Tulare County sheriffs capture gold in 2009 games

LOS ANGELES AREA — In return for a gold medal, Tulare County Deputy Gracie Johnson ran three miles and shot 24 rounds from a .357 python in 33 minutes.

She shot the gun and raced the miles, and competed in three other events at the 2009 Western States Police and Fire Games — all resulted in gold.

Some of her medals from the games, and games from the last 11 years, are now displayed on her desk at work.

“I want to show other officers that they can win and keep fit, too,” she said.

At the Western States Police and Fire games, thousands of police officers and fire fighters from different states bout in competitions ranging from traditional games to paint ball and a mud run.

This year’s matches happened in the Santa Clarita Valley on June 13th through June 20th.

Johnson, 41, of Visalia, wasn’t the only Tulare county police officer to rank on top. Interacting with other officers, competing, and staying in shape lured the Tulare county officers.

Tough training earned them medals.

On Thursday, June 25, Sheriff Bill Wittman met with five of his employees who competed in the games. Sergeant Al Galafate, Porterville and Pixley Substation supervisor, Tulare County Ag Crime Detective John Dow, Deputy Michael Risenhoover, Porterville Substation

Patrol Detective Ryan Holmes, and Johnson received medals in their various fields of competition, and were recognized by the Sheriff for their athleticism and hard work.

“It is an impressive achievement,” Wittman said.

For a majority of her life, Johnson has run long distances competitively. She ran for her high school and college cross country teams. She runs local races and marathons. To train for the police games, she ran four miles each weekday, and 16 miles on the weekends.

Unlike Johnson, Deputy Holmes, 29, is an amateur.

“I’ve always been in good shape,” he said. “I wanted to take it to the next level.”

For his first body building contest, he stuck to a rigid diet, planning his meals out days in advance. In addition, he did two hours of cardiovascular work outs and four to five hours of weight lifting each week.

The results: 14” arms and 24” quads.

The thrill of competing keeps Johnson and Detective Dow, 39, coming back to the games.

Dow often partakes in wrestling, racquetball, archery, and softball, though he competitively does archery year round.

“Archery isn’t one of those events where everyone isn’t standing around not smiling,” he said. “It’s a friendly competition.”
Johnson also enjoys meeting people from other departments. For her, the interaction is part of the excitement.

Holmes described the attitude of body builders as arrogant and unfriendly, nevertheless he will do it again next year in Reno. For the second time, he wants to take things to the next level.

Weighing 154 pounds this year, he didn’t like how small he was.

“I want to go up a weight class,” he said.

-- Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050 or, jchandler@portervillerecorder.com