Ironman Texas 2024: Event Report

Saturday was the 13th year that the race has been held in The Woodlands and I've been fortunate to be at each one.

The first four years or so, I carried a press credential and then through last year, I worked at Barry Blanton's "Some Like It Hot!" run aid station No. 8 announcing the names of athletes coming in and out of the station.

Once Barry passed the aid station into capable hands, it presented me with the opportunity to get out all over the run course - basically the majority of two loops, walking in reverse and at runners as they moved forward.

It allowed me to be able make eye contact, if they so choosed, clap my hands, cheer them on and wish them well as they competed.

Athletes - as mostly the case - took a beating on the bike course, which today, once again, was very, very windy, and then it was pretty humid on the run until getting into the 7 p.m. hour.

I went to the gym to work out at 6:15 a.m. so I didn't get tied up in the traffic near 99 and Holzwarth going back to my house, which is about a mile south of Springwoods Village.

After going home, I positioned myself near that 99 and Holzwarth intersection like I did last year for when the cyclists turned right on to the feeder road for the Grand Parkway.

I not only cheered runners on for three hours, but also told runners to stay in the left-hand lane once they made the turn as law enforcement moved vehicles heading west onto 99 to the right-hand lane.

While I stayed a little longer than I wished, by communicating with athletes, I was able to allow the two officers who were working the insection on the north side of the bridge to more focus on moving traffic instead of trying to tell the cyclists where to go, as there was also only one volunteer there.

Good work complete, I went home, showered and then made my way to the Ironman run course.

I started the same place I have in the past and I had an immediate compliment on the work that I've been doing to drop some weight and inches from Denise Powers.  Thank you.

As at that time there were really only the professional athletes on the course, I was able to easily navigate my way to the first stop:  Hippie Hollow!

I immediately was welcomed by Peter Bardenhagen, had a chance to visit for a little bit with Marck and Lisa Henthron, saw Will Featherston briefly and had a chance to chat for a few with the mayor of Hippee Hollow, T.J. Fry.

Off I went, past a bunch of team tents near the Riva Row boathouse and I saw and chatted with Mark Whittemore and his wife for a few minutes.  

He said that Russell Meyer with The Woodlands Running Club was running the next run aid station, right before you went into East Shore.

Visited with Russell for a few and kept moving all the way through East Shore, up along side The Woodlands Parkway (on the pathway) until I got to Panther Creek drive where The Woodlands Christian Academy cross country and track and field coach Tom Earle had a group of eighty - that's right, 80! - youngsters that included a mix of athletes and a member of the school's Interact Club.

Tom is one of the top-notch cross country coaches among private and parochial schools in the state as well as in our local area.

While I was out there - and making a Facebook Live post of the activity, Kate Looney ran by the aid station.  She was the first of many athletes that I was looking for.

At some point, maybe out along Lake Woodlands, on the way to North Shore Park, I saw Derek Cooper, who is one of a handful that have completed every single Ironman Texas.

Eventually, I was getting closer to a full, complete loop when Michelle Truesdale caught my attention as she waiting for one of her athletes, Kate Looney, and she was telling me how she and another athlete were battling it out for third place (spoiler alert:  Kate finished second in her F40-44 division.)

Great, fun conversation with Michelle until - right on cue - Kate came rolling in.

There's a point coming out of transition that athletes, as they start their run, have to do an out-and-back along The Waterway heading towards Lake Woodlands and then climb up a grass incline, and this is where for the first time I saw Todd Cooper.

Last year, Todd had an issue with his eyes, where he was forced to not be able to make a go of it, and he fell out of the survivor game for finishing every Ironman Texas, but he was in for No. 12 on this Saturday.

So probably about 3 p.m. or so, I had made a complete loop of the run course - minus the little bit that goes out onto Timberloch and loops back to along The Waterway - and the crowds were starting to build all along the course.

I made it back to Hippie Hollow, part 2 and Bret Strong said "Hello!" and commented about how he had been following along in my posts as far as my recent weight loss.

Stayed for just a few and didn't make it far as I saw HTX Runs race director Ron Stitt and Valhalla's Lars Finanger near the Valhalla and Valykrie Racing tents near the Riva Row Boathouse.

More great weight loss conversation as Lars was asking me questions and sharing with Ron and me about his father's recent 80-pound weight loss and how Lars had sold him on the benefits of walking, given that his Dad's knees had been giving him problems.

As I was making my way through East Shore, round 2, Dawn English hollered at me, as she was waiting on one of her athletes, and while we were chatting, up came Peggy Yetman, who wasn't competing, having done the 70.3 in Galveston three weeks earlier.

I know at some point in time I saw Michael Wardian, who had finished second at the first year of The Woodlands Marathon in 2012, and maybe one of The Woodlands Marathon race directors Danny Golden, but what I remember most about making the turn on to the course at Panther Creek in the middle of my second loop was having Chuck Engle's wife, Sommer, stop me and asked me if I had seen Chuck.

I told her that I hadn't and I said that after looking at the Tracker before that I thought that maybe he had a rough time and decided to hold back and run with her, but it wasn't to be.

