Stars come out for races

By DAVE THEALL

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001

There were a few celebrity athletes in town last weekend, and I'm not referring to pro football players, former athletes and hangers-on.

The combination of the Saucony SuperRun 5K in downtown St. Petersburg on Friday night and the Naples Daily News Half Marathon on Sunday brought in a few national class runners looking for favorable conditions and a rare chance to share in a $15,000 prize purse.

Among those in the field were former Tampa Bay Downs groom Ronnie Holassie, a 1996 and 2000 Olympic marathoner for Trinidad and Tobago; Eddie Hellebuyck, an ex-Belgian Olympian who lives in New Mexico; and Kim Pawelek of Jacksonville Beach, the 1999 national women's marathon champion and seventh-place finisher in last year's Olympic Trials.

Pawelek, 27, was the most successful of the group, winning the women's division of the SuperRun in 17:07, then bouncing back two-days later for a second-place performance in Naples in 1:15:38.

She was beaten to the wire by Russia's Ramilia Burangulova, who clocked in at 1:14:54 -- a 5:43 per-mile pace. Burangulova, staying in Tampa for the winter, had won the Holiday Classic in Clearwater in December.

Hellebuyck was the overall winner (15:05) in the Friday night 5K, then returned for a fourth-place (1:05:15) finish in Naples.

However, at age 40, Hellebuyck was recognized as the masters division winner. That not only earned him additional prize money, but his time set an American record for the distance for the new citizen. The ratified record was 1:05:27.

Finishing ahead of Hellebuyck were Elly Rono of Kenya in 1:04:56, Holassie and Malcolm Campbell (1:05:13) of Marietta, Ga., a former USF runner.

Tony Teats of Oldsmar was the top Pinellas runner at Naples, placing 10th in the field of 1,500 with a time of 1:08:20 -- two seconds off his best for the distance.

"I was with the lead group for about the first 5 miles, which we covered in about 25 minutes, but then I fell back with a 5:05 mile, then 5:10 and finally 5:20 miles," said Teats, 24, the winner of December's Hops Marathon.

"I was looking for a time in the mid-1:07 range, which I know I'm capable of, but I ran too much and too hard in the week leading up to it. I didn't feel fresh.

"I put in 80 miles, which is too much preparing for a big race," he said. "I didn't prepare smart."

Teats' next big race will be Gasparilla on Feb. 24. He fully expects another duel with Russ Gerbers of USF, who has won the 15K the past two years. They finished 1-2 in November's Times Turkey Trot with Gerbers leading all the way.

There was some serious age-group competition in Naples.

The men's 60-and over division attracted two nationally-ranked runners -- Don Ardell of Tampa and Bill Riley of Cape Cod, Mass., a St. Petersburg winter resident.

Ardell was the clear-cut winner this time in 1:23:51, 72 seconds ahead of the 2000 Gasparilla 60-64 age-group winner. Riley had won the division in Friday night's race in St. Pete, in which Ardell didn't compete.

At Naples, by breaking out those two "senior grand masters" from the five-year age groups, others in that division moved up two notches.

One was Jim Larson of Clearwater. He earned an attractive cut-crystal award for his third-place finish (1:33:46).

It was goodbye to that tough age division for Larson, who turned 65 on Friday.

"It was a good race for me because I started slowly and gradually picked people off all during the race," said Larson, a civil engineer with the Pinellas County government. "I had a lot left at the end, too. It was an ideal day to run."

Larson, a three-time age-group winner at Gasparilla, is dealing with prostate cancer. He's being examined at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and a second biopsy is going to help pinpoint its location before any action is taken.

Other top-10 Pinellas finishers at Naples included:

MEN

30-34 -- 5. Jim Burgasser, St. Petersburg, 1:19:42.

35-39 -- 3. Mike Ferreira, St. Petersburg, 1:16:02.

55-59 -- 9. Dan DeRussy, St. Petersburg, 1:42:43.

70-plus -- 8. Howard Rubin, St. Pete Beach, 1:54:30.

WOMEN

30-34 -- 9. Brigitte Borsh-Zimmer, Clearwater, 1:41:11.

35-39 -- 3. Kim Bruce, St. Petersburg, 1:27:35.

45-49 -- 3. Denise Skinner, St. Petersburg, 1:30:39.

55-59 -- 6. Ginger Herring, St. Petersburg, 2:07:14.

MORE SUPERRUN: Steve Wilcox of St. Petersburg took third in 16:11 behind Hellebuyck and Andy Bishop (15:27) of Gainesville.

In the women's division, Kathy Kaye of St. Pete had a strong race, breaking 19 minutes -- okay, 18:59. Nevertheless, she won the masters division and beat a few highly-regarded younger competitors in the process.

Kaye finished fifth behind Pawelek, Bea Marie Altieri (17:33), Amelia Griffith (17:51) and Laure Blume (18:10). However, Kaye prevailed over former USF standout Laura Karpalisto (19:00), whom she nipped at the wire, high school phenom Christa Benton (19:06), and Amy McClenathan (19:12).

"I tried to stay with Amy all during the race," said Kaye, 42. "At the very end, I went after Laura and Amy seemed to hang back. That's what happened.

"It was a good race for me, breaking 19 for the first time in a while," Kaye said. "This gives me confidence going in to Gasparilla, trying to break an hour."

The turnout of nearly 500 runners, considering late scheduling and promotion, was a pleasant surprise, said event director Steve Meckfessel.

Complete results can be found at triflorida.com/superrun.htm.

FLATLANDERS: Former Notre Dame runner Mike Greiwe (pronounced "Grew") outkicked defending champion Muchapiwa Mazano of Tampa at the end of the Flatlanders Challenge 10K at Spring Lake outside Brooksville.

On a hilly course with gravel roads, Greiwe prevailed by eight seconds in 33:40. The USF med student's personal record for the distance is 30:24.

Carla Dolder of Gainesville took the women's title in a field of 178 runners in 40:07, followed by Jennifer Schmidt in 42:27.

LADY TRACKSHACK 5K: At Winter Park last Sunday, Beth Godwin of Gainesville won this major all-women's race in a time of 18:17 among a field of 650 runners. Claudia Kasen, 43, of Orlando took second in 18:19.

The Pinellas standouts were Esther Gay, 53, of Pinellas Park, who won the grand master award in 22:04. Yvonne Rodgers of Seminole captured first (22:52) in the 55-59 division.

THIS JUST IN: The Nov. 4 New York City Marathon has been announced as the men's and women's national championship. It will serve as an Olympic Trials qualifier, and NBC will televise it live.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright