Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 33

8c TIMES 1 SATURDAY, JANUARY 22. 2005 Tierra Verde pair on the mn GULF BEACHES By SCOn PURKS Timet Staff Writer PIN. StartFinish 1 if dlearwater i Memorial i Causeway vl Area toacnman Park Par I Clearwater Beach i I Court St. I Clearwater Past Bridge Drawbridge Gulf of Mexico Jr Park Clearwater 6 Rnllnnlr I Haroor Harbor Beach I 'J II 19 FLORIDA GULF BEACHES MARATHON WHENWHERE: Sunday; Coachman Park, Clearwater. SCHEDULE: 6:30 a.m.

wheelchairs, 6:35 runners, 7:40 10K race starts In Taylor Park, 9:30 10K awards, 10:35 marathon overall awards, 1 1 :05 age group, relay awards. DIRECTIONS: Take SR 60 west to the bay. The start line is on the Drew Street extension, about 200 yards north of Cleveland Street ROAD CLOSINGS: Clearwater Memorial Causeway: westbound, Clearwater Beach Roundabout, Gulfview Boulevard, Clearwater Beach southbound to Clearwater Pass Bridge, Clearwater Pass Bridge to Sand Key Park southbound, (Sand Key Park accessible from south); Gulf Boulevard (Sand Key Park to Belleair Causeway) southbound, Gulf Boulevard (Belleair Causeway to Walsingham Road) southbound, Gulf Boulevard (Walsingham Road to Park Boulevard Bridge) southbound, 7-10; Park Boulevard (bridge to Ridge Road) curbside eastbound lane, Ridge Road (Park Boulevard to Seminole City Hall) southbound, Drew Street eastbound from Drew Street (Osceola Avenue to Cleveland Street): eastbound closed. TIME LIMITS: The finish line will be open six hours. The streets re-open to traffic based on that pace.

For example, participants should be at the midpoint by 9:35 a.m. Slower participants should move to the sidewalks and adhere to normal pedestrian laws. REGISTRATION: Individuals $75 today and tomorrow. Two-person relay $95 today and tomorrow. Runners may pick up race kits from 11-7 p.m.

today at the Belleview Biltmore, 25 Belleview about 1 .5 miles south of the finish line. CERTIFICATION: Course is USATF certified and can be used as a Boston Marathon qualifier until 2006. 1 0K: $30 Registration, today at expo or at the Taylor Park starting line. INFORMATION: www.floridamarathon.com SCOTT PURKS, Times staff writer like grunts and strained things, such as, "Which way? This way? Okay, let's keep it going," Burgasser said. "When you're in a marathon you're not talking about what your kids are doing in school." Which on other days is a favorite topic of Valentine's because her five children Rachel, 6, Steven, 8, Bradley, 10, Clayton, 13 and Sophie, 18 are in school.1 Not to mention that Valentine volunteers as a teacher's aid four hours every day at Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary School.

But no matter who's sick or what soccer game she has to get to, Valentine gets her run in with Burgasser. It has been that way since 1997, when Valentine joined Burgasser's Forerunners Club, a group of 150 serious runners. Valentine, who was an aerobictreadmill fanatic most of her life, wanted to step up her commitment to running, which she told Burgasser when they first met "He kind of snorted and said, 'Okay, well get you Valentine said. "I would have described him as a grump, but a nice grump. "It wasn't long before I realized he is one of the greatest guys you'd ever want to know." Also one of the most gifted.

There are only a handful of people his age in the world who can run as fast and as long as he can. He has had 27 consecutive years cf sub 2-hour, 50-minute marathons; finished second three times and won his age-group (60-69) the past four years at the Boston Marathon; set the Ameri can record for all ages in 1975 for a 50-mile race (5 hours, 39 minutes; 6:46 a mile); won the five-year age-group bracket at Gasparilla at least once since he turned 40; and averaged an 80- to 90-mile a week training schedule last year. As a coach Burgasser has been president of the Forerunners Club since 1982, maintaining approximately 150 active paying members every year. He guided the women's Forerunners members to several team titles at the Boston Marathon. He has also trained Valentine to age-group prize money the past two years at the Boston Marathon and to three consecutive women's titles in the Gulf Beaches Marathon, which she's expected to win easily on Sunday.

