Analysis of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors Meeting

What an evening.

There were two items on the agenda of Wednesday night's Board of Directors meeting for The Woodlands Township that related to endurance sports events.

They were as follows:

Receive, consider and act upon changes to Special Events Policies and Procedures including, but not limited to, noise, hours and locations for special events occurring within the Township; 

Receive, consider and act upon a Host Venue Sponsorship Agreement for The Woodlands Marathon;

I personally was unable to attend last month's meeting where discussion first occured regarding potential changes to The Township's Special Events Policies and Procedures.

I watched the video stream live online and communicated during the session with Todd Cooper, a 12-time Ironman (and Penn State graduate) who is a resident of The Township and was in the meeting chambers.

I changed my work hours yesterday so I could be in attendance.

There were just six endurance sports-minded individuals who didn't have a responsibility to be there.

Actually, one, The Woodlands Marathon race director Willie Fowlkes, needed to be there in case there were questions regarding the Host Venue Sponsorship Agreement that his organization had in front of the Board for the race.

The others were Chris Strait (StraitSpeed and The Woodlands Marathon's elite athlete coordinator), Pam Meaux (who was there to support a residents' concern about future flooding prevention efforts to be taken), Rich Cooper (Volte; formerly Woodlands Fit), myself and a gentleman who I see at The Woodlands High School cross country and track meets but I don't recall his name.

Fortunately, there were no residents to speak during the Public Comment portion of the Board meeting in regards to the disruptions caused by major athletic events such as The Woodlands Marathon, CB&I, Ironman Texas, Ten For Texas or Run Thru The Woods.

There actually was one resident who spoke about the prestige and the community benefits that is brought to The Woodlands as a result of these events happening as well as he and his family's personal health and well-being being benefitted from them.

The one who did have a responsibility to be there was multi-time Ironman finisher and frequent event sponsor Bret Strong of The Strong Firm, whose firm provides legal services to The Township.

So, what's at play here?

As I understand it from multiple people, the Board has had voiced to it - and has personally experienced - road closure issues with races and sound issues from festivals and such held at Township parks.

Parks and Recreation Department, led on the task by Chris Nunes, provided at the last Board meeting a detailed list of the major events and whether these races had significant traffic and/or economic impacts and whether the Township was a producer or a sponsor.  Most of them, they have a skin in the game.

The perception coming out of last month's meeting from the Board was that events are stacked too close together and the same neighborhoods are being affected.

And that those events are landlocking folks in their neighborhoods for too long.

The two races that are the closest are CB&I and Ironman Texas, typically within three weeks of each other.  Presumably a new date hasn't been set for CB&I yet since Ironman Texas isn't final (or at least it hasn't been published).  It is supposedly referenced in the agreement with the World Triathlon Corporation that Ironman Texas for the foreseeable future will be on the third Saturday of April.  John Powers articulated that date each year last night.

So Chris and his team went and put together really just an incredible document that tracked every single event in The Township that Parks and Recreation did work on.

They shared revenues and expenses, the amount of time (not in salaries and benefits numbers) that their staff put in on each event as well as other pertinent information and a future recommendation for that specific event.

They also listed every single event - not just races, mind you, but festivals, etc., whatever - in the Township, which park it was held in and what the community impacts were.

It was an impressive 108-page masterpiece.

One thing I gleaned is that The Township made a profit on the athletic races, which funds a lot of the programs in The Parks and Recreation Department, but other events, including those with the CV&B were high in expenses and few in revenues.

In that Operational Plan, he also addressed the amplified sound issues in Town Green and North Shore Park that Director Bass so loudly himself - not a negative reference; just ironic - voiced his concern about in the May and June Board Meetings.

That, however, all got lost in one line of one item of 12 bulleted recommendations.

The two items that had the most potential impact on endurance sports events were:

1.  Reschedule the CB&I Triathlon and / or Memorial Hermann 10 for Texas to different months than currently produced to reduce the number of race events in the community that necessitate a street and/or lane closure that have been occurring within a few weeks of each other

2.  Provided the Counties approve Township’s role in approving use of public roads, events requiring road or lane closures cannot occur if another event has been permitted for closing the same roads/ lanes two weeks before or two weeks after. All road and lane closures must provide traffic alternate routes of ingress/egress from neighborhoods. No events will be permitted to close a public road or lane for more than 4 hours, except the Ironman Texas

One of the ideas listed on page 33 of the Operational Plan was:

Review the possibility of moving the race to late summer/early fall to reduce community conflicts with Texas Ironman and The Woodlands Marathon.

