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By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 24, 2001
About 14,000 people will participate in the Gasparilla Distance Classic today, and each one has a story. Here are eight of them, one from each of eight decades, ranging from 12-year-old Lexi MacKinnon, a Gasparilla first-timer who will run the 5K, to 80-year-old Millard Shumate, who has never missed the 15K in 23 previous Gasparillas. Some run for fun (53-year-old Iris Smith doesn't care what her time is), and some run to win (23-year-old University of South Florida runner Matt Whaley is one of the favorites). Together they are the Gasparilla Experience -- A Run for the Ages.
NAME: Millard Shumate.
RESIDENCE: South Tampa, three blocks from Plant High. From Beckley, W.Va.
AGE: 80. Turns 81 on March 13.
OCCUPATION: Retired Air Force pilot. Also was an air traffic controller.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: Has run all 23. Shumate moved to Tampa in 1977, a year before the first Gasparilla. His best time is "around 60 minutes."
HOW HE TRAINS: "I train less for this race than I probably do for any other race. I used to run a lot of marathons. I've run Boston (three times), New York (twice), Marine Corps (twice), some others. I don't really train for any races. I just run what I want to. I used to train 60 miles a week about 20 years ago. Now I run about 20 miles (a week), 3 or 4 (miles) a day, about five days a week. I haven't run a marathon in about six years. As you get older and things go on, you slow down. The worst thing about my running now is my balance. I have to be very careful or I'll fall. I've fell three or four times but never got seriously hurt." Shumate does about half his training on Bayshore Boulevard. He didn't start running until after he retired and moved to Florida.
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "My doctor says not to run under 20-minute miles (due to a heart murmur), so my time will be whatever (9.3 miles) times 20 is -- that's about three hours. But I'm going to try to run a little better than that."
NAME: Rosalyn Anderson.
RESIDENCE: Hanover, Mich.
AGE: Turns 73 today.
OCCUPATION: Chorus director.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: Anderson has competed in the 5K for about 10 years, and this is the only race she runs. She plans her vacation around Gasparilla and visits her son, Daniel, 48, who lives in Tampa, and her daughter, Kathleen Roache, 42, who lives in Belleair. Both also will run Gasparilla. Kathleen, a competitive triathlete, is entered in the 15K and 5K, and Daniel will run the 5K with his mother for the second straight year after doing the 15K the 12 previous years. "I walk and run and walk and run," Rosalyn Anderson said. "I love it. I couldn't miss it."
HOW SHE TRAINS: "I go to the Y and run and walk on the track."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "I go about a 14- or 15-minute mile pace. I'm out there to enjoy myself, and I do."
NAME: Bob Ranta.
RESIDENCE: Sun City Center (winter) and South Lyon, Mich. (summer).
AGE: 68.
OCCUPATION: Retired toolmaker.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: He has run the 15K every year since 1998. "Last year I ran just over (1 hour, 20 minutes) by a few seconds, but I think a few years ago I ran about 1:18. I'm guessing, though."
HOW HE TRAINS: "I do a lot of triathlons and some marathons, so this is just part of the schedule. I don't train specifically for this, but right now I'm just doing about 25 miles a week running. And I'm doing a lot of biking and swimming, also."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "Pretty much the same (as last year), low 1:20s. I'll be happy with anything. I like the run. It's a great run, a nice course."
NAME: Iris Smith.
RESIDENCE: Lakeland.
AGE: 53.
OCCUPATION: Editor for a medical transcription company.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: "I've run it four times and never have done the 15K until (today). But I did the Hops Marathon this year, so I figured I could handle a 15K."
HOW SHE TRAINS: Smith is a member of the nationally known Jeff Galloway training program. "We just continued training after the Hops Marathon. We do long runs on Saturdays, anywhere from 10 to 14 or 18 (miles). Then during the week we have a minimum of two runs, not less than 45 minutes."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: Smith is running with friend and training partner Louise Wachstein of Temple Terrace, who turns 49 today. She said she doesn't have a time she wants to achieve. "I just want to run a good race."
NAME: Gregory Marshall.
RESIDENCE: Split between Pinellas Park and Cincinnati.
AGE: 48.
OCCUPATION: Project manager for Johnson & Johnson.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: "The first time was 1982, but I had a big respite in there, so I'd say I've run it about 10 or 12 times." Marshall will run the 5K, as he usually does. Twice he has run the 15K. His best 5K time is between 22 and 23 minutes; his best 15K is 1:14.
HOW HE TRAINS: "I've just been running 3 miles every other day, three times a week or so. When I'm in Florida I run a lot more because the weather is more conducive."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "I'm running with a friend, and I'd like to go under 27 minutes. I haven't been training a lot, so that's probably the best I'll do."
NAME: Carolyn Dreier.
RESIDENCE: St. Petersburg.
AGE: 35.
OCCUPATION: Pediatric nurse at Bayfront Medical Center and nurse practitioner student at the University of Tampa.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: A native of St. Petersburg and graduate of Gibbs High and the University of Florida, Dreier has run the race every year since returning to the area in 1994. In December she ran the inaugural Hops Marathon, which is operated by the Gasparilla Distance Classic Association, and finished in 3 hours, 53 minutes. "It was very hot," she said.
HOW SHE TRAINS: "I do about 30 to 40 miles a week."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "I'm running it with my fiance, Greg Sironen. He's training for an Ironman (triathlon) in Germany, so he's running it with me because he's a little bit better runner than I am. My best (Gasparilla) time is 1:15, about an eight-minute-mile pace, but if he's running it with me, I can probably do the 7:30s or 7:45 (per mile pace)."
NAME: Matt Whaley.
RESIDENCE: Tampa.
AGE: 23.
OCCUPATION: University of South Florida student majoring in interdisciplinary social sciences. He is a member of the USF track team, specializing in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He is the No. 3 men's seed for today's 15K race.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: Whaley ran the 15K in 1998 and 2000. He finished 31st in '98 and sixth last year in 48:51. His twin brother, Mike, also runs for USF and placed 11th last year in 49:57. Mike isn't competing today. The Whaleys are from Fort Myers and graduated from Estero High.
HOW HE TRAINS: "I'm training for track season. I'm running about 70, 75 miles a week."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "I'm just going to go out and try and hold the pace, see how it goes out."
NAME: Lexi MacKinnon.
RESIDENCE: Tampa.
AGE: 12.
OCCUPATION: Sixth-grade student at St. John's Episcopal Parish Day School in South Tampa.
GASPARILLA EXPERIENCE: Rookie. A family friend, Steve McDonald, 33, of Tampa has been participating in the 15K for years, and MacKinnon asked if she could give Gasparilla a try this year. She will run the 5K.
HOW SHE TRAINS: "I run 2 miles every day."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE RACE: "Just to finish -- in less than 30 minutes."