is incredible. Last year at Ironman Florida, he ran a sub 3-hour marathon. There are not a lot of guys who can run like that after getting off of the bike after riding 112 miles. He is just phenomenal.”

Heather Butcher, 37, of North Port was the winner of the women’s race Sunday, finishing in a time of 5:24:10, coming in just about 12 minutes ahead of second-place Erin Troy, 27, of Maitland (5:36:13). Troy was closely followed by Jan Burger, 44, of Valrico (5:38:25).

For Ruble, the race on Sunday was all part of his training for this year’s Florida Ironman race which will be held in Panama City on Nov. 7.

Ruble didn’t back off on his training to compete in the Florida Challenge — which is nicknamed “The Intimidator” because of the challenging course. He treated the race just like another day of training — and he had a good workout.

“This is one of the hardest half-Ironman’s I have ever done with the heat, the humidity and the hills,” Ruble said.

Said Grogan: “I think we hit every hill there is to hit in Clermont. And then we had to deal with the wind in our face [during the bicycle] from about mile 40. It was really difficult.”

Ruble came out of the swim in Lake Minneola in second place, but put the rest of the field well behind him during the first 40 miles of the bicycle leg. He was never really threatened after that.

Ruble said his object wasn’t necessarily to win the race, but he wanted to see where he was in his training for Ironman Florida six weeks later. After finishing the race, Ruble was happy with how his body had responded to the race.

Ruble, who moved to Clermont from Monroeville, Ind., for his triathlon training, has competed in four half-Ironman distance triathlons and two full Ironman distance triathlons this season. His best finish was a second place at The Rockman half-Ironman in Illinois.

Although he finished second, Grogan was not disappointed with his performance, or with his season, which still includes two races.

“For sure, I have been able to put together some good races this season,” Grogan said. “The first race in the [Central Florida Triathlon] series in June, where I beat [Bill] Picciano and [Nic] Tautiva, really gave me a lot of confidence. Really in that race, four of the five guys I had to beat had beaten me in the past.

“That race still gives me a lot of confidence.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1252714.html 

Sarona Snuka, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Superfly Snuka, makes her pro wrestling debut on Saturday, Sept. 26 at a WXW show which starts 7:30 p.m. at the Minneola Recreation Center in Clermont, Fla.

Former (South Florida) Parkland-Douglas High School cross-country and track standout Kevin Grogan will referee her match. Grogan, a former Miami Herald All-Broward High School first team selection, is active on the road racing and triathlon circuit. He is a 1996 graduate of Florida State University with a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Florida. Visit wxwwrestling.com.

Clermont is a Tri Mecca for athletes  

Triathletes like the training and the lifestyle here

ROXANNE BROWN

http://www.dailycommercial.com/localnews/story/092509triathletes

CLERMONT — The triathlon geeks have voted, and Clermont is near the front of the pack of best places to live for triathletes. The city was ranked eighth in the October issue of Triathlete Magazine.

“We didn’t use a scientific formula to put together this list,” read an editor’s note preceding the Top 20 list. “We didn’t worry whether or not certain areas of the country were adequately represented. We just put a few of the world’s biggest tri geeks in a conference room and asked ourselves one question: If you were moving, and triathlon training was the main criteria dictating your decision, where should you go?”

According to the magazine, Clermont — chosen as number eight under the subcategory of Best Facilities — was credited with building a reputation as one of the country’s true tri meccas.

“With quiet roads, rolling terrain and year-round training, Clermont has plenty of upsides,” said the magazine, citing athletes such as Jarrod Shoemaker, Lisa Bentley, Sara Haskins and Nina Craft as fans of the area.

Kevin Grogan, a local triathlete, can add his own testimonial. He moved to Clermont with his wife Kimberly to train for an elite development team.