This would address the Board's concerns about events that heavily impact traffic multiple times, but what I expressed via Twitter last night is:  "Where do you put it on the schedule?"

I thought that it might be hard to place it in the middle of the well-attended Onurmark triathlon races.  Then again, maybe people will flock to it then.

The discussion was free-wheeling.

Initially, Chris was even directly questioned by one of the Directors if he wanted to see the marathon killed, in essence.  Of course, I don't think that was Chris' intentions at all.  My perception is that he was trying to find a way to address the Board's already expressed concerns.

Willie Fowlkes got up during the public comment section and drew attention to the four-hour limit and noted that CB&I closed Lake Woodlands down at the finish line for more than four hours.  (At least from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., if not a little bit longer, but no more than six hours.)

Armed with that information, the Directors moved away from a firm, fixed time frame and that the Operational Plan was more of a set of guidelines that gave Parks and Recreation that ability to tell events "No".

Recent changes that require events to have a traffic control plan, pre-race highway notification devices, etc. had already stemmed the number of requests of potential new events in the community that are produced on the roadways.

Director McMullan steered the conversation to hammer home a point he made in the last Board Meeting that the economic impact benefits weren't really that much to the average homeowner's property taxes.

With the growth of The Woodlands recently, it's properly less than a couple of Starbucks coffees or lattes.

Director Bunch, an athlete himself and Ironman Texas finisher, noted - as he did so well in the May Board Meeting - the community benefits in addition to the prestige of The Woodlands.  Initially, last month, that didn't seem - in my mind - to impress Director Bass too much, but I sensed that he agreed with Gordy's take on that last night.

I gather currently the limitation of events between one another is currently two weeks (CB&I and Ironman Texas is currently three) and Director McMullen was aggressively adamant about 4-6 weeks between events.

Director Fillault asked, "Are we really closing areas off weekend after weekend?"

I personally was encouraged with that line of questioning because my concern was Fillault's stance on endurance events after she defeated Bruce Tough in the elections last November.  Former Director Tough was an ardent supporter of the endurance sports community in The Woodlands.

She also advocated better communication to the community, if they're inclined to listen (which I've personally found to be a challenge, especially with The Woodlands Marathon / SAT issue this past March).

Director Snyder was concerned of losing these races because of rules that would be too restrictive and that is when Director Bunch advocated grandfathering the existing events, which makes a lot of sense.

Director Bass, however, in a fair point, stated that at some point in time all events should have to follow the same rules, allowing for a transition time period; however, he was quick to wield power that he didn't yet have stating that The Township - even if Montgomery County Commissioner's approved road closure and the traffic control plan - could deny to issue a Special Events permit.

It went round and round with multiple motions - and retractions of motions - for future action at next month's Board of Directors meeting.

So more to come there.

The next item, with John Powers taking to the podum, was to discuss the renewing of The Woodlands Township's Host Venue Sponsorship Agreement with The Woodlands Marathon.

Grown out of the type of agreement that the World Triathlon Corporation has with The Township, The Woodlands Marathon had a five-year agreement that just expired.

Both parties provided the other with certain items or services.

The Marathon looked to The Township allow for use of Town Green, South Shore and Shadowbend Park, provide waste management and security services and to make available the use of 40 pop-up tents, for example.

The Marathon would provide an influx of 4,000 individuals, guarantee 150 hotel nights, provide VIP packages to The Township and give $41,000 -- $20,000 in donations to not-for-profit organizations, $20,000 for local and regional volunteer organizations and $1,000 for the Parks and Recreation Department.

The new proposed agreement called for similar responsibilities from The Township, adding Terramont Park, in-kind use of electronic message boards to notify residents and in-kind usage of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion multipurpose building for the Expo.

The latter item would bring athletes back to Market Street after the traffic nightmares from hosting this year's Expo at Legends Sports Complex; however, "dry-floor event" policies and procedures hadn't been established yet as noted in The Township's pre-meeting synopsis of the Agenda item.

