Montauk Lifeguard Will Run Triathlon In Friend's Memory

Racing spots in Sunday’s 18th annual Montauk Point Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon and Relay may be completely full, but if you’re not competing, there are still plenty of reasons to cheer.

Kira Garry just finished her sophomore year at Yale University, where she runs both track and cross country. A long-time summer resident, Garry lifeguards at Kirk Park Beach and has run in the triathlon five times already. 

This time, Garry’s race will be different. She’s running in the memory of her friend Brian Hom, an Oyster Bay resident who died during their senior year in a tragic car accident in 2011. Hom, 18, was a track star at Friends Academy and co-captain of the high school team. 

Garry isn’t running alone — this year she’s being joined by a team of her high school classmates: Kyle and Kirsten Grady, Kayli Kemperle, Jess Granger, Jon DeFrancesch and Anthony Russo. Two current Friends Academy students will also be racing; Garry’s sister, Katrina Garry, and Glenn Lostritto. Russo, Kemperle, and Granger will be running the triathlon for the first time. Kyle Grady came in fourth last year.

The event, which will consist of a half-mile swim from Gin Beach, a 14-mile bike ride along East Lake Drive, Route 27 and West Lake Drive — ending in the Montauk Point Lighthouse parking lot— and a 3.1-mile run through Camp Hero, finishing at the top of the hill at the lighthouse.

“Brian trained really hard in track,” Garry said. “Doing the triathlon seemed like a fun event to remember him by.” 

During his time at Friends Academy — a private Quaker school in Locust Valley—Hom broke the school’s record in the 55-meter dash and then broke it again by beating his own best time. In the years since his passing, Garry said, “He’s become part of the legacy of Friends Academy track.” 

This past year, Friends Academy track won its first state championship meet. “The track program has really taken off,” Garry said. “I think Brian got people excited about running in a way they hadn’t been before.”

Apart from running in Hom’s memory, the students will also be running to raise money for the scholarship that bears his name. The Brian Hom Scholarship Fund will go toward the education costs of one rising senior each year starting this fall. The Friends Academy students have set up a Fundly page to accept donations. So far they have raised, $2,622 from 105 supporters.

The race will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Gin Beach, and will conclude with a continental breakfast at the Montauk Point Lighthouse Museum. The award ceremony, with raffles and prizes, will begin at around 10 a.m. 

If genetics mean anything, keep an eye on Garry— her father, William, a teacher at Friends Academy, came in second for his age group last year.