Getting another of his students, Ian Payne, to repeat as the men's champion might be a little tougher, however, because Ethiopian runner Efrem Haile is the field. Haile has run marathon times more than 30 minutes faster than Payne's 2:50.47 from last year. "Bottom line is that well be there supporting Pinellas County's only marathon," Burgasser said. "Myself and Lisa and several others from our club. The loop course runs through five beach communities from Clearwater south to Indian Shores, before heading inland to Seminole, and north along the Pinellas Trail for the final 9 miles.

On Monday, Valentine said, she and Burgasser will take it easy together. "Just a few easy miles," she said. That's all." Joe Burgasser and Lisa Valentine run together every day in Tierra Verde. And unlike some people who say "every day" but don't really mean it, Burgasser and Valen-RUNNING tine mean every day. They get up at 4:30 a.m., meet at 5 and run 20 miles through Fort De Soto Park.

Twenty miles? "Or more," Burgasser said. "But that is a heavy day and that day is Sunday. I'd have to say thaf the toughest day because it's the longest" Other training runs are from 7 to 15 miles. Add it up and Valentine, 43, runs 80 to 100 miles a week, while Burgasser trains 80 to 90, which is more remarkable. He's 66.

"Joe," Valentine said, "is a genetic mutant" Valentine can say these sorts of things because Burgasser is her best friend. How could he not be? "The whole time we're running we're talking," Burgasser said. "We talk about everything. Anything. Serious things.

Funny tilings. Whatever. I'd say we know just about everything about each other." They even talk when they're racing. In last year's Gulf Beaches Marathon, in which Valentine finished second overall in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds and Burgasser third 36 seconds later, they ran pretty much side by side. "But that conversation was more I I 3 is? a i i 5 Bay Dr.

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Seminole IndlarA fi Shorea( Park Blvd. 1 1 ParkBlv6 I Times map St. Petersburg is site for IRL changes Though a practice will not provide a definitive answer, said two-time champion Sam Homlsh who drives a Toyota for Team Penske, it will lend some clues. "Well have a feeling but we won't give ourselves any preconceived notions," he said. "I've wort races and had top fives down on horsepower before, so I'll try to get where I need to be no matter what" SPARK PLUGS: Financial problems will keep Adrian Fernandez from driving this year in the IRL The 41-year-old Mexican said he would concentrate on owning cars driven by Scott Sharp and Kosuka Matsuura.

Wheldon said he will move into his new Snell Isle home on Friday. He is making St. Petersburg his primary residence. Champ Car announced it had dropped Laguna Seca from its 2005 schedule due to "issues of date conflicts and economic issues," said Joe Chrnellch, executive vice president of development governmental affairs and planning. BRANT JAMES, Times staff writer and TIMES WIRES "I think the competitive nature of these guys, they're going to go out there and run faster than they did in qualifying," he said.

If a shootout wreck causes a team to use a backup car, it starts in the back. Otherwise, a wrecked car starts sixth. "For the drivers it's (about) discipline," said Dan Wheldon, who was run-nerup to Tony Kanaan in driver points last season. "You can't make a mistake, you can't over-drive and you have to concentrate to make sure you get the best out of the car you can possibly get" Other rules for road courses: mandatory car weight of 1,600 pounds (a 75-pound increase) to accommodate special brakes and gearboxes; a new fueling system; and teams will be allowed to change engines before qualifying. FACEOFF: The first oval test of the season today at Homestead-Miami Speedway will give Toyota teams an opportunity to see if they have closed the horsepower gap on Honda, which won 14 of 16 races last season.

The first three test days took place on the road course. HOMESTEAD Every second will matter at the Grand Prix of St Petersburg. The Indy Racing League on Friday announced a new AUTOS qualifying procedure NOTEBOOK for its rouad courses in 2005, beginning with the first ever IndyCar non-oval event on April 3 through the streets of St Petersburg. The fastest cars from an open session will run together in the following practice, and the driver with the quickest combined first-day time will have the option of going first or last in single-lap qualifying. The top sue qualifiers will run in a 10-minute shootout with top times either in qualifying or the shootout determining the first three rows.