The Marathon, in its proposal, stated an influx of 25,000 athletes, media, staff, VIPs and spectators, guarantee approximately 400 hotel nights and change the financial outlay to no less than $26,000.  $25,000 combined, instead of $20,000 each, for the two categories stated above and $1,000 to the Parks and Recreation Department.

As I stated in an earlier Facebook posting, I'm no longer a member of The Woodlands Marathon committee.  I rolled off because I didn't know if I was going to have some work responsibilities with a systems conversion at a hospital that I am performing consulting services at the weekend of the 2016 event.

I was never aware of the details of the Host Venue Sponsorship Agreement while on the Marathon team.  (I did jump in and provide some in-kind media relations services during this year's event.)

Therefore, I don't know if - whatever tracking is used to prove hotel nights related to the Marathon, if that comes through the CV&B's surveys of the local hotels and their tracking (which I've seen in other cities that I've witnessed with another event director that receives HOT monies from) - the Marathon has to make that up at 'x' number of dollars per room for every one that they're short.

The biggest surprise was a proposed 10-year term, which I stated on Twitter was unprecedented for an event its size.

I found three races that have these:

+ The Pittsburgh Marathon has a 10-year title sponsorship agreement with Dick's Sporting Goods.

+ The Boston Marathon has 10-year deals with Adidas and John Hancock that don't expire until 2023 and 2024, respectively.

+ The New York City Marathon just inked a 10-year sponsorship deal with New Balance this past December.

But, you don't get what you don't ask for, right?

Director Robb seemed to imply that there might have been some limit of five years that The Township could commit to, but that wasn't real clear.

Director McMullan, who was actually the only Director in any vote last night that voted against any motion or proposal, advocated a 1- or 2-year deal, almost as if the relationship between the two parties hadn't been good.  And that's something that I've never sensed.

John Powers seemed to be in support of a longer agreement.

These were my takeaways from last night's meeting.

I'm an optimist and believe that these things will get worked out.

I've always stated that I don't know of one race director that wants to stick it to the people whose lives they temporarily interrupt for a few hours.  And I still believe that.

With the exception of Ironman Texas, the races held within The Woodlands Township are pretty much uniquely for the residents of The Township.

CB&I and Ten For Texas, as well as Run Thru The Woods, are considered "hometown races" and The Woodlands Marathon is becoming so.

I've always have seen 60-70% numbers in registrations for these races that come from The Woodlands, Spring and Montgomery County and maybe even more for the Muddy Trails Bash, which doesn't impede much traffic at all.

The very first year of Ironman Texas, there were more finishers from the state of the host venue than any other domestic Ironman (140.6) than ever before.

The bottom line is that athletes who complain about residents complaining loudly need to become more engaged and carry the positive message out regularly and consistently.

Anything less just isn't acceptable anymore.  Sorry.

You want to race on the streets that are closed specifically for you?  You're going to have to start to better state your case to do so.

But isn't having these well-produced events in the community your justification for not having to drive to the Houston and parts further south to race?

Then put a helmet on and step into the batter's box and take a few cuts.

The next collective swing?  The July 27th Board of Directors Township Meeting.  If you're reading this, make plans to be there.

(Note:  I don't mind taking the lead on matters like this, but I can clearly state - and I have in a communication earlier after Ironman Texas to the Board and the County Commissioners - that my life - and that of my daughter's - has clearly benefited from these events over the last 13 years.  If I've errored in any perceptions or recollections from last night above, please let me know and I'll make corrections.  The bottom line, to me, though, is that more people need to step up and put their money where their mouth is.  And you just can't put the weight on those who are already pretty well-connected and involved such as Fowlkes, Sutherland, Fry, Lyons and such.)

Texas' Largest Independence Day-Themed Races - 2015

In doing a review of last year's Independence Day-themed races around Texas, I was a little surprised that there weren't many, many more than what is listed below.

A couple of races - such as one in Stephenville, for example - I couldn't locate results for; however, I don't think that they would have affected the top ten races.

The largest number of finishers in any race at a single distance goes to the Baytown Bud Heatwave 5-miler as they set an all-time high for their race.  In fact, three of the largest races in Texas are in the greater Houston area.

The largest event with the most number of official timed finishers is the 30th annual Liberty By The Lake 5K with a combined number of 981 with both their 10K and 5K.

