Prep standout Biffar cruises in The Cure

The winner of the Suncoast Race For The Cure in St.Petersburg came away with mixed emotions.

One was satisfaction. The other was dissatisfaction.

John Biffar, a senior at Admiral Farragut Academy, had hopes of a competitive run in the event a week ago Saturday.

He was using it as a tune-up for this past Saturday's Great American Invitational cross country meet in Charlotte, N.C.

Biffar's satisfaction came from his victory. The disappointment was that he wasn't pushed to a maximum effort.

Seconds after Biffar crossed the finish line at Straub Park, he was breathing as if he had walked up only four stairs.

"John wanted to run the race to work on his start," said Phil Barnhill, the 16th-year coach at Admiral Farragut.

"It was a practice-type situation where he was looking for a challenge," Barnhill said. "I know it would have been different if (last year's winner) Tony Teats had been there."

The 6-foot, 135-pound Biffar completed the first mile in 5 minutes and the second in 5:10 before recording a 16:15 finish, a 5:14 per-mile pace.

His best time for the distance is 15:55, set in his hometown of Fort Myers in the annual Festival of Light race. He also has run 3 miles in 15:03.

Biffar placed third in the Class A state cross-country meet as a sophomore and fourth last year.

Tallahassee's Ryan Deak beat him on both occasions, as did winner Rolf Steier of Berkeley Prep. Steier is a freshman at Stanford this fall.

Biffar has a recruiting visit to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro scheduled for this month.

Bradenton's Mickey Hooke, 41, finished strong in the Race For The Cure to capture second, 16:53.

CURE NOTES: Despite not racing since April in the Boston Marathon, Tierra Verde's Lisa Valentine, 41, showed no rustiness.

She worked with Plant City's Martha Vidal to reel in early front-runner Rachel Alexander of London.

However, that left Valentine and Vidal in second and third place, respectively.

Clearwater's Vicki Stum had grabbed the lead earlier, and she went on to win by a 6-second margin in 18:56. Alexander fell back to fifth, 19:16.

St.Petersburg's Christy Phillips, the women's winner in December's Hops Marathon, was a spectator in the Suncoast Race For The Cure.

She is injured with a possible stress fracture that has sidelined her since April's Boston Marathon.

The women's 50-and-over race was close.

Lynn Gray of Tampa ran 22:41 to edge Karen Alexeev by 14 seconds for 42nd place. Debra Ryder of Redington Beach took the award for third after turning in a 24:10 performance. All three athletes are just 50.

The top runners in the men's 50-plus division included two 64-year-olds.

Winner Don Ardell was 20th in 18:38, and third-place finisher Joe Burgasser posted an 18:54 time. Between them was Joe Costas, 50, 18:51, one spot ahead of Burgasser in 25th.

Sam Wells, 14, of St.Petersburg was the youngest finisher in the top 15 with an 18:21. Liz Wells, St.Petersburg, was the youngest girl, 33rd in 22:17.

Race statistician Ric Dorrie has posted the top 100 men and women performers on the Web at www.coolrunning.com.

RRCA CHAMPIONSHIP: The West Florida Y Runners Club played host to the Southern Regional 50K Championship at Croom Trail in Brooksville.

The winners were Tampa's Jon Docs (4:05:04) and Melbourne's Kathleen Daumer (4:47:41).

The top area finishers were Hudson's Ray Bell, 55, third, 4:14:20; Seminole's Jim Spencer, 49, eighth, 5:57:16; and Clearwater's Linda Mason, 49, 11th, 5:06:48.

ELSEWHERE: In the recent Maui Marathon, Oldsmar's Stephen Weiss received the second-place award in the 35-39 age division with a time of 2:54:43.

David Shiner of St.Petersburg clocked in at 3:54:06. Seminole's Jim Patton, on course to run a marathon in all 50 states, added Hawaii to his list with a 6:16:21 performance.

On Long Island in the Great Cow Harbor 10K, Bonnie Theall of Dunedin took third in the 55-59 class, posting a 51:05 in a field of 5,500.

It was the 25th running of the race.

SAFETY FIRST: Michael Lichtenberger, 49, of New Port Richey was hit by a truck and killed recently when he tried to cross SR 54 in Pasco County.

The continuing message is run defensively and be alert at all times. Never jog wearing anything that could obstruct your hearing.

FINISH LINES: The October issue of Runner's World has articles on "The Perfect Four-Day Training Week," "Fine-Tuning Your Training," and "Key Motivation Boosters."

Training for the Nov.28 Times Turkey Trot is continuing on Saturday mornings at 8 at Taylor Park in Largo and East Lake's Chesnut Park.

For information on the 24th annual race, call WFYRC president Linda Schumacher, 939-8038; or send an e-mail message to two-shoes@verizon.net.

The Helmets and Hardhats 10K/5K was scheduled for this past Saturday, with a start from the Florida Aquarium.

The Stetson Law Run 5K on Saturday in Gulfport includes a catered pancake breakfast, free with pre-registration.

The race starts at 8 a.m. At 8:45, there will be a mile fun run and walk, in which pets are welcome and ribbons will be presented to all finishers. In the 5K, awards go five-deep in five-year age groups.

For an entry form, go to the current issue of RacePlace magazine, or call 562-7808 or 562-7800 (days).

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