Wilcox beats wind for 5K win on the beach

Under normal circumstances, a 5-minute, 10-second first mile in a 5K race would result in a final time of 16:03.

However, when Steve Wilcox ran a 5:10 opening mile in the West Florida Y Runners Club Pier 60 event in Clearwater, he knew he and the others in the lead pack were riding the wind.

The logical outcome was that after the midway turnaround on the beach, they would be bucking a fierce breeze.

"I figured at the outset that whoever was leading at the turn would go on to win," said Wilcox, 31, who ran track for Boca Ciega High and Florida State.

"That's why I made a small move at the mile to get away from Jim Burgasser, Keith Sawayda and a group of four high school runners," Wilcox said.

Wilcox made the turn with about a 15-second lead, entering the wind on the beach with hopes of maintaining his position.

"That wind was fierce, maybe 20 miles an hour," said Wilcox, who remained the front-runner to the end at Pier 60, clocking in at 17:44.

"I could have folded out there but didn't; we didn't die. The wind was the major factor. At least it was overcast, and it was a nice win to get in before the Midnight Run in Dunedin."

Clearwater's Sawayda (18:09) held off Largo High's Brian McClymont for second place. Victor Yeager of Dunedin finished fourth and was followed by Crystal River's Brad Millett and Largo High's Matt Timm. McClymont and Timm, who will be seniors, recently were named to the Times All-Pinellas second team in track. Timm excelled in the 800 (2:01) and McClymont in the 1,600 (4:32).

They will be joined on the Packers cross country squad this fall by incoming freshman Phil Brookins, who won the 13-14 division in the beach race.

The women's competition in Clearwater followed a similar pattern from recent years. St. Petersburg's Christa Benton, a four-time high school state champion at Keswick Christian who runs for USF, went out fast to take the lead.

In recent summers, crafty Judy Maguire held back early, then came on strong late for a victory.

But not this time.

Benton, who helped South Florida qualify for last season's NCAA cross country championships, maintained her lead going out with the wind and coming back into the teeth of it. She finished in 19:37, 21 seconds ahead of 43-year-old Maguire.

"I tried to let a couple of men runners block the wind for me coming back, but that ploy never works for me," Maguire said. "I've never run a 5K that slowly, but under the conditions, it was understandable.

"I'm dealing with chronic heel pain and shin problems," Maguire said. "She (Benton) is fresh off a successful track season. I hope to be in better form for the Midnight Run on July 3."

Maguire will be going for her 11th victory in the past 12 years in the out-and-back 10K race along the Dunedin Causeway to Honeymoon Island State Park.

St. Petersburg's Amy McClenathan, a year younger than Maguire, took third in the beach race. McClenathan was followed by Jeanne Lesniak, Kit Van Allan, Lisa Feldt and Kim Miles.

Special awards in the beach series go to the first barefoot runners.

Largo's Vassil Raytchev (19:57) took the men's title, and Cindy Horrocks ran 23:45 to defeat perennial champion Karen Alexeev (24:09) of Gulfport.

The second event in the series is scheduled for Friday. A free mile run for kids starts at 6:45 p.m. The first 100 finishers receive ribbons.

RECORD RUN: The women's 10K road record fell in the New York City Mini Marathon earlier this month in hilly Central Park.

Moroccan Asmai Leghzaoui, 25, ran 30:29 to smash by 10 seconds the mark Liz McColgan set in the 1989 Red Lobster in Orlando.

Deena Drossin, the top U.S. women's distance runner, was the first American to finish the New York event, placing sixth in 32:08.

MALE RECORD: St. Petersburg's Kyle Groh, 7, wanted to give his dad, Conrad, a special Father's Day gift.

Groh woke him and everyone in the family at 7 a.m. and asked to be driven to a high school track so he could try to lower his personal mile record of 6 minutes, 11 seconds. He ripped off a 6:09 to deliver the gift.

Groh has run 21:40 for 5K this year. Unofficially, he has hit 21:27.

In the Midnight Run in Dunedin, Groh is sure to set another mark of sorts. He will be in the 3,000-meter event at 12:08 a.m., expecting to establish a personal record in his first attempt at the 1.86-mile distance.

PREVIEW: Wilcox has no illusions of winning the Midnight Run, assuming defending champion Tony Teats toes the line as expected.

Wilcox has competed in the event about eight times, finishing as high as third at 31:35. He ran 32:39 in 1993, trailing winner Ray Wunderlich and Dan Clark, former Gators from St. Petersburg.

In the women's field, Maguire can expect stiff competition from Clearwater's Vicki Stum, a former University of West Virginia runner who defeated Maguire in the 10K of the Armadillo Run in March.

Tallahassee's Ryan Deak will be looking to lower the Midnight Run 3K record of 8:59, which he set last year. Karol (Dorsett) Withrow of Clearwater owns the women's mark, 10:15.

ALASKA BOUND: Palm Harbor's Michele Barrentine is ran her first marathon, the Mayor's Midnight Sun in Anchorage on Saturday.

Barrentine, a social worker at Morton Plant Mease Hospital, has been working out with Dror Vaknin and Bill Conway of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. She raised more than $6,500 for the charity.

Barrentine was accompanied in Alaska by teammate Karla Swenson of Dunedin, who race-walked the marathon.

THIS JUST IN: The WFYRC's annual golf tournament was played at the Countryway course in Tampa.

The winning scramble team, 6-under 61, consisted of former club president Mary Lou Johnson, Mary Arend, Ken Haze and Bill Farrell. Palm Harbor's Dick Buckley was the tourney director.

DOWN THE ROAD: The traffic pattern on the Pinellas Trail may have to change to link up to and conform with other state and national trails. The U.S. Interior Department has designated two other Florida trails as part of the national system. They are the Suncoast Trail, through Pasco, Citrus and Marion counties; and the Van Fleet Trail, Polk County.

The National Park Service trails from Maine to California have a standard traffic pattern of "keep right except to pass." In contrast, the Pinellas Trail dictates that northbound cyclists stay left and southbound cyclists stay right, which puts them on a collision course.

Runners are suppose to follow the British roadway system running south, stay left, and the U.S. system running north, stay right. That puts them on a collision course and doesn't conform with the national traffic pattern.

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