Just a few weeks when we find out who the new King in Texas is.

Until then, here is last year's list:

789 - Baytown Bud Heatwave 5M, Baytown
787 - Run Wild 5K, Houston
753 - 30th annual Liberty By The Lake 5K, The Colony
714 - Freedom 5K, Sugar Land
445 - Liberty Run 5K, Denton

444 - SanAntonio Roadrunners Fourth of July 4-Miler, San Antonio
410 - Patriot Run 5K, Trophy Club
402 - Hotter 'n Firecrackers Glow Run, Frisco
354 - Firecracker 5000, Fort Worth
335 - Rowlett Freedom 5K on Main, Rowlett

308 - Up and Running Fourth of July 5K, El Paso
304 - Red, White and Blue Race 5K, McKinney (273 + 31 Run 'n Pump)
288 - DRC Independence 5K, Dallas (July 11)
288 - Freedom 5000, Austin
275 - Four For The Fourth 4M, Corpus Christi

261 - Cox Running Club 4th 5K, Fort Worth
256 - DRC Independence 10K, Dallas (July 11)
243 - Firecracker 4, Lake Jackson
238 - 30th annual Liberty By The Lake 10K, The Colony
218 - Let Freedom Run! 5K, Schertz

216 - Popsicle Run 4M, Kyle
180 - 25th annual Joey Munoz 4th of July Memorial 5K, Laredo
176 - Firecracker 5K, Lago Vista
146 - Dallas 7K
140 - Star Spangled Salute Freedom Run 5K, Midland

137 - Firecracker Run 3M, Brownfield
136 - Lake Granbury Kiwanis Firecracker 5K, Granbury
128 - Firecracker 5K Evening Run, San Marcos (July 2)
102 - Shiner Half Moon Holiday 5K, Shiner
94 - Old Jo's Firecracker Run 5K, Saint Jo

88 - Firecracker 5K, Mexia
85 - Coolest 5K in Texas, Fort Davis
71 - Star Spangled Salute Freedom Run 10K, Midland
70 - Freedom 5K, Nacogdoches
59 - Firecracker 5K, Greenville

54 - Firecracker Run 10M, Brownfield
42 - Dallas 4K
38 - Shiner Half Moon Holiday 10K, Shiner

Bourbon Derby (Paris, KY) Half Marathon Report

If you're a runner that is chasing a goal such as running a marathon or half marathon in all 50 states, you've probably learned that it isn't so much about a particular feature of a race you want to do in a certain state.

It's more about the fit to your budget and schedule.

That being said, I very rarely look at an elevation chart.

But having done the Leadville Heavy Half in Colorado many years ago, I would only shy away from a very technical and steep trail race.

Rolling out from the start line of the third annual Bourbon Derby Half Marathon, 10-Miler and 4-Miler near Paris, Kentucky recently, I quickly realized that maybe I should revisit that policy.

While it is one of the most beautiful courses that you might run by going - literally - through many thoroughbred farms, it packs 1,147 feet of elevation change into 13.1 miles.

Throw in a race that started on a humid morning with temperatures that started at 68 degrees and eventually rose to 80 before I finished, the combination of the two dished out a beating.

This race would really best be run in early-to-mid March or in late October.

The event producer had plenty of water stations and the volunteers working them - and the rest of the course - were superb.

The race started on-time and I can't comment on post-race festivities and awards as I left to head back to my hotel in Georgetown to drive back to Indianapolis to fly home to Houston.

The most unique thing about the race is that it started and finished in the drive-in lane of a drive-in theater! You parked your car like you were there for a movie!

While running the race - or running the downhills and walking the uphills, rather, you realize that the event producer had little, if any, traffic control costs.

Most were very rural, paved roads that had very low-density traffic.

In fact, I only saw one traffic control sign - that Department of Transportation would require - on the road approaching the movie theater.

In fact some of the course was on roads through various farms that wouldn't be available to the public.

When we finished, we were given a medal that wasn't.

It was made of wood!

Being involved in event production, these two things take a significant amount out of the cost.

If it indeed goes towards the non-profit producer's stated scholarship programs and charities, no worries. It just left a different taste in my mouth.

