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Results of training include race victory

SPEED THE LIGHT 5K: Dunnellon's Travis Robbins, who trains 90 minutes a day, wins the overall title and Elisabeth Diamond is the women's winner.

CITRUS HILLS - Travis Robbins intends to make the most of his senior season.

That's why the 17-year-old Dunnellon High runner decided to put in overtime this summer. He runs seven days a week, 90 minutes a day.

"I've been training pretty hard," Robbins said. "It's going pretty good. Last year, I didn't train like this."

Robbins was rewarded for his effort at Saturday's Speed the Light 5K, winning the overall title in 17 minutes, 26 seconds. Lecanto High standout Nick Norton finished second in 17:29. Elisabeth Diamond, 43, of Bell won the women's title (21:18).

Robbins placed 36th at the Class 2A meet last fall with a 3-mile time of 17:03. He's hoping to run in the 15-minute range this year, and Saturday's performance could give him a boost.

"It was pretty hot, and the course was pretty hilly," Robbins said. "(Norton) is going to be good next year. He surprised me that this early he was so close."

Diamond won by four seconds over Rebecca Thielemann. Diamond, who lives 90 minutes away, awoke at 3:45 a.m. and left her house at 5 to make it. She runs two-three races a month, but said she used too much energy early and faded down the stretch in previous events.

The opposite happened Saturday.

Diamond paced herself and got better toward the end.

"I felt pretty good today," she said. "I got better every mile."

Thielemann, who lives in Dunnellon but competed in high school for Crystal River, ran her best race since having surgery to correct an advanced form of scoliosis in the winter of 2001.

"That's my second-best time," she said. "But this course was really hilly so it would have been better on a flat course."

Thielemann, 20, said she's just now rounding into the form she showed before surgery. During her final two seasons at Crystal River, she was one of the area's top runners.

"I'm not all the way back, but I'm getting there," Thielemann said. "It's been a really, really long and painful (recovery). I'm starting to run now without any pain for the first time."

Thielemann attends Central Florida Community College, but hopes to catch the eye of college coaches. She said she plans to intensify her training soon.

"I really want to run somewhere," Thielemann said.