Miramar Man Overcomes Wind, Rain To Win Gasparilla Marathon

Miramar's Ronnie Holassie braved strong winds and, late in the race, rain, to capture his second Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Marathon on Sunday in Tampa.

The 37-year-old Holassie didn't come close to his personal best at the 26.2-mile distance but his winning time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 56 seconds gave him a comfortable margin of victory over runner-up Chad Byler of Rochester, N.Y., who ran 2:41:43.

The win also gave Holassie a $6,000 payday -- $3,000 for being the top Floridian in the race, $1,500 for being the first overall male plus another $1,500 as a time bonus for breaking 2:30.

Holassie, who represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, owns a lifetime best in the marathon is 2:12.

Taking the women's title was 40-year-old Nina Kraft of Hanover, Germany. She's a professional triathlete training in Clermont and covered the course in 2:47:41.

She didn't take the first-Floridian money, but she did win $1,500 for first overall female. The Florida purse went to last year's women's winner, 25-year-old Melanie Peters of St. Petersburg, who ran 3:01:17.

A crowd of about 4,000 signed up for the half marathon and another 1,400 runners were entered in the marathon or marathon relay. At the four-hour mark of the marathon, the rain was coming down in sheets and temperatures were falling into the 50s as the bulk of the competitors in the event were still out on the course.

Earlier, the half marathon crossed the finish line.

Taking first place in the men's half marathon was Australian professional triathlete Richie Cunningham. He covered the 13.1-mile course in 1 hour, 14 minutes and 20 seconds, about a minute ahead of former Plant High and Notre Dame distance runner Mike Greiwe.

Winning the women's half marathon was Tampa's Terri Rejimbal. And at age 40, she was also the women's masters champion. Rejimbal, who recently moved to the area from Mount Dora, was the masters champion at the Disney Marathon in January.