This race was first produced two years ago and experienced very pleasant temperatures, according to weatherunderground.com -- 53 degrees at the start and 62 near the end. 324 ran the half marathon, 110 the 10-miler and another 134 did the four-miler.

Perhaps based on that, last year, 551 ran the half while 63 and 108 did the 10- and 4-milers, respectively.  However, temperatures at start time were in the 70's and stayed there.

This year, the half marathon number of finishers was way down with 258 while the 10-miler and 4-milers saw 50 and 116 runners cross the finish line, respectively.

I would never say not run this race, but I'd jump on it again if the date was moved where there were cooler temperatures.

My splits were as follows:

Mile 1 -- 12:04.69

Mile 2 -- 11:33.48

Mile 3 -- 11:54.45

Mile 4 -- 12:43.30

Mile 5 -- 12:49.87

Mile 6 -- 12:23.27

Mile 7 -- 12:27.30

Mile 8 -- 12:30.68

Mile 9 -- 14:53.93

Mile 10 -- 10:46.11 (markers were off)

Mile 11 -- 13:29.43

Mile 12 -- 11:39.88

Mile 13 -- 14:00.19

Last .1 -- 1:33.48 (didn't stop quick enough)

As soon as we made the first left-hand turn out of the drive-in theater's entrance and onto the roads, I could see the first set of hills and with the heat and humidity knew that it was going to be a "just finish" kind of day.

Sylvan Beach Triathlon All-Time Winners (2006-2016)

The event originally was the Battle of San Jacinto Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquabike from 2006-2008 before becoming the Sylvan Beach Triathlon and Duathlon in 2009.

Triathlon
Male - Overall
2006 - James Bales, 26, 2:01:08.6
2007 - James Bales, 28, 2:04:23.5
2008 - Grant Glauser, 24, 2:03:06.8
2009 - Dean King, 36, 1:30:38.1
2010 - Dean King, 37, 1:27:26.1
2011 - Dean King, 38, 1:26:33.5
2012 - Trent Stephens, 40, 1:31:41.9
2013 - Colin Caughran, 32, 1:04:31.7
2014 - Lars Finanger, 34, 1:01:05.0
2015 - Matthew Perches, 21, 1:06:30.7
2016 - Lars Finanger, 36, 1:01:02.9
Male - Masters
2006 - Tommy Elder, 54, 2:15:15.3
2007 - Rich Sumrall, 43, 2:13:25.2
2008 - Rich Sumrall, 44, 2:08:42.4
2009 - Chris Haycraft, 50, 1:40:46.2
2010 - Tom Stus, 43, 1:37:00.1
2011 - Chris Sustala, 41, 1:33:42.2
2012 - Albert Sustala, 43, 1:36:17.5
2013 - Kevin Kleinhenz, 46, 1:06:09.1
2014 - Derek Wood, 42, 1:08:50.3
2015 - Edward Aviles, 45, 1:07:43.1
2016 - Trent Stephens, 44, 1:09:35.3
Female - Overall
2006 - Julie Mosier-Crosno, 34, 2:14:20.2
2007 - Peggy Yetman, 39, 2:18:53.6
2008 - Suzanne Schwarz, 29, 2:25:56.2
2009 - Diann Sweeney, 43, 1:41:18.1
2010 - Diann Sweeney, 44, 1:39:31.5
2011 - Jessica Scott, 30, 1:48:18.0
2012 - Ann Rial Smith, 45, 1:34:47.7
2013 - Stacy Holden, 37, 1:17:26.1
2014 - Emily Finanger, 35, 1:10:03.3
2015 - Grace Benes, 32, 1:08:57.9
2016 - Emily Finanger, 37, 1:08:05.2
Female - Masters
2006 - Sheri Okeefe, 45, 2:34:12.6
2007 - Lisa Tilton-McCarthy, 41, 2:36:07.1
2008 - Suzanne Wheatall, 47, 2:40:16.0
2009 - Robin Campbell, 46, 2:00:31.1
2010 - Carlye Graydon, 40, 1:47:28.4
2011 - Jody Berry, 51, 1:49:19.2
2012 - Leslie Medley Russell, 46, 1:40:37.3
2013 - Robynne Parry, 40, 1:17:26.9
2014 - Alana Kennedy-Nasser, 40, 1:18:31.9
2015 - Michelle LeBlanc, 40, 1:16:49.4
2016 - Peggy Yetman, 48, 1:08:44.9

