Northpinellas: Visions of Olympics run through minds

The sprint to the finish at Saturday's Race For The Cure in downtown St. Petersburg was reminiscent of the gold-medal battles in the men's and women's Olympic triathlons in Sydney.

Just as a gold medal is coveted, so too is a rare $1,000 first-place award in an area road race.

The overall turnout for the multi-faceted event, a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, was approximately 7,000. There were 1,400 runners under 56 minutes, 5 seconds.

The expected duel between training partners Muchapiwa Mazano of Tampa and Tony Teats of Oldsmar unfolded at the outset.

They separated themselves from the field on the looping 5K course, which started and ended on the bayfront.

After an opening 4:22 mile, Mazano yielded the lead to Teats. Mazano was content to sit on Teats' shoulder until the final push down Beach Drive, where Mazano put on a furious burst of speed to capture first place by two seconds in 15:14.

Tampa's Dror Vaknin -- who, like Mazano, is a former USF track star -- was third in 16:23.

Mazano said he was hoping to be in Sydney representing his native country, Zimbabwe, but he wasn't selected for the track and field team.

His alternative was the St. Petersburg road race. He made the most of it, in part, by changing his strategy. In the past, Mazano has gone to the front early and held on as long as possible.

"I wanted him (Teats) to take the lead and wait till the end," said Mazano, 28. "I just waited until the end.

"He looked over his shoulder for me down that final stretch, and I just passed him on his right," Mazano said. "He's a great runner, but I was confident I would win."

Mazano said he thought the course was excellent but might have been long. He has run 13:18 for 5K.

However, race director Steve Meckfessel asserted the course was accurately measured and duly USAT&F certified by road race official Everett McDowell.

Runner-up Teats said of Mazano: "His race plan worked; mine didn't. He waited till the end to kick in; I tried to lead the whole way."

Teats was the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference 10K track winner (30:51) while running for Morehead State (Ky.) University.

WOMEN'S RACE: Cathy Vasto of Jacksonville had Olympic dreams, competing in the U.S. Trials in the 5K in Sacramento in July.

She logged a time of 16:39 in her opening heat. Regina Jacobs set an American women's record in winning the final in 14:45.

Under considerably less pressure Saturday, Vasto, 31, passed Clearwater's Judy Maguire after two blocks and breezed through the first mile in 5:34 and the second in 5:41.

Maguire stayed on her heels throughout, but she didn't have the leg turnover in the last 200 meters to overtake Vasto.

Vasto won over her 41-year-old rival by three seconds in 17:47. Laure Blume of Pinellas Park was third, 18:19.

The prize money went three deep with Vasto winning $1,000, Maguire $500 and Blume $100..

Vasto said the main reason she came to the area was to visit a friend in Clearwater Beach and that she ran the race for the fun of it.

"I just tried to relax and enjoy it," said Vasto, who was an all-American miler at the University of Kansas.

"I was hoping to win and prepared to sprint at the end, but I didn't have to," she said. "I ran comfortably the whole way, although it was humid out there. I wished the race had started earlier than 8:30."

Vasto said the $1,000 would go a long way toward paying bills, especially since she's unemployed.

Vasto said she liked the area so much that she might relocate here.

NOTES: In the men's race, the Forerunners Club of St. Petersburg made a strong showing.

Steve Wilcox, Rory McCarron and Jim Burgasser captured places six, seven and eight.

Robert Skaggs of Tampa finished fourth, and Rick Shapic of Naples was fifth.

Perry Small, 40, of Naples, won the masters division in 16:58, finishing ninth -- one place ahead of Terry Fluke, 41, of St. Pete in 17:03. They were followed by Mike Ferriera and David Joyce of the Forerunners.

In age-group competition, Royston Dillon of South Pasadena won 50-and-over in 18:29, Roger Sweeney of Palm Harbor was tops in 55-59 in 18:38 and coach Joe Burgasser of the Forerunners finished 36th overall and first in 60-plus, 18:57.

Larry Yost of Treasure Island averaged 8:33 per mile, winning the 70-74 age division by over seven minutes in 26:33.

The women's top 10 were rounded out by Sandy Shelton of the Forerunners in fourth (18:34), followed by Claire Byrne of Dublin, Ireland, fifth, 18:45; Amy McClenathan, 41, St. Petersburg, sixth, 18:51; Kim Donaldson, St. Pete, seventh, 19:16; Carol Glasscock, St. Petersburg, eighth, 19:33; Shannon Robbins, Tampa, ninth, 19:59; and Jeanne Lesniak, St. Pete, 10th, 20:12.

Shirley Taylor, 67, a member of the St. Pete Mad Dogs and West Florida Y Runners Club, finished first in 60-and-over in 30 minutes.

For complete results, log on to www.komentampabay.com.

TRAVELERS: One local runner who might have captured first place in the women's division was in California.

Christy Phillips of St. Petersburghad recorded a personal-best 17:34 en route to winning the Sept. 16 Run for the Gold at Al Lopez Park.

But last weekend, she opted to go to the San Francisco area to do some not-too-serious trail running.

Another area runner, Bonnie Theall of Dunedin, was coming off a bronze-medal finish (48:56) in the 55-59 age division at the Road Runners Club of America 10K Championshipin Northport, N.Y.

She won the Race for the Cure in 24:32.

Kristy Johnston of Shepherdstown,W. Va., who was second at the Olympic Trials marathon, won the women's division at the hilly RRCA Championship in 34:07.

Terry Fluke, 10th overall last Saturday, took off for running in Spain just after the race.

OLYMPICS: The oldest sport, cross country running, sadly is missing from the Olympics program.

It was first held in 1912 in Stockholm, and was dropped after the 1924 Paris Olympics after a large number of the 38 runners wilted in the heat and got torn up by knee-high thistles.

Only 15 finished the grueling 10K course. Paavo Nurmi of Finland won in 32:54 after taking the 1,500- and 5,000-meter events on the same day two-days prior.

Ronnie Holassie, winner of last December's Holiday Classic in Clearwater, will run Sunday's Olympic marathon for Trinidad and Tobago for the second time.

He's a former groom at Tampa Bay Downs.

COMING UP: The Hurricane Run for Children 5K is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at St. Pete Beach. Call 813-874-7223 for more details.

On Oct. 8 at 8:30 a.m., there will be a 5K and 10K starting at Largo Central Park. The Great Balls of Fire Run is part of Fire Prevention Week. For more information, call 587-6737.

Runners can register for the Nov. 23 Times Turkey Trot on line at tampabay.comturkeytrot. Training programs continue Saturday mornings at 8 at Taylor Park and Chesnut Park.

The Dec. 18 Hops Marathon By the Bay has closed its relay team registration. Only 100 squads will compete the first year.

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