Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Russ Gerbers and Christy Phillips earn wins by comfortable margins.
By JOHN SCHWARB
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 24, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Coming into the 22nd Times Turkey Trot, Russ Gerbers and Christy Phillips simply did not know what to think.
Recent setbacks had been disappointing, and neither knew what their bodies could offer. At the finish line, however, all questions were pleasantly answered as the two won their respective 10K races Thursday in Clearwater. Gerbers, 22, crossed the line in 31 minutes, 5 seconds while Phillips, 38, clocked in at 36:24.
To some of the participants, the 50-degree temperatures were cold, but to Gerbers, they were practically tropical.
The South Florida senior got to know cold personally Monday at the NCAA Championships in Ames, Iowa, where mercury readings were in the teens and wind chills below zero. For Gerbers, such conditions made for a miserable race as he finished in 32:03, 140th overall.
Racing in his first Times Turkey Trot 10K, the Grand Rapids, Mich., native was still a little tired but maintained a goal of having a better run to help erase some of the bad memories from Iowa.
"The NCAA's were a real letdown for me. I wanted to go out and run fast and place in the top 15 to become All-American," Gerbers said.
"When that didn't happen, I wanted to race one more time to put closure on the season."
Gerbers set a fast pace right away in order to gauge the unfamiliar competition. Oldsmar's Tony Teats, 23, stayed closest to him but never threatened, finishing second in 31:24.
"He went out, and he didn't come back, unfortunately," Teats said.
"On the last mile, he finished it off."
On the final turn before entering the finishing straightaway at Clearwater High's Jack White Stadium, Gerbers looked back for the first time and knew he had it won.
"I was by myself," he said.
Phillips' lingering questions coming into the race revolved around her right knee, which sidelined her three weeks ago. Tendinitis forced her off the roads, and recently, she was just beginning to get her mileage back up to prepare for the Dec. 10 Hops Marathon in Tampa.
She got out to a fast start and maintained the pace the entire way, completing an unexpected personal-best run.
"I just kept going and going," Phillips said. "I never thought I could do a 36:24 today. I expected to try to get 37:15 or something around there. But the weather was great, and the conditions were right."
Phillips' time was 44 seconds better than last year, when she finished second in 37:08.
Pinellas Park's Laure Blume finished second Thursday, also in 37:08.
Masters winners included Clearwater's Steve Wilson, 41, in 32:44 and St. Petersburg's Kathleen Kaye, 42, in 39:05. John Jerome, 52, of Tampa won the men's grand masters with a record-breaking 37:29.
Merle Hines, 56, of Batesville, Ind., won the grand masters divisions of both the 5K and 10K with times of 22:26 and 48:46.
One year after winning the 10K, Clearwater's Judy Maguire, 42, won the women's 5K Wingding in 17:33.
Jim Sellers won the men's in 14:58.
Masters winners were Seminole's Joe Costas, 49, in 17:48, and Clearwater's Lisa Kothe, 40, in 20:15. St. Petersburg's Royston Dillon, 50, won the men's grand masters in an age-group record 17:59.
In the 1-mile Gobbler, former Ridgewood High and current Florida State freshman runner Eric Dieters won the men's in 4:31. Largo freshman Deanna Drugash won the women's in 5:40.
Due in part to the colder weather, the Times Turkey Trot drew 10,227 participants, down from last year's record of 11,453.
This year's 5K drew the majority of entrants, 5,413, followed by 2,915 for the mile and 1,899 for the 10K.