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Running

Marathon champ takes advice and runs with it

By DAVE THEALL
Published January 27, 2005

The Gulf Beaches Marathon women's winner Sunday used some positive thinking to help overcome a negative effect.

Tierra Verde's Lisa Valentine captured a rare fourth consecutive marathon title after constructive advice from her husband, Dwight, regarding the anticipated strong head wind running north toward the finish line at Clearwater's Coachman Park.

"The northerly wind will be blocked, in part, by the trees and greenery along the route, so don't let it bother you," he told her just before Valentine left for her 12th overall marathon.

Valentine completed the first half of the looping course in 1 hour, 26 minutes, taking advantage of the wind.

"That provided me with a cushion for the more difficult second half of the marathon," Valentine said.

"I had some room to die and still get under 3 hours. It was work coming back on the trail, but Dwight's advice made me confident it wouldn't be so bad and I could handle it," she said.

Valentine finished in 2:58:57, only 7 seconds slower than her winning time of last year when she was second overall to Forerunners teammate Ian Payne.

She took ninth at the midway point Sunday and placed sixth overall among about 350 finishers.

MARATHON NOTES: Valentine said her quadriceps were bothering her the day after the race but that she would be ready for the Feb. 6 Bank of America Marathon in Tampa. Significant prize money will be up for grabs, especially for runners in the 40-plus divisions.

"The main reason I ran Gulf Beaches is to support the local event put on by (director) Chris Lauber," Valentine said. "He does a great job for us, but he needs more support from the community to make it successful. "Right now I've got to get ready for the Tampa marathon," she said. "There are going to be a lot of top masters women there, and I'll probably have to run in the low 2:50s to place in my age division."

Valentine's best time is 2:47:47, which won the 1999 Tucson Marathon and qualified her for the 2000 Women's Olympic Trials Marathon.

Lauren Engen, 34, of Minneapolis, was another marathoner who crossed the finish line Sunday with a broad smile. In only her third marathon, she improved by more than 20 minutes (3:40:01), won her division and began looking forward to Patriots Day in Boston on April 18.

"My age-group qualifying time for Boston is 3:40, so I'm expecting my time today will qualify me," Engen said. "The course was scenic and the volunteers along the way were great, but I miss the spectators along the route. I'm used to the Twin Cities (Marathon) crowds, which number about 2.5-million in that heavily populated area between St. Paul and Minneapolis."

The two-person marathon relay drew 90 participants and the concurrent 10K another 184 runners.

Not only were many northern states represented but runners and their families from Sweden, England, Iceland, Canada and Australia participated.

These statistics bolster Lauber's assertion that the event he founded is an economic asset to the community and deserves significant business sponsorship and support.

NAPLES HALF MARATHON: A strong Pinellas contingent, mostly from St. Petersburg's Forerunners Club, ventured south Sunday for one of the nation's premier 13.1 mile races. And with $15,000 in prize money on the line, hungry elite athletes from far and wide were attracted to the scene.

Oldsmar's Tony Teats was the top area finisher, ninth in 1:12:09.

The closest race of the morning was for third place in the women's masters division. Gainesville's Lisa Vaill and St. Petersburg's Mary Ann Protz crossed together in 1:22:56. Officials gave the nod to Vaill, and it was worth $250.

Protz was credited with seventh among women (third American), which merited $100. She was one spot behind Sonja Friend-Uhl of West Palm Beach, the Jan. 16 St. Pete Beach Classic 10K winner.

Other notable area performances included the runner-up finish by USF graduate Tara Quinn-Smith, 25; age-group firsts by the Forerunners' Christy Phillips (40-44 in 1:27:34) and Denise Skinner (45-49 in 1:32:20); and Steve Wilcox, second in 30-34 with 1:16:16. Wilcox was 18th overall in the strong international field.

BOSTON UPDATE: Wilcox and his wife, Marjorie, have entered the 109th running of the classic. Rosalyn Randall, a Tampa Bay Downs veterinarian, will run it for the 21st time. A 1987 Tampa Bay Marathon winner, Randall qualified for Boston in last fall's Maine Marathon.

RACE REVISIONS: Since Valentine and coach Joe Burgasser were inadvertently given bib numbers that didn't match their computer chips in the St. Pete Beach Classic, event director Wendy Johnson has revised the results to include them as winners of their age divisions. Valentine has been credited with 38:42. Burgasser, therefore, won 65-69 easily (40:17).

Gulfport's Karen Alexeev reports that she would have won the Jan. 9 Disney Marathon 50-54 division in 3:46:42 had she remembered to wear her assigned computer chip. Appeals to officials for recognition were denied.

Saturday's Largo Rotary Read-Write-Run 3K produced an unwanted result. Largo High School cross-country team members, who swept the top places, accepted prize money as awards. Upon learning this, coach Dave Koehler promptly arranged that the money be returned to the Rotary. Prep athletes can't accept prize money and be eligible for college scholarships, Koehler said.

SUNDAY: Kim Donaldson's course record for women (3:04:59) is on the line in the Ocala Marathon. Lakeland's Gary Crossan owns the men's mark (2:34:08).

Tierra Verde's Ian Payne, third at Gulf Beaches, will run the Miami Tropical Half-Marathon with his wife, Rebecca, a University of Miami medical student.

FEB. 4: To register for the Bank of America Gasparilla 15K or 5K, go online to www.tampabayrun.com

EXCELLENCE: Jack Taylor, 71, a winter resident from Waukegan, Ill., hopes to continue an age-group winning streak in the Gasparilla 15K that goes back to 2003.

According to Taylor and extensive records maintained by race scorer Ric Dorrie, the Tampa resident has dominated the 70-74 and 70-plus divisions.

Last January, Taylor ran Gasparilla in 1:09:13 to win by more than 6 minutes. In recent weeks, he prevailed in the Holiday Classic 10K (47:17), New Year's Blast 5K (22:10), St. Pete Beach Classic 10K (46:59) and the Jan. 22 FishHawk 5K (22:32).

MARCH 6: The revived Bay to Bay 12K across St. Petersburg from the Treasure Island Causeway to the Pier can be entered at www.runbaytobay.com There's a 5K along the bayfront that morning. For information, call 727 367-RACE.

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 00:40:21]