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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 7, 2005 Deanna O�Neil has won the Pear Blossom race a record nine times dating back to 1991. She last won the Pear Blossom in 2003. It’s pot luck at the Pear Women’s champs Gutierrez, O’Neil aren’t in peak form, which could open door for others By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune If either Rosa Gutierrez or Deanna O’Neil is entered in the Pear Blossom Run, the odds are one of them will win. They’ve claimed 12 of the past 14 women’s titles, and both are entered in the 29th annual event Saturday. We might as well crown one now, huh? Not so fast. Neither of the accomplished runners expects to be anywhere near peak form for the 10-mile out-and-back event that begins at 8:35 a.m. at Medford City Hall, then follows Jacksonville Highway and Hanley Road before returning. Advertisement Gutierrez, the defending champion, hasn’t raced since last April. O’Neill, the record holder for victories (nine) and fastest time (57 minutes, 7 seconds), has had a couple of recent challenges to overcome. After a deflating performance last year in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Gutierrez ran the Pear Blossom and a race in California in short order, then shelved her competition shoes. Part of the reason is she’s undertaken full-time teaching and coaching duties at Glendale High School, overseeing the cross country program in the fall and now the track and field teams. "I’ve been pretty busy and I haven’t really trained like I have in the past in preparing for the Pear Blossom," says the 41-year-old Gutierrez, who has three championships to her credit. "Whatever I’ll be able to do, I’m not even sure. I’ll just go out and have fun. I’m competitive, so I’ll go out and compete, but I’m not sure what my body will be able to do." O’Neil, on the other hand, is reasonably certain what her body won’t be able to do. "I’m definitely not breaking an hour," says O’Neil, whose record of nearly three minutes under an hour was set in 1995. O’Neil, pregnant with her first child, missed last year’s race. After the birth of her son, Thomas, who is 10 months old, she returned to running, only to be set back by hernia surgery in January. The Canby runner’s primary goal is to "just finish," she says. "I’ve run 10 miles once in the last year-and-a-half. I’m not in the best shape." She hasn’t been off her feet completely, however. O’Neil ran a 5-kilometer race last weekend and the Shamrock Run locally in March. With the fitness level of Gutierrez and O’Neil in question, that could set the stage for a different runner taking the tape for the first time since Cheryl Tronson of Bend won in 1998. Gutierrez’s winning time last year was 1:00.47, giving her a 3½ -minute cushion over runner-up Tronson. Earlier this week, Tronson had not entered, but the next-best runners from 2004 will back. They are Shannon Seater of Klamath Falls, who was third in 1:05.19, and Tami Frisbie of Weed, Calif., who placed fourth in 1:05.41. Gutierrez isn’t sure what path her running will take. On the one hand, she has gotten much fulfillment out of a 30-year competitive career and is content to switch roles and "be a good coach," an endeavor that has proven to be far more involved than she first expected. On the other hand, she’s hesitant to announce her retirement. "If you had asked me that six months ago, I might have said, ‘Yeah, I think I’m retired and it’s over,’" says Gutierrez. "But I don’t want to close that door completely. If the opportunity comes where I feel like that door is open for me to train and compete and I feel like it’s right, I’ll go for it." One thing that might keep her competitive, she adds, is if she has a chance to raise awareness and funds for leukemia research. She has a 16-year-old nephew who has been diagnosed with the disease. Gutierrez admits to being heart-broken over her Olympic Trials performance last year. Her diligent training prepared her well for one of her biggest races, but the results didn’t follow. She placed 70th with a time of 2:52:34. "It just didn’t come together," says Gutierrez. "That probably was the most challenging marathon I’ve ever done. I felt like I was in good shape and ready to go. Yet, when I was out there running, there was so much resistance against me, I couldn’t go any faster. My mind was telling me to go faster, and my body wasn’t willing to cooperate. It was somewhat frustrating." She’s uncertain what Saturday will bring, but she’s looking forward to the race nonetheless. She and O’Neil have a long history, having competed against each other in high school in the early 1980s, when Gutierrez was at Glendale and O’Neil at Mt. Angel. They both went on to run for Oregon. "We’re both competitors, so we’ll go out and give it our best effort," says Gutierrez. "We’ll be focused and ready to go. We’re good friends, but we both realize when it comes to racing, we have to change our frame of mind and get ready for the race. We don’t talk a lot about it before the race; afterward, we’ll talk a little more." The question is, will one of them be talking about a victory? Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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