I had made it all the way to North Shore Park and as I was following through the course in the Park, I saw and chatted for a few minutes with John Zepeda of Johnny Z's Powerhouse Racing.  Such a great guy and we talked about his business which was expanding and I learned a lot about HIROX, a kind of new fitness competition like CrossFit and DECA.

On my way out of the park and as I was starting to cross the bridge is when I saw Scott and Tarrah Mayer, who were heading towards the run aid station just on the west side of the park along Lake Woodlands.

I knew that they were going to be working the late shift, but we really had a good conversation. 

I'm always glad to see Scott and Tarrah.  They're sweet people, even for Scott being a Michigan fan!  :-)

When I do stuff like this, I never really pay attention to taking care of myself.  I could feel myself starting to get dehydrated. 

I drank some water from the water fountain in the Park and in between there and HEB a little later, I wondered if that had been a bad decision on my stomach.

I've been saying that my diet hasn't necessarily gotten as clean as it could, but that I was doing a good job of getting my calories to a place that would foster some weight loss with the fitness work, but I grabbed a Mountain Dew - one of my few vices - and a bag of Funyuns (just 300 calories), but it hit the spot and gave me enough energy for the next four hours or so.

I went all the way to close to run aid station eight.  

No, actually, I went all the way there because I saw Marta Mixa there and wanted to make sure I said "Hello!"  She's been a consistent friend to Waverly and me for many, many years.  Sweet lady!

In the loop that I had finished I saw Kate two more times before she went in to finish and by the time I got there (to just short of run aid station eight), I saw Derek as he was getting ready to go in and make it No. 13 for his career at Ironman Texas.

Oh, how could I forget, while I was looking for Chuck earlier, I had seen Nancy Goodnight, the only female to do all Ironman Texas races, and local triahlete Michael S. Dwyer, a dentist from The Woodlands.

Speaking of Chuck, I had learned from Sommer that she had found him in the Med tent.  Always tough to hear your friends had a rough day out on the course.

(I did see late Saturday night or early Sunday morning that local good guy (and Penn State grad) Joe Chevalier got run off the bike course on the Hardy Toll Road by a large pack of age groupers riding together.)

In this time frame, I also saw Reggie Bruhn, who was going in for yet another finish.  I had seen him a number of times on the course.  Our most fun story over all of this time is when I showed up at Ironman Waco to support a few folks and him seeing me there.  

So after seeing Danny Golden heading into run aid station 8, and Michael Wardian coming out of it to make his way to the finish line, I had six athletes left to stay with and follow:

+ Danny Golden

+ Nancy Goodnight

+ Todd Cooper

+ Lauren Hoffart, who had run with Volte - Bill Dwyer's group - for a few years

+ Michael Dwyer

+ Chuck Engle's wife, Sommer 

And I stayed down near the old Anadarko building that entire time until all of them had come through to head to the finish.

(Learned at breakfast this Sunday morning at Whataburger with Bill before the Vintage Park Half Marathon that Michael - no relation - was the only finisher in M75-79 and is on his way to Kona for the men's world championship in October.  Good for him!)

In that time of supporting all of these folks, I had a chance to visit for a little with local photographer Scott Flathouse and triathlete Ben Proko, who sat this Ironman Texas out for the first time after doing the first 12. 

Great insightful conversation with Ben about he came to the decision to stop and not just do the race another year "just to finish".  He had gotten a lot of joy of knowing that one of his coached athletes nailed their plan on the bike - his strength - to finish in 11:11 on Saturday.

Shortly after, a group of Volte athletes were finishing up having dinner at Landry's.  All of them had run the Boston Marathon - the Monday before.  Rob Gay caught my attention and I went over and talked with him, Jane Cardnell, Roger King and Robert King.  Great people.  Talented athletes.

When Sommer made it there the last time, I asked if she was going to run or walk to the aid station where the turnaround was and she was going to powerwalk it in, I decided to go with her as I would be able to make my exit from there.

My sole purpose of doing what I did was to just cheer people on, meeting them face-to-face where they were.  It is the least that I could do.

Not every person engaged and I get that as I often just give people a thumbs up when I'm running a race and they cheer.

But out of it, I realized how greatful I am of all of the relationships and friendships that I had and have developed over the years, and how many people appreciated me for who I am and what I've contributed in our communities.

Not everybody - as there were a trio out there on Saturday (oddly, but not oddly, enough all congregated in the same place) - though sees it the same way, and that's OK.

Plus there were three additional folks registered - two that I know - that were no-shows, and I was grateful that they had made a decision not to compete.

That's my report about my small contribution.

I almost had decided to do a 5K and go to a baseball game and not even go out, but Ironman Texas - for us locally - kind of sucks you back in for all of the reasons above.

I was fortunate enough in 2010 to write the story in the Conroe Courier that broke the news ahead of the announcement - and giving many triathletes big hotel discounts before hotels raised their rates - and in the end, I'm glad that I'm now able to say I've been out there for all 13.