Disney event is good time for Koehlers

A marathon can be more than a run of 26 miles and 385 yards.

That's especially true with regard to the Walt Disney World Marathon, which was held for the 10th time on Sunday.

Dave Koehler, the boys cross country coach at his alma mater, Largo High, can attest to that.

Not only did he run it successfully for the 10th straight year, he and his family made a long weekend of it by staying at the Magic Kingdom.

"Disney works out real good for our whole family," said Koehler, 45, who finished 519th among the nearly 16,000 who registered with a time of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 23 seconds.

"I use training for it as a motivator to keep my weight down during the holidays, and my wife, Laurie, and our three girls get a vacation out of it.

"Not only that, we get together there with my sister and her family from Orlando and my other sister and her family from Tarpon," Koehler said.

His training routine is a little unorthodox but gets the job done.

Koehler runs four miles on weekdays at 5 a.m. Then, beginning in late November-December, he logs 20-milers on the weekends.

That is a far cry from what the former star runner at Largo High under coach Brent Haley used to do.

After running for Lake City Junior College and the University of Montana, Koehler got serious about marathoning and enjoyed some success.

In the 1982 Cleveland Revco Marathon, he found his perfect wave by coasting in with a 2:23 effort, good for eighth place in a strong international field.

That's when he carried 140 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame. Now he's at 170.

"That's the single greatest race I ever did," Koehler reflected. "I thought I'd go on and improve after that, but I never did."

Koehler has excelled as a coach, guiding the Packers last fall to a conference title and 15th-place finish in the state championship meet.

PERFECT 10 MEMBERS: Clearwater's Robert McQuilken, a longtime friend of Koehler and teammate at Largo High and Montana, was another Pinellas marathoner feted at Disney for running all 10 events.

Included in that group were:

Steve Edwards of Treasure Island.

Edwards made it a family affair.

His wife, Joy, ran the half marathon, and his mother-in-law, Jackie Yost of Treasure Island, eked out a fifth-place award in the 70-and-over class.

Edwards' sister-in-law, Cindy Perret, flew in from New Orleans to run the half. His father-in-law, Larry Yost, was signed up to run but forced to be a spectator because of illness.

Rue Morgan, co-founder of the St. Pete Mad Dogs Triathlon Club, ran his 10th straight, in 4:41:22.

Dunedin's Bonnie Theall, 57, the only woman in the Pinellas Perfect 10 group, finished just behind Morgan in 4:42:00. It was Theall's 34th marathon since 1987, including nine as the final stage of Ironman triathlons.

St. Petersburg's Pete Pfannerstill, a former West Florida Y Runners Club vice-president, elected to hang back with ex-club president Mary Lou Johnson. Pfannerstill cruised in at 4:59:03.

Disney hosted the Perfect 10 Club members to a VIP pre-race dinner, gave them special front-and-back numbers, T-shirts with the names of all 147 of them, and presented members with commemorative Mickey Mouse wooden trophies just after they crossed the finish line.

DISNEY NOTES: Tierra Verde's Ian Payne, of the Mad Dogs, was the first Pinellas finisher in 2:58:22.

The top county woman was Largo's Debby Farias, whose 3:33:23 put her just ahead of 50-year-old Karen Alexeev of Gulfport. Alexeev earned a third-place age-group award for her 3:36:29 performance.

GASPARILLA UPDATE Each year, winners of various cups earn an expense-paid trip to Washington for the Cherry Blossom 10-mile road race, April 6. Vicki Stum of Clearwater received the trip as the women's winner of the Tropicana Florida Cup. She was the fourth finisher, but the cup goes to the first full-time Florida resident.

Ronnie Holassie, the men's Gasparilla champion, and Stum will battle the Kenyans for a share of the $30,000 prize purse.

Christy Phillips of St. Petersburg's Forerunners Club placed fourth in the masters division but earned the Bank of America Masters Cup as the first area woman who hadn't previously won the award.

Her male counterpart is Tampa's Paul Hough, who is not in the 40-44 age group, as expected, but is 45.

The Sports Authority Tampa Bay Cup winners are Elias Gonsalez, a University of Tampa student who was fourth overall; and Tampa triathlete Lara Shaw, who was fifth in 56:47.

St. Petersburg's Ned Bennett, 80, didn't qualify for the trip to the nation's capital, but he enjoyed the satisfaction of winning his age division in the Gasparilla 5K by 9 minutes.

He posted a time of 30:30, averaging 9:49 per mile. Cameron Duncan of Palm Harbor is getting better with age.

Last year, at 59, he ran Gasparilla in 1:02:28. Two weeks ago, at 60, Duncan improved to 59:31, good for second place in his new group, including nationally-ranked Don Ardell of Tampa and DeLand's John Boyle. Women's 15K winner Amy Begley Yoder had the 13th fastest 5K (track) time in the nation last year -- 15:38.

Former Gasparilla 5K champion Caroline Annis, a Plant High grad, clipped off a 34:09 at Stanford last year.

In 1998, she set a national age 17 record, winning in 17:10.

RACE ETIQUETTE: The Road Runners Club of America's rule for Approaching the Finish is:

Once you cross the finish line, don't stop. Keep moving to the end of the chute; stay in the exact order in which you finished. This is important for accurate scoring.

Also, don't cross the line if you haven't registered. That can mess up accurate scoring. And, where there's a 3-by-5 finish card handed out, print your name clearly.

THIS WEEKEND: Saturday's Run For The Rec 5K in Belleair offers more than a scenic race on a cool morning.

In addition to the T-shirt participants will receive, there will be a post-race breakfast at the recreation center, 901 Ponce DeLeon Blvd. Late registration begins at 7 a.m. The cost is $15. Awards go three-deep in 9-and-under through 70-plus.

Strong high school contingents from Largo, St. Petersburg Catholic and Indian Rocks Christian are expected in the field of 400.

The women's race for the title is shaping as a battle between 2002 Turkey Trot winner Stum, Judy Maguire, 44, a two-time Trot champion; and Indian Rocks Christian's Melissa Kotchman, 15, the Times 2002 Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Belleair's Charles Lasley, 81, plans to use the event as a tune-up for next month's Gulf Beaches Marathon, his 22rd.

For more information, call 588-3769, ext. 210.

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