Weekend Phila.Triathletes Include Disabled US Marines Racing for Charity

[thedrifter]

Weekend Phila.Triathletes Include Disabled US Marines Racing for Charity

by KYW's Steve Tawa

A retired US Marine corporal who lost a leg in Afghanistan was competing Saturday in the Philadelphia mini-triathlon, in Fairmount Park.

Dan Lasko, 25, of Bethlehem, Pa., lost his left leg below the knee while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan in 2004. The vehicle in which he was riding struck two improvised explosive devices.

"I spent a year and a half in the hospitals in Washington, DC. Since then I joined Team Semper Fi, composed of injured Marines and sailors."

Team Semper Fi's 25 members raise awareness -- and funds -- for injured service people:

"They provide adaptive equipment for cars and houses, and money to families to fly down and be with their loved ones while recovering in hospitals."

Lasko says he gets "awesome feedback" from folks watching him swim, bike, and run:

"What motivates me most is thinking about other people in the hospital."

If you'd like to learn more or make a donation, go to teamsemperfi.org.

Following Saturday's shorter event involving about 1,500 participants, another 2,500 professional athletes and age-groupers compete Sunday in the highly regarded Olympic-distance race.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Sat, Jun. 21, 2008


Triathlete defies any limits, gives back to military fund
A combat injury doesn't stop this Afghanistan war veteran.

By Matt Gelb

Inquirer Staff Writer
One day, Dan Lasko jokes, he'll write a book on this.

"If anyone asks you where you were on Sept. 11, I'll always remember where I was," Lasko said.

He laughs again. Lasko, then four months removed from graduation at Easton Area High School, was in Harrisburg to be sworn into the Marines. Purely coincidence.

"After I was done swearing in, I came out to watch TV and get something to eat and head off," Lasko said. "And that's when the attacks happened."

In March 2004, he was deployed to Afghanistan with the 22d Marine Expedition Unit.

A month later, he was on an airplane from Kandahar to Germany for an operation to amputate his left knee, which was mangled from an IED explosion. Next was Bethesda, Md., for six months of therapy and, finally, Walter Reed Army Medical Center for another six months.

Two weeks ago, Lasko, 25, completed his fastest time in the triathlon sprint at Point Mugu, Calif.: 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Today, the Bethlehem resident will compete in the fourth annual Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon. More than 4,000 athletes could enter the two-day event, which concludes tomorrow with the Olympic race that serves as the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship and has a $13,500 purse.

Lisa Rainsberger, the coach for Team Semper Fi, the only traveling service sports team, calls Lasko the best athlete on the 30-member squad. She has paralympic hopes for him.

"He is an athlete," Rainsberger said. "You just look at him. . . . He's got a great work ethic. He's got a great attitude. He's a team leader. He's a physical specimen. He's the real deal."

The triathlon, besides the swimming part, came naturally to Lasko.

"I was athletic, but I was trying to find something to do to give back to the fund because they helped me out when I was in the hospital," Lasko said.

Lasko lost his left leg on April 24, 2004. He was on a routine training mission, an interrogation of Kandahar locals on the whereabouts of Taliban members. Lasko's convoy drove into a cave. One way in. One way out.

The Taliban saw the vehicles go in and planted the explosives.

"I took the brunt of the force," Lasko said.

A member of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, a nonprofit organization, visited Lasko when he was at Walter Reed. There were unpaid bills - the cell phone, clothing allowances - that Lasko couldn't pay. The next day, the woman from the fund showed up with a check.

He trained twice a day, every day while at Walter Reed. "I would be pretty much the only person to do that," he said.

Now he competes in 10 events a year. He's a criminal justice major at Northampton Community College and married to his high school sweetheart, Jess.

He's not sure about taking his involvement in the sport to the next level because of those responsibilities. For now, the most rewarding part is racing for other injured Marines.

"To show that no matter what disability you have coming back from war," Lasko said, "there's always something to look forward to."

Ellie