2006 - 1500 meter swim, 40K bike, 10K run
2009 - 1000 meter swim, 30K bike, 8K run
2010 - 1500 meter swim, 30K bike, 5 mile run
2013 - 500 meter swim, 15 mile bike, 3 mile run

Duathlon
Male - Overall
2006 - Ryon Talbot, 33, 1:57:43.3
2007 - Dana Lyons, 49, 1:54:01.8
2008 - Nathaniel Faulkenberry, 27, 1:56:18
2009 - David Depinet, 47, 1:37:27.8
2010 - Dana Lyons, 52, 1:31:29.9
2011 - John Mannion, 40, 1:34:57.9
2012 - Stephen Milford, 27, 1:30:41.6
2013 - Dana Lyons, 55, 1:09:43.7
2014 - Steve Sievert, 46, 1:13:34.7
2015 - Matthew Vance, 35, 1:09:36.9
2016 - Gabe Gomez, 40, 1:10:47.3
Male - Masters
2006 - Michael Waldau, 52, 2:10:50.3
2007 - Michael Waldau, 54, 2:15:34.2
2008 - Stuart Page, 46, 2:05:33
2009 - Ben Harvie, 63, 1:43:05.7
2010 - David Depinet, 47, 1:37:42.1
2011 - Taylor Ewing, 48, 1:36:33.1
2012 - Pedro Rodriguez, 43, 1:36:09.9
2013 - Steve Sievert, 45, 1:15:20.7
2014 - Brett Cole, 47, 1:13:56.1
2015 - John Impey, 46, 1:12:50.3
2016 - Michael Halpin, 49, 1:13:21.7
Female - Overall
2006 - Donna Kouwe, 49, 2:33:44.0
2007 - Bridget Jensen, 44, 2:08:34.5
2008 - Tamatha Ray, 41, 2:29:40
2009 - Anne Ekern, 41, 1:43:42.3
2010 - Anne Ekern, 42, 1:43:03.5
2011 - Anne Ekern, 43, 1:42:40.7
2012 - Dianne Garban, 46, 1:40:04.8
2013 - Mandi Rogers, 34, 1:21:25.5
2014 - Katylynn Welsch, 14, 1:23:59.0
2015 - Amy Craft, 39, 1:19:16.5
2016 - Lisa Roberts, 38, 0:57:25.9
Female - Masters
2006 - Danielle Keller, 40, 2:34:34.3
2007 - Tonya Arnold, 42, 2:37:48.0
2008 - Diana Ballard, 48, 2:49:38
2009 - Allison Le Compte, 49, 1:49:28.0
2010 - Bridget Jensen, 47, 1:50:58.4
2011 - Tamatha Ray, 44, 1:51:29.4
2012 - Maggie Kattan, 41, 1:37:56.7
2013 - Dianne Garban, 47, 1:25:58.8
2014 - Anne Ekern, 46, 1:24:39.9
2015 - Triny Willerton, 44, 1:24:13.1
2016 - Casey Brand, 44, 1:23:46.9

2006 - 2 mile run, 40K bike, 6.35 mile run
2009 - 2 mile run, 30K bike, 8K run
2010 - 2 mile run, 30K bike, 5 mile run
2013 - 2 mile run, 15 mile bike, 3 mile run

Aguabike
Male - Overall
2006 - John Zepeda, 37, 1:29:28.7
2007 - Karl Stewart, 39, 1:32:23.3
Male - Masters
2006 - Robert Reese, 44, 1:31:43.5
2007 - William Neff, 48, 2:10:16.6
Female - Overall
2006 - Tracy Ferando, 41, 1:40:44.7
2007 - Jennifer Felder, 30, 2:04:26.7
Female - Masters
2006 - Michelle Case, 48, 1:51:43.1
2007 - Joanne Murphey, 43, 2:25:59.6

2006 - 1500 meter swim, 40K bike

Texas Marathons - By Facebook Followers

Below is a complete list of Texas marathons, ranked by the number of Facebook followers they had as of 12 noon, June 1, 2016:

37,244 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon
30,710 - Chevron Houston Marathon
28,275 - South Padre Island Marathon
26,020 - Austin Marathon
23,823 - BMW Dallas Marathon

