The Gasparilla Distance Classic, named in honor of the Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

Gasparilla Pirate Festival

Gasparilla Pirate Festival

The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is an annual celebration held in the city of Tampa, Florida. Held each year in late January and hosted by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla and the City of Tampa, it celebrates the apocryphal legend of José Gaspar , supposedly a Spanish pirate captain who operated in...

, takes place every February (sometimes early March) on Bayshore Boulevard. Over 4,000 people participate each year.

History

The Gasparilla Distance Classic Association was established in 1978 dedicated specifically to raising funds for charitable youth organizations and running programs in the Tampa Bay area. Its mission is carried out through the administration of the annual Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic Race Weekend and Jr. Gasparilla Distance Classic. Since the first running of the Gasparilla Distance Classic in February, 1978, $2.8 million has been donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa, Girls Inc. of Pinellas, The Friends of Tampa Parks & Recreation and other running programs. More than 485,000+ runners and walkers have crossed the finish line.

The race weekend includes the Half Marathon, 8K, the Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K & 5K, Kellogg's 5K Walk & Stroller Roll, Michelob Ultra Challenge (15K, 5K, Half Marathon & 8K) and the Beck's Light Challenge (15K, 5K & Half Marathon

The “final voyage” of the 42.195 kilometres (26.2 mi) Gasparilla Marathon took place on February 28, 2010 with an attendance of about 24,000. It will be replaced in 2011 by the 8K. The city of Tampa - who is a co-sponsor of race weekend and provides police, road barricades and waste management - was no longer able to afford the strain on city services in light of budget cuts and layoffs.
Wilson Chepkwony of Kenya was the Men’s Champion with a time of 2:24:48
Melissa Gacek of St. Paul, Minn was the Women’s Champion with a time of 2:53:20

Human interest stories

In 2008 Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 war veteran Ivan Castro ran 20.0975 kilometres (12.5 mi) of the Gasparilla Classic only 17 months after being blinded by shrapnel on a rooftop in Baghdad.

Lieutenant Colonel Sam Arwood ran the 2010 Gasparilla Marathon 7800 miles (12,552.9 km) away on a treadmill in Afghanistan. Sam had originally planned to run in the marathon in Tampa, but was deployed one month before the race. He was given the Ok by race officials to run a course on base in Afghanistan, but was forced onto a treadmill after heavy rains ruined the outdoor track.

Charity

The Challenged Athletes Foundation

Challenged Athletes Foundation

The Challenged Athletes Foundation is an organization that provides grants for training, competition and equipment needs to people with disabilities.- History :The Challenged Athletes Foundation was founded in 1997....

(CAF) sponsors the LabCorp

LabCorp

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings , more commonly known as LabCorp, is an S&P 500 company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. It operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world, with a United States network of 36 primary laboratories. Before a merger with...

 Elite 15K Wheelchair Division. CAF raises money to help people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics.

The Mendez Foundation Too Good For Drugs Junior Gasparilla Distance Classic is a free mini-marthon, now in its 20th year, for children ages 2 to 10. The race emphasizes participation over competition. Every child receives a race bib with the number "1" printed on it, as well as a goody bag, T-shirt and, after crossing the finish line, a competitor's medal.

Past 15K winners

Key:

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Women's winner	Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )
1st	1978		?	?	?
2nd	1979		44:12		53:17
3rd	1980	?	?		48:01
4th	1981		43:12		48:12
5th	1982		43:09		48:26
6th	1983		42:47		48:18
7th	1984		42:55		47:52
8th	1985		43:02		48:10
9th	1986		42:59		48:00
10th	1987		43:17		48:50
11th	1988		42:37		47:43
12th	1989		42:50		48:14
13th	1990		43:25		49:26
14th	1991		43:14		49:00
15th	1992		43:10		49:11
16th	1993		42:41		49:03
17th	1994		42:35		48:11
18th	1995		42:37		48:38
19th	1996		42:42		48:30
20th	1997		43:11		48:48
21st	1998		43:23		49:24
22nd	1999		46:48		54:33
23rd	2000		46:37		52:59
24th	2001		48:50		54:47
25th	2002		46:36		55:10
26th	2003		46:40		52:21
27th	2004		46:37		55:20
28th	2005		48:23		54:00
29th	2006		48:39		53:47
30th	2007		45:48		54:27
31st	2008		46:45		56:00
32nd	2009		43:26		54:42
33rd	2010		46:49		54:05
34th	2011		46:22		54:05