FIT brings out the best in local athletes

On a picture-perfect day for a triathlon, local residents competing in the fifth annual Folsom International Triathlon on Sunday at Nimbus Flats, California State Park had beautiful results.Amity Hall of Folsom placed third out of all the females in the race, while boyfriend Marc Grabisch and his teammates combined to win the all-male relay event, nearly missing out on being the first relay team to finish overall.Folsom's Carol Aceituno achieved her goal of finishing the triathlon, while Jill Barry of El Dorado Hills was close to achieving her goal. The race went pretty much as El Dorado Hills resident David Kaufman expected.Hall, 34, had hoped for a top-three finish in her age group and did one better by being the third woman to cross the finish line overall. Hall finished the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer run in two hours and 16 minutes and 44 seconds."It was a good day for a triathlon and I was happy with how I did," Hall said. "My time was a little off of what I hoped it would be, but overall it was a good day. I felt pretty good in the swim, and the bike course was hilly which I like, but the run seemed a little endless."Grabisch, 34, teamed up with Tim Mason of Davis and Christian Morinico of Rosemont to win the all-male relay division. Grabisch had planned to complete the triathlon by himself, but a calf injury forced him to find some teammates last week to finish the race."We ended up doing pretty well," Grabisch said. "We won the all-male relay in 1:56. My swim time was 18:58, which I think was right up there with the top swimmers of the day."Aceituno's goal was simply to finish after failing in her first attempt last year. She completed the race in three hours and 30 minutes, which put a smile on her face."I knew when I got done with the swim that I was going to finish," Aceituno said. "About halfway through the bike I asked myself why I hadn't taken up knitting because I was tired, but I knew I was going to finish. It was a great day."The last time Barry, 35, competed in the Folsom International Triathlon in 2003, she finished 2:40.07 and her goal on Sunday was to beat that time. Unbelievably, Barry finished this year's race in 2:40.19, just 12 seconds slower than three years ago."My times were seconds away from each other," Barry said. "I tried so hard in the end to beat my time."Even though she just missed out on her goal, Barry still had a good time."It was a blast," Barry said. "It's fun to do a race in your backyard. My husband and my two-year-old son were there and our best friends and their kids. I also knew quite a few people who were racing too."Kaufman, 40, also had a good time competing, finishing in 2:47.54."It was a beautiful day and a well-organized event," Kaufman said. "I did well on the swim like I expected. I got smoked on the bike and then I had the run, which was tough. It was pretty much what I expected. It was nice to get back in the sport."Steve Sexton, 24, of Davis won the event for the second consecutive year with a time of 1:52.18, yet another athlete who accomplished his goal."I came to win," Sexton said. "My goal was to be the first one out of the water and keep the lead and that's what I did."Sexton took the lead between 50 and 100 yards into the swim and never looked back."The bike hurt a lot and I was worried how my legs would feel in the run, but I felt fresh," Sexton said.Bridget Potts of Saratoga was the first female finisher in 2:13.40.Other local finishers included Sean Perkins, Folsom, 2:06.10; Brian Leighton, EDH, 2:10.28; Greg Cook, Folsom, 2:11.02; Alex Smith, Folsom, 2:19.55; Kevin Clayton, Folsom, 2:20.24; Michael Hahn, Folsom; 2:21.04; Dean McLeod, Folsom, 2:21.04; Keith Omi, Folsom, 2:25.23; Bruce Dwelly, Folsom, 2:25.51; Michael Condon, Folsom, 2:28.09; Daniel Diamond, EDH, 2:29.17; Lee Stacy, EDH, 2:40.34; Daniel Rudd, EDH, 2:56.04; Tim Plaza, Folsom, 3:00.29; Mary Jo Cooper, EDH, 2:50.03; Kathryn Clayton, Folsom, 2:52.01; Colleen McCarthy, Folsom, 2:56.02; Sondra Westly, EDH, 3:13.28.9; Suzann Cohen, EDH, 2:59.39.