Botelho tops field, Phillips 1st woman

By DAVE THEALL
Published December 12, 2005

LARGO - The 6-mile mark turned out to be the turning point in both the men's and women's races in Sunday's 13.1-mile Gulf Beaches Halfathon.

Eric Botelho, 34, of Englewood eased past Clearwater's Robert Maue at that point and went on to win comfortably in a relatively slow 1 hour, 19 minutes, 39 seconds. Keith Sawayda won last year in 1:15:41.

Similarly, St. Petersburg teammates Christy Phillips and Mary Ann Protz, the prerace favorites, fell into lockstep until they were just short of 10 kilometers then Phillips surged slightly on an uphill portion of the course.

Phillips, 43, went on to win in 1:22:26 with Protz not far behind in 1:23:47. Both broke Vicki Jetton's women's course record (1:25:07) set last year as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, among 535 runners.

"My goal in this race was to try to run an even pace in the 6:19 range," said Phillips, who ran a 1:22:34 effort at the Outback Half-Marathon last month in Jacksonville. "But with Mary Ann's help, we clicked off the first 3 miles in 6:11, 6:10 and 6:15, which put me far ahead of pace. After I eased away from Mary Ann on the hills I slowed down considerably because of both the (head) wind and the fact I had no one to run with."

Behind Phillips and Protz was Kerri Robbins, 35, of Davidson, Md., in 1:29:46.

Botelho, a former No. 1 cross-country runner at Saint Leo College, bided his time before picking up the pace and taking the lead. It was on the downhill side of the hill on which Phillips accelerated that he made his move.

"I thought I could create a gap at that point and I did," said Botelho, who is training for the Sarasota Marathon next spring. "I pretty much coasted after that except for occasionally trying to be sure at the beginning of miles to try to widen the gap and discourage anyone from coming after me. It's a great course and a great event. I love the fact there's little concrete to run over. That kills my knees."

Maue finished in 1:21:11 followed by Rich Golden of Englewood in 1:21:27.

Joe Burgasser, 67, of the Forerunners Club took third in the Masters (40-plus) division and ninth overall in 1:25:46. Mary Pulaski, 54, of Largo won the 50-and over division in 1:42:54.

[Last modified December 12, 2005, 04:02:08]