Cars will start at 10-second intervals. Drivers could opt out of the shootout for instance, if they're satisfied with their time or concerned about weather but IRL president Brian Barnhart doubts it will happen. Getty Images Australian Open fourth seed Maria Sharapova volleys with Na Li during the Wimbledon champion's 6-0, 6-2 rout in the third round. Dmpiry Sets Fmm Penske fromIC 3 (champ adwainoe "'m in a difficult situation, and Rusty is in a difficult situation," Ryan Newman says. If kind of a conflict of interest in two different ways." Associated Pru MELBOURNE, Australia French Open champion Anastasia Myskina joined Russia's two other Grand Slam title holders in the fourth round when Dsa Raymond withdrew from TruiMie their match at the Austra-m lianOpen.

Raymond injured abdominal muscles on her left side in the first game of a second-round doubles match Friday, and her status was in doubt for the singles. Raymond, 31, reached the quarterfi i I i i AUSTRALIAN OPEN RESULTS MEN: Roger Federer (1) d. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3, 5-2 Marat Safin (4) d. Mario Ancic (28), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 64; Guillermo Coria (6) d. Juan Carlos Ferrero (31) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1; Nikolay Davydenko (26) d.

Tim Henman (7) 64, 6-2, 6-2; Andre Agassi (8) d. Taylor Dent (29) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; Dominik Hrbaty (20) d. Gaston Gaudio (10), 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (10-8), 6-7 (7-3), Joachim Johansson (1 1 d. Feliciano Lopez (24) 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 13-11; Guillermo Canas (12) d. Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Marcos Baghdatis d.

Tommy Robredo (13) 7-6 (7-2), 64, 6-1. WOMEN: Anastasia Myskina (3) d. Lisa Raymond (25) walkover; Maria Sharapova (4) d. Li Na 6-0, 6-2; Svetlana Kuznetsova (5) d. Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Serena Williams (7) d.

Sania Mirza 6-1, 64; Nadia Petrova (1 1) d. Magdalena Maleeva (22) 64, 64; Karolina Sprem (13) d. Elena Likhovtseva TODAY ON TV: Noon (taped), 10 p.m., ESPN2 Getty Images There on that muddy patch of land in Mooresville, N.C., in 1990, legendary open-wheel racing owner Roger Penske laid the foundation for a stock car team that has become one of the most envied in NASCAR. It was there that Wallace, then the defending Winston Cup champion, staked his future, partnering with Penske and associate Don Miller and coming aboard as the marquee driver. Wallace built a fortune and expanded his reputation, with 37 of his 55 career wins.

He became a car owner and an entrepreneur. And in his mind, worthy of respect An apparent underlying personality conflict bubbled into public view in the final laps at Martinsville in October. Wallace, running second, went high on the track to make a move on leader Jimmie Johnson, and by the time he relented, Newman had moved from third to fill the gap. Wallace could not nudge his way back in line and fell back to 10th. Wallace then drove down pit road to bump Newman, incurring a $10,000 fine from NASCAR.

Since then, their public relationship has mostly consisted of quips and prods. Their private one is businessUke. Newman last week described their relationship as "peachy." "I've said this before," Newman said, "I'm in a difficult situation, and Rusty is in a difficult situation. We're not teammates in the way Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte are. Tony Stewart doesn't own part of Bobby Labonte's car.

It's kind of a conflict of interest in two different ways. Not only does Rusty own part of my car, but he competes against me and we're supposed to be teammates. Usually teammates in any kind of sport don't compete against each other, and that makes it super difficult "When you mix in egos and attitudes and theories behind that you can have a very big source of conflict. That's something we've tried to deal with and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to just ignore the whole thing." The dynamic has worked for other teammates who have the same relationship, such as Jeff Gordon and Johnson, or Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth. still talk to each other, they communicate," he said.