“That was six years ago and we just never left,” Grogan said. “Just about everything a pretty serious triathlete wants, Clermont has. It’s just the lifestyle here and so many positives — the hills, great weather, the National Training Center pool, the many lakes …”

Grogan also said that between the NTC — which the magazine article dubbed “Disneyland for triathletes” — and Sommer Sports — a company that for 26 years has brought races to the area — there is a race for every distance during the year and just about one race every weekend in the summer.

In addition, Dr. Mike Ray, who heads the NTC’s Sports Medicine Institute, is credited for having the vision to bring triathlon related human performance training/testing to the Clermont area.

Grogan said Clermont is also very central to other Florida cities that hold races during the year.

“We’d love for other triathletes to learn about Clermont, visit and maybe even move here,” Grogan said.

Fred Sommer, owner/president of Sommer Sports, said he was glad to see Clermont on the list since there is no other single venue in the world that holds as many races in a year as Clermont.

Grogan said for the triathletes who live here, that means not having to travel if they don’t want to, and still getting in the specific distance and type race they are looking for.

Sommer also said the article served to get Clermont in the minds of athletes who have never trained or raced here.

Former Olympian Dr. Dot Richardson, the NTC’s director and medical director, said she believes that the NTC is a testament to how South Lake Hospital, of which the NTC is a part, is committed to health and wellness within the community.

Richardson said she is aware of many prominent athletes who train at the center.

The only warnings the article mentioned were the rains Clermont is notorious for and the nearly 100 percent humidity in the summer.

For South Lake Chamber President Ray San Fratello, the article is like gold.

“Anytime you get an article in a national publication, it’s gold and we’ve got to jump on it,” San Fratello said. “What’s neat about it from our standpoint, too, is that if you look at the Top 10, we are the number one east of the Mississippi River and out of all the different places, Clermont’s been named to have the best facilities.”

San Fratello said articles such as this help in the areas of marketing and economic development.

“So it’s not only folks in Lake County recognizing one of our strengths. It needs to be nurtured as a great place to live, raise a family and hopefully build on the sports niche of ours in South Lake,” he said.

Clermont’s Kevin Grogan, fresh off of winning Clermont’s Central Florida Triathlon Series championship, continued his solid summer of competing Saturday by winning the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon sprint race in a time of 57 minutes, 23 seconds.Grogan finished ahead of second–place finishing John Bess of New Smyna Beach (59:15) and third-place Ed Donner of Melbourne (59:22).

The women’s race was won by Hellen Libby of Lynn Haven in 1:05:27 with Tampa’s Lisa Whidden (1:06:01) and Melbourne’s Pamela Maxwell (1:08:15).

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/fitness_exercise_health/2009/09/kevin-grogan-wins-at-ouc-downtown-orlando-tri.html

http://www.racesmith.com/results/2009results/OUCDOT091209oa.html

Orlando Sentinel  - August 15, 2009 

Husband and wife, Kevin and Kimberly Grogan of Minneola, were each winners in the season finale race in the Central Florida Triathlon Series Saturday morning at Clermont’s Waterfront Park. Kevin Grogan, 36, won the men’s race in a time of 45 minutes, 11 seconds for the course that included a .25-mile swim, an 8-mile bicycle and a 3.1-mile run.
His victory completed a sweep of all three races in the summer series, giving him the series title with 3,000 points. Kimberly, 30, won the women’s race in 49:43, finishing ahead of Clermont’s Rose Stasiowski (51:22). Stasiowski, though, who had won the series’ first two races, took the women’s series title with 2,997 points.

Article

Heavy rains persisted for most of the races. And the hundreds of competitors hitting the streets around Lake Logan didn’t seem to mind.

Teddy Park, 32, who finished third in the men’s sprint triathlon, welcomed the rain. “It’s been raining a lot in Asheville recently,” said Park, who lives in West Asheville. “So I’m used to riding in the rain.”

He completed the event about seven minutes behind the winner, Kevin Grogan, 36, of Minneola Shores, Fla., who crossed the finish line at 1:01:55.