2023 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Girls HS Age Group Performances

Female 12-15

1.  1:22:38 - Citlaly Lopez, 15, Houston (Houston Heights)

2.  1:30:35 - Hazel Vowell, 12, Richmond (The Falcons Youth Track Club) - New single age record!

3.  1:35:04 - Tessa Mize, 13, Indianapolis, IN (St. Barnabas Middle School)

4.  1:39:14 - Gigi Bass, 15, Houston (Bellaire Episcopal)

5.  1:40:55 - Olivia Falcon, 15, The Woodlands (The Woodlands College Park)

6.  1:42:48 - Mariana Erazo, 15, Richmond (Rosenberg Terry)

7.  1:42:48 - Alicia Martinez, 15, Rosenberg (Rosenberg Terry)

8.  1:43:27 - Caylin Smith, 14, Sugar Land (The Falcons Youth Track Club)

9.  1:44:06 - Madeline Lara, 14, Richmond (St. Laurence Catholic MS)

10.  1:45:43 - Meghan Carlson, 14, Katy (Katy Tompkins)

11.  1:46:04 - Missy Han, 15, Katy (Katy Taylor)

12.  1:49:13 - Kamila Martinez, 15, Houston (Alief Early College HS)

13.  1:51:45 - Tahira King, 15, Spring (The Woodlands John Cooper School)

14.  1:52:09 - Sofia Pangelinan, 13, Richmond (St. Laurence Catholic MS)

15.  1:52:51 - Enya Krathaus, 15, Houston (Houston Heights)

16.  1:53:44 - Sophia Rousse, 14, Sugar Land (The Falcons Youth Track Club)

17.  1:55:47 - Olivia Serratt, 14, Cypress (Cypress Smith MS)

18.  1:58:08 - Brooklyn Baber, 12, Houston

19.  1:58:47 - Quincey Suther, 12, Katy

20.  1:59:24 - Julia Bumgarner, 13, Houston (Houston Annuciation Orthodox MS)

Female 16-19

1.  1:22:38 - Nataly Reyna, 17, Houston (Houston Heights) - New single age record!

2.  1:25:12 - Jetzibe Trevino, 17, Huffman (Huffman Hargrave)

3.  1:30:05 - Stoya Laydevant, 16, The Woodlands (Conroe The Woodlands)

4.  1:32:13 - Madison Haldiman, 17, Sugar Land (Richmond George Ranch)

5.  1:34:12 - Mira Srinivasa, 18, Houston

6.  1:37:12 - Ashley Pierson, 17, Richmond (Richmond George Ranch)

7.  1:37:15 - Azeale Gannaway, 18, Houston (Houston St. Agnes Academy)

8.  1:37:27 - Mahek Majithia, 19, Sugar Land (Fort Bend Clements)

9.  1:39:37 - Bissinatt Abdulaziz, 16, Ethiopia (Alief Elsik)

10.  1:40:58 - Haniya Siddiqui, 17, The Woodlands (The Woodlands College Park)

11.  1:41:06 - Macari Palliser, 17, Humble (Humble Atascosita)

12.  1:41:30 - Emma Hourican, 17, Houston (Houston Duchesne Academy)

13.  1:41:42 - Lindsey Jahnke, 18, Spring (The Woodlands College Park)

14.  1:41:42 - Presley Robinson, 17, The Woodlands (The Woodlands College Park)

15.  1:41:59 - Sutton Walsh, 19, Houston (Houston Post Oak HS)

16.  1:42:05 - Megan Day, 17, The Woodlands (The Woodlands John Cooper School)

17.  1:44:19 - Madison King, 17, Rosenberg

18.  1:45:15 - Isabela Ramos, 17, Fulshear (Katy Jordan)

19.  1:45:45 - Julianna Falcon, 17, The Woodlands (The Woodlands College Park)

20.  1:46:25 - Lucia Varma, 17, Houston (Houston St. John's School)

Source:  chevronhoustonmarathon.com

Youngest Chevron Houston Marathon Legacy Runners for 2023

Should they be called the "Young Marathon Bucks"?

These 30 runners - all 36 years of age or younger - have finished 10 or more Chevron Houston Marathons to date making them the youngest Legacy Runners of them all.

And 20 of them will be in the starting corral on Sunday morning!

