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No need to hurry to Halfathon finish

By DAVE THEALL
Published January 25, 2007

The road to success for St. Petersburg's Ian Jackson at Saturday's Clearwater Halfathon was paved with patience.

Jackson bided his time in second place for the first 10 miles then made his move, easing into the lead with just 3.1 miles to go coming off Sand Key Bridge.

Frontrunner Ryan Kipp of New Port Richey responded to the challenge but couldn't sustain it through Clearwater Beach as Jackson pressed on to the finish line at Coachman Park, winning by a wide margin in one hour, 24 minutes, 54 seconds.

Kipp faded to fifth (1:28:00) as he was passed by Adriano Alcoz (1:27:05) of Clearwater, Anthony Simon (1:27:06) of Midland, Mich., and Jerome Isakov (1:27:52) of Clearwater.

Jackson said that he doesn't have the leg speed he used to so his strategy was to run a steady pace, keeping the leader in sight and waiting until late in the race to make a move.

"I can't start fast anymore," said Jackson, who, at 53, is the oldest overall winner of a large race over 10K in the area in 20 years. "(Kipp) looked like he was running easy during the first half of the race so I just let him go. I knew the wind was going to be tough during the late stages of the race and I was ready for it."

Jackson said his goal for the race was a time, not the win.

"I wanted to do 1:25 so 1:24:54, 6:29 per mile, was right on," he said. "This is amazing to have won; it's beyond my dreams."

NOTE: Women's repeat winner Christy Phillips, 44, of St. Petersburg could see a few runners ahead of her during the race and knew there were a few hundred behind her. But her win in 1:28:06 was basically a solo effort. She was sixth overall in the field of 431, including 205 women.

"I ran by myself the whole time," said Phillips, who finished third overall last year in 1:25:20. "There was no one to work with ...and running up two bridges four times (out and back) is challenging."

And there was no one to help Phillips get up after slipping on the ramp off Memorial Bridge within sight of the finish line. She wasn't seriously injured.

Three of the next four women were 39. They were led by Lois Waite (1:29:42) of Tampa, followed by Terri Rejimbal, 38, of Mount Dora, Sharon Beltram del Rio of Clearwater and Kathy Frailing of Largo.

UPDATE: Last year's men's winner, Elias Gonzalez of Tampa, a former Division II All-American at the University of Tampa, is serving in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army.

5-MILER: Runners over 40 also dominated the other race held from Coachman Park. The winners were Chuck Roose, 42, of Wesley Chapel in 32:16 and Beth Wonicker-Cook, 40, of Palm Harbor U. in 39:02, good for 10th overall in the mixed field.

NAPLES HALF: Sonja Uhl, the women's winner of the recent St. Pete Beach Classic, would have won overall in the Clearwater Halfathon by eight minutes, finishing in 1:16:29 Sunday. But in an international field with mega dollars on the finish line, she finished fourth in the women's field by a mere 34 seconds.

Turnea Lane of Miami won (1:15:55) the women's race and Joseph Chirlee of Georgia (1:04:18) prevailed among men.

Albert Wieringa of St. Petersburg was the top area finisher, 42nd in the mixed field of 1,220 in 1:24:14. At age 60, Wieringa was elevated to second in the grandmaster division (50-59) but given the prize money ($300) that was earmarked for the 60-plus winner, said race director Perry Silverman. Wieringa was second to 53-year-old Jose Clavijo of Lauderhill by four seconds.

"We thought that it was fair to award Albert to first-place 60-plus prize money rather than second, 50-59," Silverman said.

That move effectively moved St. Petersburg winter resident Bill Riley, 70, into first in the senior grand masters division with his time of 1:32:12. He also won $300.

Millie Hamilton of Redington Beach shared the spotlight with Riley as the women's winner of the 60-plus division. Her time was 1:59:17, entitling her to $300.

Other area age-group award winners included Lisa Kothe (West Florida YRC), first, 45-49, 1:31:47; Denise Skinner (Forerunners), first, 50-54, 1:34:35; and Jessica Mundie (St. Pete Mad Dogs), third, 50-54, 1:42:47.

RUN WITH THE NUNS 5K: When the lead run goes off course, everyone else usually does, too. That's what happened at Saturday's race in St. Petersburg. The result was a 2.78-mile race in which Tracy McDonald was declared the winner in 16:08 and Patti Spence of Belleair took the women's title in 19:43.

The boys and girls mile winners were Kyle Groh (5:58) and Marina Sullo (7:54), both of St. Petersburg.

For deep results on this race and the Halfathon, visit coolrunning.com.

ST. PETE BEACH CLASSIC: The buzz of the starting line among the area's top runners was that North Carolina (Blowing Rock) invitee Judson Cake was aiming to dip under 30 minutes for the 10K.

That sent a clear message to the local elite, namely Lee Stephens and former event winners Dror Vaknin and Steve Mandel: Back off!

As the race played out, Cake only maintained that pace - 4:49 - for the first mile, then eased back due to the warm conditions compared to the mountains of North Carolina. Nobody went with Cake or was near him for the first 5 miles.

Cake tapered off, winning in 32:31 as Stephens (33:05) and Vaknin (33:36) ran out of real estate in their late attempt to reel him in.

Event director Wendy Johnson now begins focusing on the next Motion Sports Management's event, Bay to Bay on March 18. The main event is 12 kilometers (7.45 miles) across St. Petersburg along 1st Ave. S. The awards ceremony follows a brunch catered by the Columbia and Cha Cha Coconuts restaurants on the Pier rooftop terrace overlooking Tampa Bay.

For details, visit www.runbaytobay.com.

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 23:04:25]