SALISBURY — Triathlete Greg Grosicki not only broke a 12-year-old course record at the Vermont Sun Triathlon contested in Salisbury and Leicester on Sunday, Aug. 13, but he also broke through one of those psychological barriers that make participating in and watching sports so much fun.
Grosicki, a 29-year-old from Charlestown, Mass., finished the sprint triathlon in 58:33 by posting the fastest splits of the day in each of the three disciples — a 600-yard swim, 14-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run.
“He was the first one to go under 59 minutes,” said race organizer Steve Hare. “Those guys have been going after that, and he’s the first one.”
Under mostly sunny skies, Grosicki, 29, cut 31 seconds off the previous record set in 2006 by Darby Thomas on the course, which starts in Lake Dunmore and continues on area roads and finishes up at Branbury State Park. More than 17,000 athletes have run this course since 1990. Another Massachusetts man, Richard Fineman of Cambridge, took second in 1:03:49. Peter Dodds of Burlington, 48, finished third in 1:04:30.
Meanwhile, Brandon’s Corey Robinson, who has been making his name known in the sport, raced to victory in the longer Lake Dunmore Triathlon, which was contested simultaneously.
Julia Schofield of Charlotte won the women’s sprint triathlon in 1:11:50. Dot Martin of Montpelier, 57, was second in 1:14:57.
Schofield was only in 12th place after the swim but, took the lead with the best women’s bike ride of the day (39:36) and followed that up with the best women’s run in (20:01).
In the men’s race, Jacob Hannah, 33, of Bristol was the best local finisher, taking 7th in 1:11:07.4. Sam Hodges, 17, of Cornwall claimed 9th in 1:12:57. Jeff Schumann, 61, of Salisbury won his age group and finished right behind Hodges in 10th overall at 1:13:00. Carl Lane Quakenbush, 71, of Salisbury won his age group and was 46th overall in 1:30:48.
Annie Rossier of Bristol finished in 1:25:24.6 to become the top local female finisher at 8th overall. Sandy Chicoine of Leicester finished 12th overall in 1:27:39 and claimed second in the women’s 45-49 division. Jennifer Hubert of Bristol was 8th and Middlebury’s Katherine Wagner took 16th in women’s 40-44, in 1:40:51 and 2:09:17, respectively. Bristol’s Andrea Halnon was third in women’s 60-64 in 1:49:49.
THE LONG RACE
In the Olympic-distance Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Robinson triumphed over defending champion David Connery of Shelburne, finishing in 2:12:39 to Connery’s 2:17:51.
Mike Bazylewicz of Burlington shattered the 0.9-mile swim course record by 1:07, but Robinson had the day’s best bike time of 1:07:58 on the 28-mile course, 1:12 better than Connery’s second best. And Robinson out-ran Connery on the 6.2-mile run by 3:32, with the second-best time (39:13).
Robinson’s father, Doug, finished second to Middlebury’s Steve Hare in the 60-64 age group. Robinson placed 34th overall in 2:56:26. Hare was 6th overall in 2:28:57. Doug Robinson and Hare were the two oldest men to finish the longer Olympic Triathlon.
Lindsey Rooskelly, 35, of Falmouth, Maine, won the women’s race in 2:29:05, with Philadelphia’s Susan Horstman-Miller (2:32:48) in second.
The two Triathlons were supported by many local businesses including the Addison Independent, National Bank of Middlebury, Frog Hollow Bikes, Middlebury Inn, J. P. Carrara & Sons, Graph-X, and Drop-In Brewing.
One of the race’s beneficiaries, Middlebury Union Middle School’s cross-county team, provided support on the run course.
The team will also be on hand to support the Vermont Sun Half-Marathon at Branbury on Sunday, Sept.24. Ten- and 5-kilometers races will also be held at 10 a.m.
Complete triathlon results and details on the half-marathon are available at vermontsun.com.
   CHARLOTTE’S JULIA SCHOFIELD posted the best time on the 14-mile biking portion of the Aug. 13 Vermont Sun Triathlon and went on to win the women’s division of the race.