Men

23 - Will Lord, Sugar Land (11 finishes, consecutive)

28 - Auston Douglas, College Station (13 finishes, consecutive)

29 - Sergio Gutierrez, Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

30 - Carlos Favela, Houston (12 finishes, consecutive)

33 - Raymond Tam, Fresno (17 finishes, consecutive)

33 - Brian Luby, Fort Worth (11 finishes, consecutive)

34 - Carlos Vances, Jr., Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

34 - Gregory Hamre, Missouri City (10 finishes, finished in '22)

34 - Ira Ray, Houston (10 finishes, none since 2019)

34 - Robert Ontko, Sugar Land (10 finishes, 7 in a row)

35 - James Williamson, Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

35 - Mark Balhoff, Katy (10 finishes, none since 2020)

35 - Will Rommelmann, Houston (11 finishes, finished in '22 after 7-year absence)

36 - Christopher Schneider, Austin (13 finishes, last 12 straight)

36 - Clark Doherty, Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

36 - Joseph Thompson, Houston (10 finishes, finished in '22 after snapping 9-year streak in '21)

36 - Timothy Feges, Sugar Land (18 finishes, consecutive)

Women

31 - Amanda Nelson, Austin (10 finishes, none since 2017)

31 - Georgina Mishkin, Tulsa, OK (11 finishes, 8 in a row)

32 - Lindsay Phenix, Los Angeles, CA (10 finishes, finished in '22)

32 - Bonnie Caulfield, Irving (10 finishes, 8 consecutive from '14-'21)

34 - Emily Chik, Houston (13 finishes, consecutive)

34 - Natalie Mambretti, Fort Worth (10 finishes, none since 2020)

35 - Alli D'Acosta, Aledo (10 finishes, finished in '22 after 9 straight from '11-'19)

35 - Allyson Weimer, Oklahoma City, OK (11 finishes, none since 2019)

35 - Michelle Buzo, Sugar Land (10 finishes, none since 2018)

35 - Samantha Torres, Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

36 - Elizabeth Newton Hayes, Houston (10 finishes, consecutive)

36 - Kristian Nielssn, Humble (12 finishes, consecutive)

36 - Mindy Briones, McKinney (12 finishes, straight from '10-'21)

Sources:  houstonresults.com, Chevron Houston Marathon app

Some Chevron Houston Marathon Legacy Runners Primed for New Milestones on Sunday

Thirty-five (35) Chevron Houston Marathon registered Legacy runners for 2023 are looking to reach a new milestone marathon in their Legacy journey on Sunday, and they are led by the woman who has finished more Chevron Houston Marathons than any other woman, Maria Camacho.

Here is the complete list of marathoners with new milestone marathons in front of them on Sunday:

40th CHM finish

209 - Maria Camacho, 67, Katy (First marathon:  1983)

35th CHM finish

512 - Larry McPhillips, 71, Port Arthur (First marathon:  1986)

513 - Manuel Gonzalez, 77, La Porte (First marathon:  1983)

514 - Gene Wilson, 69, Houston (First marathon:  1988)

30th CHM finish

530 - Irene Binash, 65, Houston (First marathon:  1994)

531 - Lupe Gomez, 69, Pasadena (First marathon:  1978)

532 - Kathryn White, 55, Tulsa, OK (First marathon:  1994)

533 - Evelina Stenroos, 69, Cypress (First marathon:  1991)

534 - Jesus Pequeno, 55, Santa Catarina, MEX (First marathon:  1990)

535 - Eddie Espinosa, 60, Houston (First marathon:  1994)

25th CHM finish

568 - Steven Holehan, 57, Conroe (First marathon:  1999)

569 - Benjamin Mayer, 55, Houston (First marathon:  1995)

570 - Danielle Skelton Reeves, 65, The Woodlands (First marathon:  1999)

571 - John Boone, 65, Houston (First marathon:  1977)

572 - Leslie Medley Russell, 56, Houston (First marathon:  1996)

20th CHM finish
616 - Craig Fox, 67, Houston (First marathon:  1996)

617 - Howard Stone, 55, Houston (First marathon:  1998)

618 - Timothy Allen, 54, Houston (First marathon:  2004)

619 - Chris St Jean, 40, Seabrook (First marathon:  2004)

620 - Grant Bue, 64, Houston (First marathon:  2004)

621 - Donna Palmer, 56, Pearland (First marathon:  2004)

622 - Brad Godwin, 61, Cypress (First marathon:  1997)

623 - Rayman Lee, 61, Spring (First marathon:  2003)

