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A prize purse of $1,000 in athletes' development funds will be divided among runners completing the run in less than 30 minutes in proportion to the runner's finish. Officials are stressing the race is not only for the elite woman road racers, but for part-time runners, joggers and fitness enthusiasts.

An important purpose of the race is to raise funds for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. Merrill Lynch Realty, national sponsor for the U.S. Olympic team, is giving a major portion of all entry fees to the U.S. Olympic Fund.

-- Former Fort Lauderdale Heart Run (1983) and Boston Marathon winner Greg Meyer sat out this year's Boston Marathon. Some say he has never recovered from his 2:09:00 winning performance in '83.

"I think I paid a high price for winning Boston, only because I didn't give myself a chance to recover," Meyer said. "I came back too soon, and it ripped me apart. I should have been smart and bagged everything. I haven't regained my form since. You keep wanting to get back on the merry-go-round, at the same place where you got off, but I kept getting hurt."

Tallahassee's Greene, 26, a graduate student at Florida State, defended his title in the American Red Cross Jinglebells 10K Run at Weston.

He covered the 6.2-mile course, illuminated by 2,000 candles, in 30 minutes and 52 seconds. Miami's Julio Valdes of Florida International University was second in 31:23.

University of South Florida senior David Barbash of Sunrise, after running off course at the 4-mile mark, was third, in 32:03.

"It was harder than I thought it would be," Green said. "I felt good early, but the warm weather bothered me."

Miramar's Lesley Walsh went out in style. Walsh, 28, South Florida's top woman road racer, won the women's title in 36:37.

Two-time champion Steve Mandel, a Coconut Creek High graduate, and Jane Millspaugh of Boca Raton are favored to win Sunday's Tour of Coral Springs 30K Run at Mullins Park.

he chilly altitude of Lima, Peru, didn't agree with Mark Sheehan, but the warm, flat course of Sunday's Tour of Coral Springs did.

The 23-year-old Tampa runner won the 30K race in a course-record time of one hour, 38 minutes and 3 seconds at Mullins Park. Sheehan, an assistant cross country and track coach at the University of South Florida, finished more than 10 minutes ahead of Miami's Julio Valdes (1:48.06) and Fort Lauderdale's Jim Hill (1:48.11) in his first attempt at running a 30K. Race favorite Steve Mandel, a junior at USF, finished fourth in 1:51.06. The previous course record was set last year by Tamarac's Larry Greene, now training in Tallahassee for Team Adidas.

Boca Raton's Jane Millspaugh, 37, won the women's title in 2:06.20. It was her fourth Tour of Coral Springs victory. She won in 1980, 1981 and 1983.

Sheehan, a former walk-on at the University of Florida, was a six-time All- Southeastern Conference selection in track and cross country. Sheehan had hoped to run most of the race with Mandel, but Mandel dropped off the pace at the 3-mile mark. Mandel has been working his way back from a series of injuries. He was coming off four weeks of high distance (more than 100 miles) training. Mandel was bothered by cramps around the 17-mile mark.

"The hardest thing to do is push yourself the last few miles," Sheehan said. "I was shooting for the course record, which helped push me. I felt great throughout the race. I went through the half marathon at 1:07 and felt more relaxed. Now it hurts. I'm glad I didn't have to keep running for a marathon today."

Larry Greene ran the race of his life Dec. 8, 1984, when he set a world record at the Citrus Bowl Half-Marathon in Orlando.

Everything seemed perfect.

But weeks later, he was stripped of the record - 1 hour, 1 minute, 27 seconds - by the National Running Data Center in Tucson, Ariz., because the course did not meet certification standards.

However, when he came out of nowhere to beat a world-class field that included heavy favorite Brian Dunn and Martyn Brewer and Keith Brantly, the former Florida State track runner became an instant celebrity. Last year the accomplishment haunted him.

"What happened to me last year shouldn't have happened," said Greene, one of the favorites for Sunday's sixth annual Race of Champions Florida Derby Festival 10K Run at Gulfstream Park.

"I wasn't prepared for world records at the age of 24," Greene said. "I had counted on doing everything progressively, but when I ran the record, everything went out of whack. I wasn't able to handle being on the verge of (becoming) a world-class athlete."

Greene continues to train in Tallahassee for Team Adidas. He prefers to keep a low profile. He still wants to be a world-class runner, but not at all costs.

"I sacrificed so much in six months to run that record," Greene said. "I quit my job, I gave up a lot to go through some incredible training and buildup. I had an all-or-nothing attitude with my training. That was no way to live. I found out I wanted balance in my running and in my life."

Greene, a former track and cross country state champion at North Miami Beach High School, trains in the cool, less humid climate of Tallahassee, where he helps coach the men's team. His parents live in Tamarac.

Last year, despite bursitis in his right heel and the record aftershock, he won the Israeli Maccabiah Games' 5,000-meter race and finished second in the half-marathon.

