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Running

Woman repeats in Gulf Beaches

Heat causes Lisa Valentine, men's champ Jimmy Villalobos to post marathon's slowest winning times.

By JOHN SCHWARB, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 17, 2003

CLEARWATER -- Lisa Valentine scribbled pace times on her left wrist and on the front of her race number. For the Gulf Beaches Marathon, these outlined her game plan.

That is until the race started.

"It was like a summer day," Valentine said. "Just tough conditions."

The fourth annual marathon, held in February for the first time, greeted some 1,500 runners with temperatures that reached the low 70s with high humidity. In other words, imperfect conditions for running 26.2 miles, and Sunday's times proved it as both the men's and women's winners finished with the slowest in race history.

Valentine, 41, of Tierra Verde won for the second straight year. But her time of 3 hours, 9 minutes, 1 second was nearly seven minutes slower than her winning time last year and far from her handy pace numbers that suggested something in the 2:59 range.

"It was more of a tactical race today, trying to place," Valentine said. "I'm not a good heat runner, but everyone else has to run in the same conditions."

The heat got to Valentine around the 16-mile mark, where she briefly stopped after stitching up because of dehydration. Two miles later she reeled in leader Sandy Shelton.

Shelton, a 1987 Gulf High graduate now living in Pembroke Pines, admitted to going out too fast. Instead of 6-minute, 50-second miles as planned, her first two were in 6:30.

Still, she thought she could recover and stay out front. But she, too, said dehydration took a toll.

"By (mile) 18 I was just beat," said Shelton, 33. "I was hoping I was stronger than that."

Her husband knew the feeling.

Mike Ferreira had just over 2 miles to go to claim the men's title, but training partner Jimmy Villalobos came from behind to steal the victory in his second marathon.

Ferreira completed the first 13.1 miles on his desired 1-hour, 20-minute pace before the conditions took their toll. He fought it, but couldn't fight off Villalobos.

"(Before) the last 2 miles I saw him," Villalobos said. "I thought I was in like fifth place or something. He told me to keep going."

Villalobos, 33, finished in 2:51:27, the slowest time in Gulf Beaches history but a personal best, beating a 3:01:29 set in December at the Reggae Marathon in Jamaica, where he was sixth.

"I've been telling him, he'll be killing it in no time," Ferreira said. "Jimmy's strong, he's just got to start believing in himself."

Ferreira and Villalobos, both former bay area residents, train together in Pembroke Pines, having met through a local running club. Villalobos, a pharmacist, started training again in June after nursing a knee injury and has built up to marathon distances.

Ferreira and Shelton, married two weeks ago and on their way to Cancun, Mexico, on Tuesday for their honeymoon, are in training for a number of triathlons, including an Ironman (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run) in November at Panama City.

The men's masters winner was David Jones, 51, of Eagleville, Tenn., who finished in 3:03:55. Susan Kolbinsky, 41, of Duluth, Ga., was the women's masters champion in 3:22:26.

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