624 - Denise Sadberry, 56, Katy (First marathon:  2004)

625 - Melissa Hedges-Rankin, 59, Houston (First marathon:  1988)

626 - Egbert Nelson, 70, Sugar Land (First marathon:  2000)

627 - Kirk Norton, 55, Spring (First marathon:  2004)

628 - Susie Comstock, 61, Sugar Land (First marathon:  2002)

629 - Keli Williams, 48, Pearland (First marathon:  2003)

630 - Lisa Gonzalez, 53, The Woodlands (First marathon:  1998)

631 - Malinda Hernandez, 50, Houston (First marathon:  2001)

632 - Chris Duggan, 56, Houston (First marathon:  2003)

633 - Stan Liu, 65, Houston (First marathon:  2003)

635 - Mike Clark, 61, Houston (First marathon:  1998)

636 - Jose Oviedo, 46, Houston (First marathon:  2004)

Sources:  houstonresults.com, Chevron Houston Marathon app

Double Legacy Runners Set to go for 2023 Races

Twenty-two (22) runners have completed 10 or more races in both the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon.

Fourteen of the 22 have registered for this year's Aramco Houston Half Marathon, including two who did not participate in last year's half marathon.

Below is the complete list:

Finished 2022 Half, Registered for 2023 Half

39 - 25 M - 14 H - Phillip Smith, 86, Houston

31 - 10 M - 21 H - Nathaniel Collins, 85, Houston

27 - 13 M - 14 H - Richard Verm, 68, Houston

24 - 13 M - 11 H - Michelle Wolpert, 59, Houston

23 - 11 M - 12 H - Susan Magee, 70, Houston

22 - 11 M - 11 H - Darrin Caramonta, 56, Houston

22 - 10 M - 12 H - Marshall Cohen, 64, Houston

22 - 11 M - 11 H - Richard Cooper, 58, The Woodlands

22 - 11 M - 11 H - Ronald Bahr, 63, Montgomery

22 - 12 M - 10 H - Steve Lowe, 68, Pearland

22 - 10 M - 12 H - Win Edwards, 68, Katy

20 - 10 M - 10 H - Monica Kervandijan, 49, Houston

Finished 2021 Half, Registered for 2023 Half

26 - 11 M - 15 H - David Williamson, 69, Houston (Last:  2021 Half)

Finished 2019 Half, Registered for 2023 Half

21 - 10 M - 11 H - Alton Robinson, 75, Houston (Last:  2019 Half)

Finished 2022 Half, Not Registered for 2023

30 - 17 M - 13 H - Lee Barron, 74, Bellville

26 - 11 M - 15 H - David Sanderson, 71, Galveston

Inactive

35 - 25 M - 10 H - Gerald Meyers, 74, Cypress (Last:  2017 Half)

25 - 15 M - 10 H - Robert Duzan, 79, League City (Last:  2021 Half)

23 - 10 M - 13 H - Joann Luco, 82, Houston (Last:  2014 Half)

23 - 10 M - 13 H - Julie Rutledge, 67, Houston (Last:  2019 Half)

22 - 12 M - 10 H - Carol St. Clair, 61, Houston (Last:  2020 Half)

20 - 10 M - 10 H - Sammy Balch, 73, Conroe (Last:  2013 Half) 

Sources:  houstonresults.com, Chevron Houston Marathon app

Eleven Set to be First-Time CHM/Aramco Legacy Runners at 70 and Over

Eleven (11) runners are registered for Sunday's Chevron Houston Marathon or Aramco Houston Half Marathon, who are slated to become first-time Legacy Runners at the age of 70 or over.

Chevron Houston Marathon
9 - Laural Cabrera, 70, F, Houston

9 - Sherri Richey, 70, F, Houston

9 - Sue Ferguson, 70, F, Houston

Aramco Houston Half Marathon

9 - Barry Davis, 70, M, Sugar Land

9 - Bronwyn Turner, 70, F, Houston

9 - George Card, 77, M, Houston

9 - Katherine Collins, 70, F, Houston

9 - Marilyn Weakley, 74, F, Kingwood

9 - Pamela Brennan, 74, F, Des Moines, IA

9 - Ruth Jackson, 75, F, Sugar Land

9 - Scott Reed, 79, M, Montgomery

Sources:  houstonresults.com, Chevron Houston Marathon app

2023 Aramco Houston Half Marathon - Longest Legacy Runners Registered

According to my research, these are the Aramco Houston Half Marathon runners who are registered for Sunday's race that have the most previous half marathon finishes:

