Weinert proves skeptics wrong
East grad overcomes knee injury, wins division at Florida triathlon
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter
finish line of the Great Floridian Triathlon XVII on Oct. 20 in Clearmont, Fla., he felt a total sense of accomplishment.

Williamsville East graduate Josh Weinert overcame a serious knee injury to win the Clydesdale division of the Great Floridian Triathlon XVII held Oct. 20 in Clearmont, Fla.

The former Williamsville resident had not only completed a triathlon for the first time, placing 31st out of 265 competitors and winning the Clydesdale division (200 pounds or over), he overcame a severe left knee injury to do it.

"Doctors said I shouldn't play any more sports but I sort of refused to believe them," said Weinert, a 1993 Williamsville East graduate who now resides in Boynton Beach, Fla., part of Palm Beach County. "I started competing in triathlons against doctor's wishes. My ultimate goal was to complete an ironman (Great Floridian is a private ironman competition)."

"It's amazing," said Josh's mother, Dianne, the Sweet Home girls gymnastics coach. "I'm always excited for him."

Love of soccer

Competing in triathlons was not the first sport Josh Weinert loved.

As a center midfielder, he led Williamsville East's varsity boys soccer team in scoring and was named to the All-Western New York team in his junior and senior year.

Weinert was so good he earned a full scholarship to play soccer at Division I Florida International University, which at the time was a prominent school for the sport. He started at midfield and was named the team's most improved player during his sophomore year. It was after his sophomore season that his soccer career came crumbling down.

The injury

Josh Weinert's playing days didn't end because of a soccer related injury.

It happened in a pickup basketball game with some friends.

As he tried to studder-step on the court, his left knee went down but his left leg stayed stable. The result was a hyperextension of the leg and a complete tear of his left medial collateral, anterior cruciate, and lateral collateral ligaments, three of the four stabilizing ligaments in the knee. He also suffered a chondral lesion (femur and tibia bones smashed all cartilage in his knee).

"He's a left-footed kicker so he lost all of his power of his left leg," said Dianne Weinert.

After major reconstructive surgery, Josh Weinert tried to play the next three years at Florida International but every time, he needed another surgery on his left knee and had to retire.

'Sports are part

of my blood'

When doctors told Josh Weinert he could never play a sport again, he didn't want to believe them.

"Sports are part of my blood," said Weinert, a district manager of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, a Miami company that sells drugs for cholesterol and blood pressure.

So he started to compete in small triathlon competitions, winning his division every time. In fact, Dianne competed with Josh in his first triathlon, a sprint triathlon (quarter-mile swim, 10-mile bike and 5-kilometer run) about four years ago.

Josh Weinert then started doing half triathlon competitions (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run) and was successful in those, winning his division twice in Miami and placing second once in Orlando.

But it wasn't enough.

"In my head, I was doing only half of an ironman," he said. "I needed to do a full ironman."

So he trained every day for the next nine months, either running and swimming on one day and biking and swimming on the other days.

When it came time for the Great Floridian, he was ready.

Great Floridian

Josh Weinert began his first full ironman competition at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 20. It would be almost 11.5 hours later that he would finish his quest.

He began with a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Minneola, completing it in 1 hour, five minutes and 21 seconds. Next was a 112-mile bike course consisting of two 56-mile loops along rural country roads. The Great Floridian Web site said the bike course has "no major elevation changes, but several short, steep hills in the first 40 miles."

He completed the bike course in 5 hours 41 minutes and 21 seconds. The last part of the race was a 26.2-mile marathon, starting with a five-mile loop with rolling hills, followed by three laps around Lake Minneola, the Web site said. He crossed the finish line in 4:31.02.

"The run was probably the hardest out of the three races because I had a horrible cramp in my leg for the last 10 miles," said Weinert, 32.

In total, he finished the three events in 11 hours, 25 minutes and 38.6 seconds.

"I was hoping to finish under 12 hours so I was pleased," said Weinert.

Weinert said he kept himself mentally focused for each race and didn't worry about each race until he finished the one he was participating in.

Weinert has advice for those who don't think they can compete in a triathlon.

"You can really do anything you put your mind to," said Weinert. "A lot of people said I couldn't do it. I feel anyone can do it if you really want to."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com