Career
Before he retired from his athletic career in 2006 to pursue volunteer coaching for his alma mater"s track and field squad, Pukstas ran a career best in 2:12:52 to notch his first and only title at the Eurasia Marathon in Istanbul. Pukstas qualified for the men"s marathon at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by finishing third and registering an A-standard entry time of 2:14.59 from the Motorola Marathon in Austin, Texas. He finished seventy-fourth in a vast field of a hundred runners with a time of 2:33:02, trailing behind the gold medalist Stefano Baldini of Italy by nearly twenty-two minutes.
In May 2011, Pukštas overcame the rains across the city"s lengthy course to claim the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon title under the men"s senior category in 2:31:33.
