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A Victorious End To A Difficult Day

TBO photo by BILL WARD

As the sun rises over Tampa Bay, Ronnie Holassie of Hollywood heads down Bayshore Boulevard.

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: March 1, 2009

TAMPA - En route to his second consecutive victory in the event, Miramar's Ronnie Holassie had plenty to deal with during Sunday's Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Marathon.

To start, there was too much wind and temperatures were on the warm side. Near the end, he and his competitors were soaked with a downpour. And then there was that Achilles' tendon strain that had been nagging Holassie for weeks.

But nothing weighed heavier on Gasparilla's defending marathon champion than the health of his 17-month-old son, Jeremiah. Monday, Jeremiah underwent surgery to ease pressure on his brain because his skull was not forming properly. The surgery was successful but Jeremiah needed to remain in the hospital several days for observation and recovery.

For much of that stay, Holassie was at his son's bedside and didn't sleep much. He says he was too worried. Jeremiah finally was released Saturday, but Holassie says he still struggled making the drive to Tampa for the marathon.

"I was really torn about coming," said Holassie, a native of Trinidad who represented that country in two Olympics. "I wanted to be there when he got home, but I knew he was OK and everyone told me that I should go ahead and race."

For the financial sake of his family, coming to the race was a good move. The 37-year-old Holassie, who runs a car detailing business, earned a $6,000 payday by winning the race in a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 56 seconds - nearly 14 minutes ahead of runner-up Chad Byler, 25, of Rochester, N.Y.

Taking third was another 25-year-old, Ryan Althaus (2:44:36). In August 2007, Althaus was knocked off his bicycle by a car and received two broken vertebrae in his back. Sunday was his first completed marathon since that accident.

Holassie's time Sunday was well off his personal best of 2:12:33 and not close to the event record of 2:18:48. But on a day when the health on his son was a constant thought, Holassie seemed pleased with a win of any kind.

"It the surgery was heavy on my mind from the day it happened," said Holassie, a former groom at Tampa Bay Downs and previous Gasparilla winner in both the 15k and 5k. "I guess I went out there and I said, 'I'm just going to run comfortably. I'm not going to go out crazy.' My concentration was on to win and to run under 2:30 for the time bonus."

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456.

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