About Us

The St. Petersburg Distance Classic is a family-owned and operated race, originally under the “Florida Road Races” name, which organizes running events in the Tampa Bay area. Founded in 1979 by Chris and Rya Lauber, their mission was to offer the most “runner-friendly” races while promoting a healthy, active lifestyle, showcasing our beautiful beach communities, and generating a positive economic impact.

HISTORY
Starting with his first Jet Ski race in 1979, Chris Lauber was a pioneer in helping grow the sport during his 120+ Jet Ski races career. His races peaked in the early ’90s with national-level sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch (5 years), ESPN coverage (5 championship races), and more than $1,100,000 awarded in prize money. Chris’ 20-year career resulted in being inducted into the International Jet Ski Hall of Fame in 2011.

Lauber transitioned to road races on January 23, 2000, with the creation of the Gulf Beaches Marathon, adding the Holiday Halfathon in December 2002, the Halloween Halfathon in 2009, the Florida Beach Halfathon in 2010, and the Ft. De Soto 15K in 2015.

With nothing more than a blank piece of paper nearly 25 years ago, a vision, and tons of hard work, the Laubers hosted five races per season, all in Pinellas County, with an average of 1,200 finishers. They hosted more than 6,000 total finishers each year, with runners coming from all corners of Florida, 45 states, and 15 countries.

During the summer of 2022, the Laubers announced their “semi-retirement” from road race management and simultaneously announced that new race directors, Mike and Elaine Clark, would be taking over the reins for four of the five races under the Florida Road Races name. The Laubers would continue to grow and stage the St. Petersburg Distance Classic.

Our mission continues: to challenge athletes to achieve goals they once thought impossible, such as completing their first 5K, setting a personal record, or finishing a half marathon or marathon.

We aim to provide affordable, well-organized road races with the highest customer service and satisfaction. We currently do that by offering athletes the following:
• risk-free registration, with our fair refund policy (most races state “No Refunds”)
• the opportunity to switch events at no extra charge or to defer to a different race
• safe, scenic courses that are accurately measured, USATF certified and USATF sanctioned
• high-quality amenities, including gender-specific tech shirts, unique running starfish medals
• post-race celebrations featuring ice-cold beer, hot homemade pasta, fruits, pastries, soft drinks, live entertainment, and awards presentation
• FREE photo downloads to share and print

We live by the motto “People over Profits” and believe that treating athletes fairly will keep them returning, ultimately building our races. Besides, it’s the ethical, morally-correct way to build long-term friendships.

Charities

Most of the revenue generated covers expenses, and hopefully, some profit, so we may continue to operate. Earning our living in this sport allows us to give back to our community in a few ways:

1) Unlike some other singular-cause events where all the proceeds go to one non-profit, we donate cash to a number of local, micro non-profits such as running clubs, youth athletic teams, etc. that support our races with their volunteers.

2) We offer direct support to athletes in financial need through our Entry Fee Assistance program, most recently for athletes who were severely affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

3) We often provide comp entries as raffle items for auctions at churches, schools, fundraisers, etc., and we donate modest amounts of cash when our athletes raise funds for their pet projects.

4) Our biggest area of charitable endeavor is to provide our race management services, equipment, and time, pro bono or partial pro-bono, to non-profits that stage races. In prior years, we did this for the Partners For Life Police Appreciation Run. More recently, we helped the Celma Mastry Ovarian Cancer Foundation increase participation by 50% for its One Step Closer to the Cure 5K / 10K / 1 Miler. We helped a fellow race director stage her Sunrise Run for three years. We have also offered our time or equipment when applicable, such as volunteering at Gasparilla and the St. Pete Road Runners 5K Beach Series.

6) The absolute most satisfying charitable endeavor was to create and stage the “Tampa Bay for Boston Memorial Run.” About three weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, we hosted 800 athletes in St. Petersburg for a candlelight vigil and memorial run, raising $15,000 for the bombing victims through The One Fund Boston. As you can see, we LOVE being a part of the Tampa Bay running community and thoroughly enjoy being in a position where we can help in many ways.

Contact Us

We love to chat and welcome your questions or comments. If you’d like more information, please contact us at:
St. Petersburg Distance Classic P.O. Box 47774 St. Petersburg, FL 33743-7774

E-mail: [email protected] or the form below.