2018 Year In Review

100 events.

That's how many races that I either ran, announced or was in attendance for in 2018.

I ran 66 races this year.

It certainly could have been more, but various life decisions came in to play to overrule that notion.

I announced 23, which is down from the 37 in 2015.

It could have been a couple of more, but I stopped announcing Run In Texas races after the No Label Brewing First Street 5K in Katy the Saturday before Father's Day.

I will be dropping the Galveston Marathon and the Space City 10-Miler in 2019 as well as the Sylvan Beach Duathlon / Triathlon.

None of these race directors do I have any issue with other than paring back how much I'm doing.

I simply have gotten to the point that I'm either not having the same type of fun that I've had in the past or my interest level has waned.

I literally had discussions with three of the groups that I remain with about what the impacts would be of me not announcing and when I needed to let them know of my decision.

The bottom line is that if you're not having fun at something, it is probably time to stop completely or cut back.

I spectated at nine different races - four of those were of the TWRC Sunday Night 5K variety.

I worked Barry Blanton's aid station at Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas for the fourth consecutive year by announcing as many names as possible as they came in and out.

And finally, I legally paced Waverly 11.2 miles during the Chevron Houston Marathon, her first marathon finish.

As far as racing was concerned, I ran a race in 27 new cities -- 12 outside of Texas and 15 in.

Those 11 cities outside of Texas came in 9 different states.

I ran a race in my 50th state on Sunday, June 24 with a 5K in Rhode Island - one of three races that I ran with Waverly this year (other than the marathon).

The day before I checked off state #46 in half marathons with a finish at the 25th annual Westfield Half Marathon in Massachusetts.

State #47 came in early November when I returned to Rhode Island to run the Colt State Park Half Marathon in Bristol.

My last seven races that came over the last two months were the best six.

Four half marathons, two 5K's and a 10K.

Most of them came on cool or cooler days.

The last three came in Nike Air Zoom Vomeros that I was given for working the Nike Cross Regionals South for The Woodlands High in late November.

They produced a 28:24 5K, a 2:11:14 half marathon on a hilly course in Tyler and a 2:06:58 half marathon on a flat course in Galveston.

The number of short or long courses that I dealt with this year was frustrating.

Waverly and I ran three races together - other than the marathon - and I got to announce her finish of four races:  Green 6.2, Independence 8K, Ten For Texas and Run Thru The Woods.

We raced against each other three times and she came out on top twice with wins at the SAGU Half Marathon in Waxahachie Half Marathon in February and the Springwoods Village 5K in March while I picked up a solid win at the Memorial Park Conservancy Brunch Run 4M in between.

Toughest courses of 2018?

First place definitely went to Running The Rose 7K trail race in Tyler on Saturday, January 27.

Paint Palestine Pink 10.5-miler around the Loop that goes around Palesting on Saturday, October 6 was second with the Joplin Memorial Run Half Marathon in mid-May in third.

Both Tyler races - the Fresh 15K in March and the inaugural Tyler Half Marathon in December - were close behind.

Do run the Fresh 15K if you have the chance.  Do not run the Tyler Half Marathon.

And the Westfield Half Marathon in Massachusetts wasn't exactly a walk in the park either.

Running a bunch of races in a short period of time is fun -- and I do it fairly frequently.

These were the highlights, in those regards, from 2018:

1.  Four races in four days over Memorial Day weekend in Pennsylvania (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday).  The last one came in my hometown, the Joshua House Memorial Day 5K in Tyrone.

2.  Texas 10 Huntsville 5M and the Bearkat Bolt 5K in Huntsville on the same morning.  Less than 30 minutes between the finish of the 5-Miler and the start of the 5K.  (I had run the 2.77-mile 5K at Nike South the Friday night before these Sunday, September 30 races.)

3.  The Firemans 4 Race in Port O'Connor and the Stars and Stripes 5K in Eagle Pass in the same day -- with 287 miles between the two cities.

4.  Actually kicked off the racing season with a 373-mile jaunt from Galveston - after running the Friends of Galveston Island State Park New Year's 10K - to Arabi, Louisiana for the 111th Anniversary Jackson Day Race 9K the next morning.

5.  Three night / morning race combinations -- Eastland / Dublin, Frisco / Saint Jo and Sealy / Center.  The latter involved 223 miles of driving.

6.  Three times I did a Run For Wellness 5K on a Sunday morning and a TWRC Sunday Night 5K in the evening -- March, April and June.

7.  Finally, on Saturday, July 28, on what would have been my sister's 46th birthday, I ran the Mosquito Chase 5K in Clute pretty well in the morning in 30:19 and the Howl at the Moon 5K in Waco in the evening.  Time was 29:28, but I'm pretty certain it was short.  However, it was 254 miles from Clute to Waco.

I ran the last version of the Outrigger's 5K on the Bay in Seabrook in early August.

One of the most fun races to be a part of was the Moore War Run 5K in Moore, Oklahoma on Saturday, August 25.  It was centered around a high school football rivalry.  Wish we could see a lot of that here in Texas during football season.

I ran a lot of and announced a few 5Ks.

I announced a 6K, and 8K and a 12K while running a 7K, 9K and 10K this year.

The races that take the most out of me to work - but that I get the greatest personal fulfillment from - are the cross country meets that I do.

I do two for Sam Houston State University and two for The Woodlands High School.

On the former, I get to work with an NCAA Division I cross country and track and field program and receive a lot of credit from their head coach for keeping the meet humming on-time and running smooth.

The latter?  I have the opportunity to work with one of the top boys' cross country programs in the United States and get to announce one of the seven Nike Cross regionals (two regionals are held at the same location).

My announcing there at NXR is witnessed by a lot of people -- and to my surprise this year was all videod during the awards ceremony.

That doesn't necessarily make me nervous, but rather it drives me to do very well.

Of those 66 races that I ran this year, 42 of them were new races.  And that's not even my record!

Two years ago, 48 of the 65 were new to me and last year 38 of the 66 were first-time affairs.

So, that's 197 races in the last three years and 128 of them were new to me.

The four years prior, I raced 37 in 2012, 44 in 2013, 50 in 2014 and 63 in 2015.

391 races from 2012-2018.

Somewhere I have an estimate of what I've done from 2003-forward.

All good fun, I guess.

I hope that 2019 will be more of the same for me as well as for you if you're reading.

Thank you for your friendship.  I really appreciate it.

God bless you and your family in the coming year!