Greene's best for 10,000 meters is 28:51. He hopes to run under 29 minutes against a field that includes Mexico's Marcos Barreto, who has won 11 of his last 12 10K races; two-time Boston Marathon winner Geoff Smith; Pittsburgh Marathon winner Ken Martin; former Olympian and Peachtree winner Filbert Bayi, former All-American Adrian Leek and sentimental favorite, four-time New York and Boston Marathon winner, Bill Rodgers.

"I am trying to get back on my feet after last year," Greene said. "In the last few weeks I've had a real training breakthrough as far as running long, extensive interval sessions in good times. I'm at a point now where I am making a transition in my training. The intensity is there."

Tamarac's Larry Greene enjoyed being a world-record holder in the half- marathon for a month.

"Some of them could care less about a certified course," Fort Lauderdale Road Runners President David Bowden said. "They take too many shortcuts. It bothers me because it takes away from the authenticity of the race. The serious runner is concentrating on PRs (personal records) all the time he's out there. If the course is short or long, it takes away from that enthusiasm."

Greene, 24, who trains in Tallahassee, said he was prepared for a short course. The 13.1-mile Citrus Bowl half-marathon course was 50 yards short. Greene's time was 1:01:32.

"If they measured the course again today it would probably be a different distance from the times it was measured before," Greene said. "I suppose the people at fault were the ones who called it a world record from the start. It would probably effect someone else differently, but losing the record didn't take anything away from me. My primary gain was that I ran a completely challenging race. I feel pretty badly for Salazar (and Roe) finding out after three years. That's pretty rough. I blame the race director for not following up.

"I don't think anyone in road racing today ever expects a world record anymore because of the imperfections. In track, where it is set up so perfectly, it's different."

The rewards were sweet for overall winners Sue Overbey of Lake Worth and Greene at last week's Run For The Pies 5K in Jacksonville. Not only did they cash in, both won apple pies. Overbey ran a personal best 16:54 for the 3.1- mile course and Greene ran 14:15. . . After a 5-year hiatus, Miami-Dade South will resume its track program this winter. Jerry Isom, who will return as coach, has signed Miramar High discus thrower David Salsberry, who won the state discus title this year with a throw of 183-6.

Raes, of Fort Lauderdale, continued her local dominance in women's road racing Saturday by winning the fifth and final Paradise Run Series at Markham Park

"I look at the Series races as a tuneup for the season," Raes said. "I want to break 37 minutes for a 10K and 30 minutes for 5 miles if it's the last thing I do.

"I want to concentrate on the short stuff now. I've been working on too many distances. Now I feel I'm really getting better because I'm pushing myself more. I just want to continue to run locally and satisfy myself."

Raes, who has been running since January of 1978, ran four marathons to try to make the qualifying time (2:51) for the 1984 Olympic marathon trials. She had only a strained quad muscle in her right leg to show for her efforts. Today she still feels the effects when she races over 18 miles.

"I learned the hard way about overrunning," she said. "If I wasn't able to run I would be upset. I guess after all these years I take my running for granted."

SUNRISE -- John Storms of Boca Raton won the overall title in the Jingle Bell Jog 5-kilometer run in Sunrise with a time of 15:17. Cynthia Goobeck of Sunrise won the women's title with a 19:32.

The race is expected to draw 2,000 runners, including defending champion James Hill, 27, of Fort Lauderdale, Bobby Wilhoit, 24, of Pompano Beach and Cynthia Raes, 30, of Pompano Beach.

The proceeds from the national race, expected to attract 200,000 runners in 127 cities, will go to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. The Runners International Track Club and Southernmost Runners are also holding Stroh's Runs in Coconut Grove and Key West, respectively.

"It is the largest running event in the country," Fulton said.

The team, International Sports Track Club, already has nine elite males able to run a 10K (10,000 meters) in 32 minutes or better.

They are:

Bobby Wilhoit, 24, Pompano Beach, 29:54;

John Loeffler, 24, Hollywood, 30:13;

Manny Miranda, 26, Miami, 30:25;

Pete Gathje, 28, Hollywood, 31:15;

Kurt Hurley, 26, Fort Lauderdale, 31:19;

Jim Hill, 27, Fort Lauderdale, 31:25;

Mark Miller, 27, Fort Lauderdale, 31:47;

Owen Paris, 38, Miramar, 32:24;

and Monty Stickel, 25, Fort Lauderdale, 32:30.

Loeffler, a cross country and track coach at Chaminade High School and a former 3:58 miler at the University of Florida, admits the idea of forming a running team was partly selfish. He had trouble getting into track meets around the state because he was running unattached.

The team plans to run Wilton Manors, Orange Bowl 10K, Florida Derby Festival, Gasparilla and the Jacksonville River Run.

"I think sponsors made a big mistake (concentrating on) world-class runners," Fulton said. "How many local runners know what kind of shoes Joan Benoit wears? But when they're in these local races, they know what the elite runners are wearing because they see them at the start and finishing lines.