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Calm after the storm

Melanie Peters' frenzy ends with qualifying for the Olympic marathon trials.

By Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer
Published February 11, 2008

Ronnie Holassie wears the medal he earned for winning the men's marathon by almost 17 minutes. The two-time Olympian for his native Trinidad and Tobago averaged 5:25.9 per mile to finish in 2:22:23. Photo gallery: Running Gasparilla
	[Brian Cassella | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Brian Cassella | Times] Melanie Peters rests after both of her lower legs cramped up upon crossing the finish line first in the women's marathon. [Brian Cassella | Times] Runners cross the Platt Street bridge during the Gasparilla Distance Classic marathon and half-marathon.

TAMPA - The week before last, Melanie Peters' roommate was sick, her marine science classes at USF were stressing her out and her workload at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in downtown St. Petersburg was growing mountainous.

During that week, she estimates, the former miler at the University of Miami logged four hours' sleep, ran zero miles and lost 9 pounds.

"If that's how you prepare for a marathon," Peters said, "everybody should do it."

Skeptics of that haphazard training approach were few at Sunday morning's Gasparilla Distance Classic marathon. On a crisp, breezy morning, Peters, 24, proved you can languish in life's rat race but still win a 26.2-mile one.

Establishing a pace well faster than 61/2 minutes per mile, Peters hit the Bayshore Boulevard winners' tape in 2:46:45 - making the qualifying mark for April's U.S. Olympic marathon trials with a little more than 13 seconds to spare.

"I wasn't really shooting for the trials because, literally, school is hell and I don't have time to train," said Peters, who grew up in Michigan but resides in St. Petersburg and trains along the Pinellas Trail.

"I was definitely looking forward to it four years from now, but if I can get it now ... that would be great. You don't want to pass something as important as this up."

Peters' trials-qualifying kick to the finish line, amid rousing applause, was the only real suspense during Sunday's marathon, which commenced with 36-year-old Hollywood, Fla., resident Ronnie Holassie winning the men's race by nearly 17 minutes.

Holassie, hospitalized with a kidney stone roughly 12 hours after finishing fourth at the 2007 Gasparilla marathon, finished in 2:22:23 - a per-mile pace of 5:25.9 and 15 seconds slower than his effort the previous February.

Sunday, he so distanced himself from the rest of the field, he tried getting behind the media truck to block the winds whipping at him as he ran the final stretch north along Bayshore.

"You're in front. You're all alone. It feels good," said Holassie, who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics for his native Trinidad and Tobago.

"But then you still would like to have somebody to shade you. Coming back, the wind was crazy."

Not as crazy as Peters' schedule.

In addition to the demands of her job and professors, Peters still was recovering from last month's Walt Disney World marathon, where she won the women's title but missed the Olympic trials qualifying time by 29 seconds.

At the finish line Sunday, her lower legs immediately cramped on her, forcing medical attendants to transport her via wheelchair to a nearby recovery tent.

"I was just praying to God my legs didn't lock up because if I went down I'd be down," Peters said while undergoing a calf massage.

"And they went as I stopped at the finish."

As full-time Florida residents, Peters and Holassie - who has dual-citizenship status - each earned $6,000 for the victory. One-third of that was a bonus given to Florida residents who met specific times (2:30 and faster for men, 2:55 and faster for women). The two were the only ones to earn bonus money.

Joey Knight can be reached at jknight@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3350.

[Last modified February 10, 2008, 21:51:30]