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Running

Benton wins USF's Twilight title in front of her ex-teammates

By DAVE THEALL
Published August 25, 2005

Christa Benton had to wait five years to compete in the University of South Florida's Twilight Run 5K, and it proved to be worthwhile.

A fifth-year senior on scholarship at USF, Benton helped put on the fund-raiser for the Bulls' track and cross-country teams the first three years. Last August, Hurricane Charlie wiped out the popular event that goes through the Tampa campus for 3.1 miles.

Finally on Friday night, Benton toed the starting line among 433 contestants and uncharacteristical- ly forgot to start her wrist stopwatch in the excitement of the occasion.

But that didn't prevent her from sweeping the women's field with a performance of 17 minutes, 48 seconds and placing 15th overall in the mixed competition.

"I think I covered the first mile in about 5:30 and Mile 2 in 11:09," said Benton, 21, who was coming off a five-race series sweep at Clearwater's Pier 60.

"It was fun for me to finally run that race and hear the support of all my former teammates, who were out on the course directing traffic and handing out water," she said of the Twilight Run. "It was fun and exciting."

Benton said she planned to skip competition this weekend and aim for a cross-country event in Bradenton over Labor Day weekend.

"I've got to sit down with my high school coach, Lance Lipham of Keswick Christian, and work out a training schedule toward specific goals," Benton said.

"Right now, I'm running 50-60 miles a week at a fast clip but without a clear sense of direction."

Fort Myers' Bona Jones, 16, among many high school cross-country athletes in the USF 5K, held on for second in the women's competition over fast-finishing Mary Ann Protz, 49, of St. Petersburg. Their times were 18:22 and 18:29, respectively.

"All those high school runners go out so hard," Protz said. "I couldn't even see (Jones) at the first-mile mark.

"I was just trying to run an even pace, as I do in all my races, and that enabled me to close the gap on her as she was noticeably slowing," Protz said.

Young runners from Fort Myers captured the first three places in the men's race.

Led by recent Admiral Farragut Academy graduate John Biffar, the top of the field was rounded out by teenagers Mike Harney and Justin Adams. Biffar won by 8 seconds over Harney in 16:34.

The trio finished just ahead of former Gasparilla 15K winner Much Mazano (17:09) of Tampa. Following him were Northeast High twins Jon (17:19) and Matt Mott (17:20).

Bradenton's Mickey Hooke, 44, took the masters title in 17:28 and 10th overall.

Among age-group couples, Amy McClenathan of St. Petersburg claimed first among 18 women in the 45-49 division with a 20:08 showing. Her husband, Dan, took third, 50-54, in 22:11.

Millie Hamilton of Redington Beach continued to dominate women 60-and-older with a winning 26:47.

SUMMER SIZZLER 5K: On Sunday at Safety Harbor's Philippe Park, a duel for first place came down to two runners with an age gap of 24 years.

David Meri, 34, held off fast-charging Albert Wieringa by 12 seconds, 17:47 to 17:59.

Wieringa started conservatively and was content with fourth place through the first mile.

But then he moved up the ranks to second, behind Meri, with just a mile to go on a hilly course that ends at the top of an Indian mound overlooking Old Tampa Bay.

"Somewhere in the last mile, I closed to within 20 yards of David," said Wieringa, 58, who just started running in 2002. "At the end, I gained a bit on him. But when we came to that Indian mound, he had more in the tank than me."

Meri "thanked me for pushing him, and I said, "Thanks for dragging me,' " Wieringa said. "Both of us were very happy with our times."

On the uncertified course, Chuck Roose of Wesley Chapel was credited with 18:39 for third place. Trailing were Pierce Tibma of Safety Harbor and Vassil Raytchev, both in 19:17.

Safety Harbor runners in their 40s finished 1-2 in the women's field. They were Helen Lavoie, 48, in 21:16 and Carol Bancroft, 45, in 22:23.

Largo's Mary Pulaski, 54, took the bronze-medal position with a 22:40 effort, just ahead of Treasure Island's Pam McCann (22:56) and Clearwater's Heather Ellison (23:02). In age-group competition, Annette Frisch of St. Petersburg easily won the women's 60-64 division in 27:36. The Forerunners' Emery Jewell, 79, was first (30:12) among participants over 70. There were 74 women finishers and 98 men for a total of 172.

WEST VIRGINIA: Karen Collins, a member of the winning Forerunners women's masters team in April's Boston Marathon, cut that distance in half last weekend at the famous Parkersburg Half-Marathon.

She completed the hilly layout in 1:41:04 for the fifth and final age-group award, 40-44.

Collins is training for the Oct. 15 Baltimore Marathon.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: In Helsinki on Aug. 14, England's Paula Radcliffe won her ninth marathon in 10 starts with a 2:20:57 performance.

That's considerably slower than her world-record 2:15:25 but served as redemption from Radcliffe's disappointing failure at last summer's Olympics. In Athens, she was forced to drop out from exhaustion at Mile 23.

Also notable in Helsinki was the 1-2-3 sweep of Ethiopian women in the 5K. Winner Tirunesh Dibaba blazed the 12.5 laps in 14:38.

Men's marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco clocked in at 15:19. FINISH LINES: Wieringa, who ran his first race in the 2003 Gasparilla 5K, is training for his sixth marathon. It's scheduled for Oct. 16 in Amsterdam. In the first five, Wieringa qualified for the Boston Marathon in the 55-59 class. After debuting with a 3:40 in New York City in 2003, he ran Hops, the Top of Utah and Jacksonville in '04, recording a personal-record 3:05 in the latter event last December.

"I trained very hard for this year's Boston (3:09), but it was a bit disappointing for me," Wieringa said.

"I had hoped to improve on my 3:05 at Jacksonville but couldn't do it," he said. "The temperature (70-plus), narrow roads and maybe not enough hill training were not in my favor."

Still, Wieringa was the first 58-year-old to cross the finish line.

He said he may do Boston again in 2007, when he enters the 60-69 division. He turns 59 on Sept. 5.

The City of Clearwater will have a 3K fun run at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to mark the grand opening of the new Clearwater Memorial Bridge. The fee is $7, $8 on the day of the event. Applications are available from the Parks and Recreation Department, 562-4800 or www.myclearwater.com

[Last modified August 25, 2005, 00:52:33]