CLEARWATER — As 10 men surged off the starting line to form the lead pack at the 37th Times Turkey Trot's 10-kilometer race, one of the lesser-known members toiled in the middle of it, waiting for the right moment to make his move.
Chris Trebilcock, running in the 10K for the first time, sailed past the finish line ahead of them all, winning in 33 minutes, 42 seconds Thursday.
The former Florida Southern standout from Tampa had previously run in the 5K Wingding but wanted to try a more demanding race.
"I've been upping my training, doing more half-marathons," Trebilcock said. "I didn't want to keep running a bunch of sub-5-minute miles (in the 5K)."
Trebilcock was familiar with most of the contenders. One of them was former Moccasins teammate Chris Yanichko of Tampa. But there was one glaring omission from the field.
Jon Mott, the defending three-time champion, decided to skip the Turkey Trot because he is training for two races to qualify for the 2016 Olympic marathon trials.
That gave others a chance. A mile into the race, there was a clear lead pack. But the leader was hard to determine, with each trying to shake off the other. One runner would gain a slight advantage, only to quickly see it disappear. It was not until the final two miles that Trebilcock and Yanichko started to separate themselves.
In the final mile, Trebilcock surged to take the lead for good.
"There was a solid group that all hung together for a good portion of the race," Trebilcock said. "It seemed like every mile the lead changed. I was just glad I was able to win.
"In most races you're just running for time. If you're trying to win, it's a little different. Time kind of goes out the window. You end up going with more surges and trying to make moves, and that's what I was able to do."
Another newcomer, Becky Howarth of Tampa, won the women's race in 37:05.
Howarth, though, is a veteran of distance races. The former Butler University standout took second at last year's Gasparilla 15K in Tampa.
At the start of Thursday's race, Howarth tried to stay with the male runners and built a sizable lead against her female counterparts. She finished more than a minute ahead of St. Petersburg's Rachel Covington (38:41).
"I was just trying to stick with the group of men," Howarth said. "I didn't know where the women were behind me. I'm, like, conscious all the time that I don't want them to catch me. It helps me to keep going and trying to hold others off."
Carl Dunne of Dunleer, Ireland, won the men's 5K Wingding, and Kristen Tenaglia of Clearwater won the women's race.
The 1-mile Gobbler winners were Andreas Dimitrakis of Athens, Greece, and Kristen Courcelle of Colchester, Vt.