Cameron gives younger athlete run for money

Duncan Cameron didn't win Sunday's Half Moon Half Marathon at New Port Richey's J.B. Starkey Park, but finishing second was a great showing for the 59-year-old Palm Harbor runner. The 5-foot-8, 130-pound Cameron ran alongside Bernd Liesenfeld, 31, of Gainesville during the middle and late stages. Thinking that if the race came down to a sprint to the finish line he couldn't stay with his younger rival, Cameron decided to make a bold break early and perhaps steal the victory.

"I made my move between the 11- and 12-mile mark, but he overtook me in the last mile and went on to win," Cameron said. "Still, it was a good race for me -- in 1:32:32 -- especially since the course was on trails consisting of a lot of heavy sand."

Liesenfeld's winning time was 1:37:45.

Kathleen Kaye, 43, of St. Petersburg was the first woman and fourth overall in the field of 25 with a 1:43:55 performance.

For Cameron, the race concludes a strong fall season. He improved his 10K time from 43:16 in October to 40:32 at the Times Turkey Trot in November and 40:39 at the Holiday Classic in Clearwater two weeks ago. His Turkey Trot performance earned him a third-place award in the 50-and-over division, and his Holiday Classic time was good for second in the 55-59 class behind Tampa's Roger Anderson. Cameron had age-group victories in the Bull Run 10K, Fort DeSoto 10-miler and the Lakefront 5K (19:35) this fall. He attributes his recent success to several factors.

"I've increased my weekly mileage from 30 to 45, do weekly track workouts under the direction of coach Mel Mella of the West Florida Y Runners Club, I go out slower in races now, and I haven't been injured," said Cameron, who has been running for 10 years.

A compliance officer with a St. Petersburg securities firm, Cameron said his short-term goal is a good race in next month's Gasparilla 15K -- the event that sparked his interest in the sport. He first ran it in 1993 in 1 hour, 8 minutes, never having run that far before.

"I'd like to run in the 61-62-minute range this year," Cameron said. "A lot depends on the temperature that day. My long-range goal is to run a marathon when I'm 100."

MORE STARKEY PARK RESULTS: Sunday's races on the trails in the Ultimate Fullunatic meet included a 50K and 5K.

Elaine Anthony staged the meet as a benefit for the Veterinary Nursing Advancement program of St. Petersburg College.

Jeff Timm of Bethlehem, Pa., won the long event in 4:01:30, and Kathleen Daumer of Melbourne won (4:34:50) the women's title.

Jeff Masterson, a Mitchell High sophomore, took the 5K in 16:19. New Port Richey's Danielle Coyle (19:26) captured the women's crown.

ALSO: Palm Harbor's Kevin Lyons, the Times Pinellas high school cross country runner of the year, won Sunday at Al Lopez Park in 15:50. Carolyn Lyon of Odessa was the women's winner, 19:37.

Masters division victories were registered by Walt Conrad (16:47) of Tampa and Dianne Cayll (19:38) of Palm Harbor.

Other notable times included Joe Costas' 18:33, good for first over 50; Ned Bennett, 80, breaking 30 minutes with a 29:29; and Palm Harbor's Susan Doel, 22:36, first in 50-and-over.

THIS JUST IN: The Olympic men's marathon trials are scheduled for Feb. 7, 2004, in Birmingham, Ala. The women's marathon will be in St. Louis on April 4 that year.

2001 WRAP-UP: The Avon International 10K was won in October by Catherine Nderba of Kenya a week after her world-record marathon (2:18:47) in Chicago. Her time in the Avon race in Budapest, Hungary, was 31:01, good for $15,000. Two-time Gasparilla winner Elana Meyer of South Africa was second (31:13), followed by Olivera Jevtic (31:33) of Yugoslavia. ... Holiday Classic runner-up Anne Marie Lauck ran the 1994 Gasparilla in 48:43, a time faster than Muchapiwa Mazano's winning performance (48:50) last year in the men's race. Lauck was ranked the No. 3 woman in the world that year by Running Times after having won the Advil 10K in New York's Central Park in 31:52, the Peachtree 10K in 31:57 and placing third in the New York City Marathon in 2:30:19. She was 10th in the 1996 Olympic marathon, and ran the 5K in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. ... Judy Maguire, second at Gasparilla last year, will run the Jan. 20 Gulf Beaches Marathon relay with Darrell Edrich. ... Tony Teats of East Lake has the Jan. 27 Naples Half-Marathon on his calendar. ... Laure Blume, a favorite for a top-five finish in the Holiday Classic, bruised her knees in a fall during her warm-up run. She decided to forego the competition to ensure she'd be ready for Sunday's Disney Marathon. ... All finishers in the 25th annual Gasparilla will receive commemorative pirates bead necklaces.

2001 HIGHLIGHTS: Laura Drake captures her third consecutive Gasparilla 15K title, then wins the 5K event an hour later.

Joe Burgasser of the Forerunners Club wins the 60-69 division at the Boston Marathon over 303 competitors in 2:56:49.

Meb Kefezighi of California breaks the American 10K record with a time of 27:13.98.

Deena Drossin of Colorado runs an American first-time marathon record of 2:26:58 in New York City.

Jeff Delie, 45, of Palm Harbor and Kim Donaldson, 40, of St. Petersburg win the December's Hops and Jacksonville marathons, respectively.

Jim Patton, 60, of Seminole runs his ninth marathon of the year in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 30.

Barbara Frye-Krier, 47, of Largo completes six 100-mile trail races in four months.

Gasparilla's Susan Harmeling is a top-five finalist for the Road Runners Club of America Race Director of the Year award.

QUARTERLY RANKINGS: These rankings are based primarily on the results of head-to-head competition and secondly on time.

During the fall and winter quarters, the 10K and longer races are the main basis of comparison -- not the 5K.

Similarly, the Feb. 9 Gasparilla 15K is the core event for the first quarter of 2002. To be considered, a runner must compete in at least three races in each three-month period.

MEN -- 1. Tony Teats, Oldsmar; 2. Steve Wilcox, St. Petersburg; 3. Jeff Delie, Palm Harbor; 4. Brian Scott, Seminole; 5. Jim Burgasser, St. Petersburg; 6. David Meri, St. Petersburg; 7. Terry Fluke, St. Petersburg; 8. Bob Villacres, St. Petersburg; 9. Brian Calder, Clearwater; 10. Victor Yeager, Dunedin.

Masters -- 1. Royston Dillon, South Pasadena; 2. Danny Nolan, St. Petersburg; 3. Daryl Blume, Pinellas Park; 4. Jim Keppeler, Clearwater; 5. Duncan Cameron, Palm Harbor.

WOMEN -- 1. Judy Maguire, Clearwater; 2. Laure Blume, Pinellas Park; 3. Christy Phillips, St. Petersburg; 4. Liane Rae, Belleair; 5. Lisa Valentine, Tierra Verde; 6. Mary Ann Protz, St. Petersburg; 7. Kathleen Kaye, St. Petersburg; 8. Kim Donaldson, St. Petersburg; 9. Jacki Waller, St. Petersburg; 10. Carol Glasscock, St. Pete Beach.

Masters -- 1. Amy McClenathan, St. Petersburg; 2. Dianne Cayll, Palm Harbor; 3. Lisa Kothe, Clearwater; 4. Karen Gately, Largo; 5. Annette Frisch, St. Petersburg.

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