"I don't think it has any affect on anything, personally. "It's nice if they get along really good and at times they do get along good, but when it comes to the necessity of it I don't think it's the end of the world." Both have their view of the world and how to reach the checkered flag first Wallace is old school, drives by feel, demanding, outspoken, cocky and con-ident Newman is dry-witted with a ve-licular structural engineering degree rom Purdue, a "new age" phenom who oined Penske Racing in 2000 after driv-ng midgets and sprint cars as a youth. "They're both thinkers," Miller said. "They're both very talented and they're both confident in their own abilities, which leads to a situation where one thinks, 'Do I need this guy to tell me what to do? No, I don't think so." Wallace doesn't question Newman's results. "He's won a lot more races (10) than I have (one) in the last two years," he said.

"So he's not doing anything wrong." Wallace said he would like to enjoy a relationship with Newman like the one he has with Jamie McMurray, a fellow Missourian who is dating his daughter, Katie, and driving his Busch series car. "He's (27), I'm 48. I'm in rightfield, he's in leftfield," Wallace said of Newman. "It's just totally different." Miller is in the middle but does not consider it a conflict He sees Wallace as a close friend and Newman almost as a son. He brought both to his race team because of similar qualities.

Those qualities may cause friction, he said, but that's natural. "I think what I saw in Rusty was a burning desire to achieve and there's the same thing in Ryan," he said. "Ryan is a very, very analytical individual. Rusty is still kind of seat of the pants, and I'm not saying that's bad. He has a burning desire to achieve, but like Frank Sinatra, I think he wants to do it his way." nals at Melbourne Park last year, upsetting Venus Williams, the third seed, in the third round.

It was her second trip into the quarters at 45 majors. "I felt a little tightness in my back in my warmup before my doubles match. I received some treatment before the match and thought I was going to be okay, but in the first game of the match I hit a forehand and felt a sharp pain in my left oblique," Raymond said. "I'm extremely disappointed because I couldn't have asked to play better in my first two matches," she said. "I was really looking forward to playing Myskina, and of course it's a real shame about having to retire in the doubles." Raymond said she has been advised to rest for four to six weeks and hoped to be back for the Indian Wells tournament in California starting March 9.

Maria Sharapova, the Wimbledon champion seeded fourth here, and U.S. titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded ififth, won their third-round matches, advancing with No. 7 Serena Williams and second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo. Mauresmo beat Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5, and Williams, without a Grand Slam title last year, ended her 6-1, 64 win over Iwild-card entry Sania Mirza with an ace. Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport and 8 Venus Williams were to play their fourth-round matches later.

Rusty Wallace, checking his car in the midst of testing, is both teammate and car owner to Ryan Newman. Wallace said he and Newman haven't had a substantive talk since Martinsville. "I was kind of hoping he would come over, but he hasn't" he said. Even in Wallace's peacemaking tone there is a underlying command for respect "I need to take that competitive hat off and put the car-owner hat on again and say, 'Okay, let's get on the same track and get things working Wallace said. "He's a quality kid.

He enjoys things different than what I do. He looks at things different than I do. I've seen this thing as a pile of dirt and built this team to what it is and I think he's a race car driver and he expects the best equipment and he wants what he wants and that's what it is. "If I was a young guy and got hired to come into a race team, I'd say I want this and I want that" Miller, now the president of Penske Racing South, said Wallace and Newman communicate enough to function as teammates. Though they don't need to be friends, he said, the conflict has been exaggerated.

"They have their moments, but they Dent, sweat spilling off him, made 39 unforced errors, and his 51 percent of winning net approaches dropped to about one-third in the third set Agassi committed six unforced errors, none in the third set, and pounded Dent with an arsenal of groundstrokes. Agassi, 34, admired Dent's gallant charges but had no reservations about using him for target practice. "Listen, I was settling in for whatever it was going to take," Agassi said. "The guy's really talented, can make a lot of shots that you just don't expect him to be able to pull off. If you're not on your game, he's one of the worst guys to play." After trading breaks in the second set, Agassi had five chances to break Dent in the 11th game and then serve for the set But Dent scrambled and won that game, then had three set points of his own before Agassi got rolling.

Agassi dominated the tiebreaker, earning a 5-2 cushion when his forehand crosscourt ricocheted off the net and over Dent. Andre Agassi, a iour-ume Australian i Open winner, was down 4-1 in the first set -against serve-and-volleyer Taylor Dent Ibefore rallying for a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 victory..