21 - Nathaniel Collins, 86, M, Houston

20 - Scott Zarley, 63, M, Killeen

19 - Ann Wacker, 64, F, Seabrook

19 - Carol Madrid, 65, F, Friendswood

19 - Catherine Usry, 67, F, Pasadena

19 - John Polisini, 69, M, Houston

18 - Alan Hopkins, 55, M, Houston

18 - Angela Hemmen, 41, F, Colorado Springs, CO

18 - Bradley D Kalmans, 57, M, Houston

18 - Charlotte Dudley, 76, F, Houston

18 - Douglas Kelly, 59, M, Katy

18 - Mark Hemmen, 77, M, Spring Branch

18 - Randall Koenig, 67, M, Katy

18 - Sean Cochran, 57, M, Houston

18 - Sesh Bala, 78, M, Sugar Land

17 - Darrell Nichols, 69, M, Crosby

17 - Jill Tischbein, 63, F, Kingwood

17 - Nancy Ordonez, 57, F, Houston

17 - Ron Shaver, 71, M, Porter

17 - Stephen Oneil, 63, M, Beaumont

17 - Suzanne Armour, 64, F, Wharton

16 - Antonio Moreno, 58, M, Humble

16 - Catalina Garcia, 51, F, Houston

16 - Cindy Featherston, 67, F, Houston

16 - David Cook, 56, M, Houston

16 - Don Burney, 76, M, Houston

16 - Janice Satterfield, 63, F, Houston

16 - Jennifer Pao, 51, F, Sugar Land

16 - Kathy Haeckler, 68, F, Crockett

16 - Keith Cox, 65, M, Sugar Land

16 - Laura Kohlmaier, 55, F, Houston

16 - Laurel Kirkland, 60, F, Houston

16 - Mike Schroeder, 62, M, Fort Worth

16 - Robin Holcomb, 56, F, Montgomery

16 - Russell Meyer, 53, M, The Woodlands

16 - Sarah Ellis, 34, F, Austin

For runners with the following number of years finished, this is a detail of how many Legacy runners in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon there are and how many finished last year:

15 finishes - 37 total, 28 finished in 2022, oldest was 71, youngest was 29
14 finishes - 60 total, 42 finished in 2022, oldest was 86, youngest was 41

13 finishes - 81 total, 52 finished in 2022, oldest was 84, youngest was 42
12 finishes - 142 total, 85 finished in 2022, oldest was 80, youngest was 31

11 finishes - 185 total, 119 finished in 2022, oldest was 76, youngest was 31

10 finishes - 277 total, 153 finished in 2022, oldest was 74, youngest was 16 (Sam Saman)

9 finishes - 282 total, 156 finished in 2022, oldest was 79, youngest was 25

Sources:  houstonresults.com, Chevron Houston Marathon app

Spindle Tree parkrun / Vintage Park New Year's Day Classic 5K Race Report

Happy New Year!

This is going to be an honest post, but not a negative one.

My weight is up, specifically in my midsection.  It's been up before and I have gotten it down.

I knew it, but David Reynolds' pictures today at the Vintage Park New Year's Day Classic 5K confirmed it.

Cameramen with excellent equipment captures much.

I'm just going to have to work to get it down; however, I need to do more then what I have been.

Back in the day, I used to blame it on how much announcing I was doing, but I can't that excuse anymore.

It is, however, how much time I'm spending in front of a computer working on private and parochial high school athletics stuff.

I had injured my knee in the summer of 2021 while trying to complete the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee.

From April 25 to June 24, I ran or brisk walked 314.21 miles.  

I haven't been over 100 miles in any month since the June 25 - July 24, 2021 time reporting period.

I got close - 94.72 and 92.77 miles, respectively - this last spring and early summer (April 25 - June 24, 2022), but if I split last year (December 25 - December 24) into two halves there was a marked difference.

With just 675.74 miles running and brisk walking, 428.37 of those came in the first six months.

So, time to get busy.

I ran the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K on Saturday morning and the Vintage Park New Year's Day Classic 5K today.

The times weren't what I would have liked for them to be, but they are what they are.

My time in the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K was 35:19.93 with loop times of 11:18.36, 11:37.53, 11:45.80 and 38.24 on the final section.  The loops are just slightly over a mile long.

