The Fourth of July would be incomplete without Dunedin's legendary Midnight Run. The 29th annual event, with 5K, 10K and one-mile awards, drew a large crowd as usual.
Tampa's Lee Stephens, 28, finished first in the 5K with a time of 15:52, just one second ahead of Tampa's Mark Parrish. Melanie Peters, 24, of St. Petersburg was the fastest female with a time of 19:10.
Seventeen-year-old Buka Harris of St. Petersburg was second in his age group, 11th overall, with a time of 17:45. In the male 18-19 age group, Aaron Thomas and Julio Silva, both of Seminole, and Kenneth City's Mark Benjamin had a foot race with a pace just one second apart (5:35, 5:36, 5:37), finishing fourth, fifth and seventh overall, respectively.
Other age group winners included Jackie Sullivan of Clearwater Beach; Stephanie Rancich, Lilly Roush, Ray McCreight, Douglas McGarvey and Allison Smith of Clearwater; Eugene Fanning, Erik Logan, Joe Palmer, Bret Jardine, Joe Daly, Dennis Byron of Palm Harbor; Kim Langevin, Carol Zaffiri, Alia Kaiser of Dunedin; Rosalyn Randall of Oldsmar and Sheila Basque of Tarpon Springs.
In the 10K, 21-year-old Ryan MacManus of Seminole turned in the fastest time in 33:37. World class triathlete Spencer Smith finished third overall in 35:12.
Rounding out the top 10 were Keith Sawayda, 45, of Clearwater in fifth place in 36:29, and Thomas McGrath, 17, of Largo in ninth in 37:36.
The one-mile awards went to Bobby DeSantis, 48, of Clearwater, who ran a 5:05, and Christina Patterson, 18, of Dunedin, who clocked in at 6:18.
Triathlon
Several local athletes headed to the Crystal River for the city's annual Sprint Triathlon on Saturday. Lucas Caron of Palm Harbor was 12th overall in 1:01:40.
Thomas Hoffman of Palm Harbor, finished 22nd in 1:08:22.
Age group winners included Harold Singer of Largo (65-69), Gary Bonacorsi of Seminole (60-64) and Molly Moore of Clearwater (50-54).
Young triahletes showed their stuff June 30 at the Tri if you Dare Triathlon in Seminole. Sarah Sykes, 13, of Largo won the female 13-15 division, and John Farese, 13, of St. Petersburg was the male winner. Among the 11- and 12-year-olds, it was Courtney Smith of St. Petersburg and Caleb Hudak of Seminole.
In the 9-10 age group, Grace Rose of Oldsmar and Riley Hawes of Sarasota finished first. In the 7-8 age group, Reagan Quilty of St. Petersburg and Tristin Hawes won. In the 5-6 age group, the winners were Emerson Quily and Zane Holmes.
Traveling triathletes
More news from last month's Coeur d'Alene Idaho Ironman Triathlon: several TriLewis athletes completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile ride and 26.2-mile run. The team included Jeff Chapman, Seminole, 16 hours and 21 minutes; Carole Torreano of Clearwater, 15:47; Paul Kimmel of Palm Harbor, 14:48; David Blackwood of St. Petersburg, 15:16; Leslie Gerlach of Largo, 16:12 and coach Lewis Bennett in 14:49.
Forerunners news
Debra Donald, 50, St. Petersburg, won the 50-54 division at the Independence Day 5K, on July 4 in Lutz. Donald finished in 21:37.
At the Dunedin Midnight Run 5K, Katherine McMeekin, 17, an East Lake High senior, won her 16-17 division in 20:10. Hunter McCann, 11, of Treasure Island was first in his age group in 20:43.
Kristine Cox, 42, of St. Petersburg won the 40-44 age division, and Anna Reschar, 46 of St. Petersburg was third in the 45-49 age group at the Run thru Hell 3.4-mile cross-country race at Tampa's Al Lopez Park on Sunday.
Cox ran 24:16, and Reschar, 25:42. Cox's son, Ian, 12, was third place in his 14-and-under group in 34:43. Forerunners coach Joe Burgasser, back to racing after a January cycling accident, won his 65-69 category in 24:17.
Peachtree Road Race
Numerous Pinellas runners made the trip to Atlanta for the Peachtree Road Race, the largest running event in the United States, on July 4.
Steve Wilcox, 37, a graduate of Boca Ciega High and a Forerunners member, finished 90th among the estimated 55,000 runners at the 10K. Wilcox's 35:34 was good for fifth place in his M35 division.
Nationally ranked masters runner Scott Winnier, 41, of St. Petersburg placed 139th in 36:25; Benton Jones, 17, of Clearwater finished 230th in 38:29; Bob Wagoner, 35, of Seminole was 287th in 39:17, and Albert Wieringa, 61, of St. Petersburg finished 440th in 41:23.
Do you have running, swimming, biking, triathlon or adventure racing news? Send it to Terry Tomalin at ttomalin@sptimes.com or call (727) 893-8808. You can also submit news online at community.tampabay.com.
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