Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Benton runs away with women's title

By DAVE THEALL, Running
Published September 9, 2007

Who would win the finale of the women's division at the recent Pier 60 5K series at Clearwater Beach was never in doubt. The margin of victory was another question.

St. Petersburg's Christa Benton put together her best race of the five-event West Florida Y Runners Club production, clocking 18 minutes, 2 seconds for the win and fourth place overall.

Beth Scanlan of Tampa finished second (22:12) in the women's field, followed by Carol Bancroft (22:30) of Safety Harbor, Penny Markuske (22:42) of Largo and Adrian Lufkin (22:43) of St. Petersburg.

After Benton's perfect score of 100 in the five-event series, Diane Young of Dunedin and Millie Hamilton of Redington Beach tied for second with 70 points, based on a sweep of their age groups in five races.

Ron Murawsky of Clearwater and Duncan Cameron of Palm Harbor swept their age groups with five wins for a maximum of 70 points based on 14 per race. Dennis Byron of Palm Harbor took third with 66.

Clearwater's Jack Gough, 76, was on a roll in the first four races, improving in each one for a perfect score of 56. His four times were 31:28, 29:28, 28:51 and 28:03. He missed race No. 5, where he was destined to dip under 28 minutes.

Wes Reynolds of St. Petersburg High won (17:03) his second consecutive beach race at the season's finale, followed by Marc Dannis of St. Petersburg in 17:20 and Gabe Ramos of Largo High in 17:43.

MORE BENTON: In sweeping the series, Benton heightened her fitness level for a more challenging fall and winter schedule, although that hasn't yet taken shape. Benton said she and her coach are choosing among a list of events.

One race is certain - the Disney Marathon in January. Last year Benton led for 25-plus miles only to be overtaken in the last mile by Gabriela Trana of Costa Rica. Still, her 2:57:25 debut at 26.2 miles was extraordinary and whet her appetite for longer distances. She went on to run 3:01:57 in April at Boston in adverse weather conditions then attacked the Grandma's Marathon (2:58:23) in June in Duluth, Minn.

"The beach series is both fun and good preparation for fall and winter races," said Benton, who went on to run a 35:21 10K last winter at the Suncoast Classic. "Right now I'm focusing on my new teaching position (music) at Northside Christian, where I'm also a volunteer coach with the girls cross-country team."

CANES CLASSIC 5K: Benton broke her women's cross-country course record in Bradenton on Monday with a time of 17:30, only 3 seconds behind men's winner Ricardo Lomas. There were 400 in the field, in which Debra Donald, 49, of St. Petersburg won the women's masters title in 21:59.

LABOR DAY 5K: At Palm Harbor, Joe Palmer won going away in 18:20, followed by Brad May in 20:42 and Jim Hummel, 46, of Tarpon Springs third in 20:46. In the women's concurrent race, Christiana Akins of Palm Harbor won in 26:10, followed by Allie Thorton, Palm Harbor, 27:44; Paulina Novillo, Oldsmar, 28:06; and Pat Hoffman, 57, Palm Harbor, 28:54.

[Last modified September 8, 2007, 22:40:37]