I ran the race five times this year and this is how they compare:

12/31/22 - Spindle Tree parkrun 5K (Magnolia, TX) - 35:19.93 // 11:18.36 - 11:37.53 - 11:45.80 - 38.24

06/04/22 - Spindle Tree parkrun 5K (Magnolia, TX) - 34:59.49 // 11:00.76 - 11:36.00 - 11:46.35 - 36.38

04/16/22 - Spindle Tree parkrun 5K (Magnolia, TX) - 33:57.07 // 10:35.59 - 11:06.23 - 11:41.37 - 34.68

02/12/22 - Spindle Tree parkrun 5K (Magnolia, TX) - 33:38.35 // 10:35.90 - 11:07.11 - 11:22.68 - 32.66

02/05/22 - Spindle Tree parkrun 5K (Magnolia, TX) - 32:51.71 // 10:22.14 - 10:58.55 - 10:58.75 - 32.27

Again, work to be done.

As I mentioned in my Facebook post, a special thank you to the volunteers, which included run director Catherine Green (coach Juris Green’s wife), Isobelle Hatrick (who spearheaded getting parkrun back going in The Woodlands) and Randall Ivins.

Catherine had told me that Juris was running with one of their daughters at the Texas Marathon's half marathon race.  I would miss seeing them, of course, but I asked for her to wish them well for me.

Great to see, of course, Vincent Attanucci and Alan Hedengren, who both ran.  They have run Spindle Tree 16 and 11 times, respectively.

I've done 19 career parkruns in nine different locations, and hope to, in my travels, run in different parkrun sites again.

People had commented that I should write a book about a lot of my experiences, but I certainly could on some of the drama that has taken place over the years in the running community.

What did I say above?  Positive, not negative, right?

I wasn't able to make Ron Stitt's race a year ago since I had worked the Texas Marathon in Kingwood since 2010 for Steve and Paula Boone.

Once they made a decision not to be lead on the event anymore (as they have transitioned it to the Knights of Columbus), it was an opportunity for me and Waverly to step back from our roles as race announcer and National Anthem singer.  We were recognized at last year's event and appreciated it.

Knowing that another race was started for New Year's Day a number of months ago, I reached out to Ron to see how his numbers were.

We had a good conversation, as always, and as a result, I decided to go out and run today as a show of support to Ron and his team.

I arrived on-site around 7:45 a.m., went inside Fleet Feet Sports to get my packet (but not without seeing Daniel Braden) and Lina Fuentes was working it - from Willie's The Woodlands Marathon team, but Becky Nesbitt was there too.  

I got a great first hug of the New Year from her.

Shortly thereafter I saw Bill Dwyer and Ron, Josh Rivas and David Reynolds, the race photographer.  (I offered him money, in jest, not to take pictures of me as I knew they probably wouldn't look great.)

Paolo Biagi and Tammy Grado, from Bill's Volte Endurance Training group got there, and I think Tammy was surprised I was running.  So was I!

I went down and said "Hello!" to Donnie Artley, who was timing the race for Run Houston Timing.

And then prior to the race starting, I saw Nora Wilson, Dee Akers and Steve Sievert and was intentional in going and saying Hi! to each one of them.

The race started and things went OK.  The weight and how it is positioned on my body keeps me from going more than about three quarters of a mile without needing to walk, going 60 steps before running again.  I've accepted that that is the way that it is going to be until I can work it off again.

Becky was manning the intersection directing runners and I engaged with her coming and going.

I also saw Dave Rainey, who's a unknown legend in our running and triathlon communities here in the greater Houston area, as I finished.

My time was 35:42.45 with splits of 10:46.63, 11:28.84, 11:53.07 and 1:33.91.

The last tenth of a mile seemed off.  I asked Tammy and she had 3.15 miles and said that she tried to run every tangent and there weren't many to run.

If you adjust the time for the extra .05 miles, it would make the time 35:13, which would be in line with Saturday's effort.

Waiting for the awards, I saw Dawn English, who competed at Ironman Hawaii this past October.  She was the overall women's winner for the females.  Tammy had won the masters division.

Later in the day, I hung out with Bill at The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K that he hosts the first Sunday of every month.

Ken Johnson and Curtis Barton were the only two who had come out.

More next month, I suppose.

For me?  I'll try to find something to run next Saturday, depending upon where I'm going to catch some basketball games at.

I already have a race in College Station that's a target for Saturday, January 14.

Appreciate your support, friendship and interest.