Winning races in the heavily populated Tampa Bay area is tough enough when a runner is trying to push only her/his body to the limit.
But in the Shapes Iron Girl 10K on Nov. 5, Kim Bruce-Bumbul ran and pushed a stroller, with 91/2-month-old daughter, Sophie, leading the way.
Despite the added weight, 18 pounds for Sophie and 26 for the stroller, the mother-daughter team finished first overall in 43 minutes, 4 seconds.
"I was surprised to have won," said Bruce-Bumbul, a 1996 Midnight Run champion (36:53) who has a 10K best of 34:59. "I saw Jacki Wachtel there, but I guess she was running in another division."
Wachtel, a former track standout (36:30 in 10K) at Ohio University, was competing in a concurrent mother-daughter race. She and New Port Richey's Pat Waller won the team 5K in 49:01.
Bumbul ran a half-marathon solo last month in her hometown of Detroit, finishing in 1:28:44. Her best performance for the distance, produced in the 1992 Detroit Marathon, is a second-place 2:48:04. Bumbul has the Nov. 27 Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa on her schedule. She and Sophie will try to get a qualifying time for next year's Boston Marathon.
Carol Bancroft, 46, of Safety Harbor, was the runner-up (45:36) in the Iron Girl, four seconds ahead of St. Petersburg's Leslie Beauchamp. Maria Ghizzoni of St. Petersburg won the concurrent 5K at USF in 17:50. Her training partner, Beth Old, was second (18:55).
The two all-women's races attracted more than 700 runners.
Event director Steve Meckfessel, was thrilled with the turnout for the two-year-old event.
"The calendar is very busy here this time of year," Meckfessel said.
"The two distances drew new runners and provided the seasoned runners in our area a competitive opportunity for women only," he said.
PACE RACE: Saturday's 5K in Ybor City produced some surprises.
One was the upset win of Keith Sawayda over former Gasparilla champion Much Mazano, an ex-USF track star who finished four seconds behind the 42-year-old veteran.
The second surprise was Sawyada's 15:36 performance, his best of the year for 3.1 miles. In the Nov. 4 Richard's Run for the Cure 5K, he clocked in at 16:44 for third place behind Lee Stephens and Brian St. Onge. Still, a win is a win, and that's what the defending Turkey Trot 5K champ came away with Saturday.
Sawayda, a Notre Dame graduate, is peaking for Thanksgiving Day in Clearwater, where he hopes to successfully defend his 5K title.
Sarasota's David O'Meara, nationally ranked in the Masters division, came on strong in Ybor to take third (16:59).
With O'Meara and Sawayda being scored in the Open class, that cleared the way in the Masters competition for a 48-, 49- and 59-year-old.
They were Tampa's Paul Hough (17:40) and Fred Dorsey (18:11) and St. Petersburg's Albert Wieringa (18:15). Ghizzoni won for the second straight weekend, taking the women's crown in 17:33. Wachtel, of Tarpon Springs, trailed (18:02) and was followed by Old (18:24).
"I'm starting to run better," said Ghizzoni, who didn't compete much last summer. "Maybe it's the cooler weather."
Ghizzoni, a native of Sweden who came to the U.S. to run for Houston Baptist, has a 5K personal-best of 16:17. That was on the track at Stanford three years ago.
Since, she's made her 2-year-old son, Dominic, the top priority, Ghizzoni said.
The Forerunners' Christy Phillips finished four seconds behind Old, topping the Masters division in 18:28. Following were Phillips' teammate, Kristine Cox (19:43), and Tampa's Denise Fairbanks (21:15).
In age-group highlights, Don Ardell won the 65-69 championship over Joe Burgasser, 19:14-19:43.
Larry and Jackie Yost of St. Petersburg prevailed in the 75-and-older division.
BIG CHIEF NO. 2: At Al Lopez Park in Tampa, Helen Lavoie of Safety Harbor captured the first-place award. Her 20:52 held up over Treasure Island's Pam McCann, who was second in 22:56. St. Petersburg's Annette Frisch (26:21) was first among competitors 50-plus and 65-and-older.
Tampa's Tony Lahnston (17:18) won the men's race, with St. Petersburg's David Meri the runner-up in 17:57.
Palm Harbor's Duncan Cameron (20:14) topped the 60-64 class with a faster time than the 50-54 and 55-59 winners.
MARATHONS: Clearwater's Lisa Kothe was the top area finisher in the Nov. 6 New York City Marathon. The former University of Rhode Island runner turned in a 3:16:40 performance.
St. Petersburg's Kevin Milkey headed the five-county men's field in 3:23:44. "I'm happy with that considering how much training I do," said Kothe, who logs just one long run a week and no speed work.
"That was my third New York in a row. Now I'm looking forward to the (Nov. 24) Wingding 5K and the (Dec. 11) Gulf Beaches Halfathon," she said.
Colleen de Reuck, formerly of South Africa, broke the American Masters record with a 2:28:40 outing in last month's Chicago Marathon.
The previous mark (2:32:39) was held by Jenny Spangler since 2003.
In Japan on Sunday, St. Petersburg's Mary Ann Protz, 49, finished the Ibigawa Half-Marathon in 1:25:11. She was third among women and first in the Masters division.
"It was an unforgetable, rich, cultural experience," said Protz, who will try the 10K on Thanksgiving Day in Clearwater.
FINISH LINES: Freshman Andy Biladeau (Jesuit High), a former Gasparilla 5K champion, helped Virginia win the Atlantic Coast Conference cross-country title in Tallahassee. The Cavaliers' top five finishers crossed within 10 seconds in positions 4-8.
Coach Bob Braman's Seminoles took second in the 12-school meet.
Kevin Lyons (CCC/Harvard), an ex-Class 2A state champion in prep track, finished from second to seventh throughout the season for the Ivy League school founded in 1638.
In July, Lyons made his marathon debut with a 2:42 victory in the Around-The-Lake in Wakefield, Mass.
He has entered the 2006 Boston Marathon, aiming for the low 2:30s. Lyons will be running in Madrid, Spain, on Thanksgiving Day while visiting his Harvard girlfriend. Christa Benton (Keswick Christian/USF) won (36:38) the women's division of Sunday's Founders Day 10K in Orlando. It was her 12th straight victory.
Stephens, third in last year's Times Turkey Trot, posted a 33:08 win for the men's Founders crown in a total field of 862.
Saturday is the deadline for Times Turkey Trot preregistration. Nine on-site locations are listed at www.tampabay.comturkeytrot
In advance, the fee is $10 for the 5K and 10K, $7 for the mile Gobbler. Sign-ups at higher rates will be available at 6 a.m. on race day at Clearwater High School.