19,823 - The Cowtown Marathon (Fort Worth)
15,261 - BCS Marathon (Bryan-College Station)
12,689 - GE Irving Marathon
  7,663 - Fidelity Investments The Woodlands Marathon
  5,425 - McAllen Marathon

  5,219 - New Year's Double, encompassing New Year's Eve and New  Year's Day Marathons (Allen)
  4,777 - Michelob Ultra Marathon
  4,672 - Exygon & Baptist Hospitals Gusher Marathon (Beaumont)
  3,146 - Fort Worth Marathon
  2,698 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon

  2,499 - Galveston Marathon
  2,340 - Miracle Match Marathon (Waco)
  2,325 - Memorial Hermann USA Fit Marathon (Sugar Land)
  1,244 - Surfside Beach Marathon
     802 - Marathon 2 Marathon

     757 - **Dust Bowl Series Marathons (Dalhart) - Closed Facebook Group
     723 - **Cross Timbers Trail Run (Lake Texoma) - Closed Facebook Group
     711 - Amarillo Marathon
     609 - Grasslands Trail Run (Decatur)
     587 - Crazy Desert Trail Race (San Angelo)
     185 - Frankenthon Monster (Cedar Park) - Public Facebook Group

The following marathons did not have their own separate pages, but rather their content was accounted for through a parent company's Facebook page:

17,183 - *Big-D (Dallas) - Mellew Production Events Facebook Page
17,183 - *Tyler Rose Marathon - Mellew Production Events Facebook Page
10,928 - *Brazos Bend Marathon (Needville) - Trail Racing Over Texas Facebook Page
 8,916 - *HITS Running Festival (Austin) - HITS Running Facebook Page
 7,022 - *Hill Country Marathon (Marble Falls) - Traverse Running Facebook Page

The Texas Marathon and the Davy Crockett Bear Chase, produced in Kingwood and Groveton, respectively, by Steve and Paula Boone, do not have their own Facebook pages.

Black Moshannon 10K Race Report (Philipsburg, PA)

I try to write race reviews for a website named, BibRave.com, but I never include anything particular about how my race actually went.  I figure people that don't know me don't really care.

All in all, this was a tough, challenging race.

I finished in 1:16:01.32.  Ouch!

Mile 1 -- 10:41.82
Mile 2 -- 12:56.19  (This had an incline that could have been part of the Blue Ridge Half Marathon a month earlier in Roanoke)
Mile 3 -- 13:50.13
Mile 4 -- 13:37.62
Mile 5 -- 11:22.92 (Out on paved road)
Mile 6 -- 11:37.33 (Little bit of a downhill)
Last .2 -- 1:55.41

This was the course profile:

Very mixed feelings about this race.

All but two volunteers were friendly and excellent; those are things that we should all be thankful for as runners, all the time.

There were some severe communication issues, though, that could have been avoided.

This race has been going on since 1981, but it hasn't embraced some of the tenets of racing in 2016.

Tough course, which had a 2.7% grade over 1.84 miles that was between 1.46 and 3.29 miles, according to one runner's profile on mapmyrun.com.

The first four or so miles are on a road that was covered with mixed gravel and dirt, while the last almost two were on fairly smooth paved road.

Communications? Nowhere on the race's web site did it indicate an elevation profile or that it might have been good to wear trail shoes as regular road shoes just didn't allow for decent enough traction very early in the race.

I think sometimes that community races or races that have been going on three decades or more never think about what the race may look like to somebody that is brand new to it.

Especially when you list the race on one of the national event listing websites, such as runningintheusa.com, where I found the race listed.

Although I'm from around the area of the race, my family moved from there just before I turned 10 to Texas. Almost 50, I had never been to the park before and having flown into Pittsburgh from Houston, I approached the Park from the west along Interstate 80.

It was probably the most remote approach (north) from the other three directions, but there was no signage along a "not even two-lane road" to indicate that I was going in the right direction towards the park.

But the most glaring issue was the fact that you didn't have water available until just past mile 3, which is through almost all of the incline, especially when it warmed up on a part of the course that wasn't as covered as it was in other parts of the Park.

There was another water stop at almost mile 5, but stations at miles 2 and 4 would seem to be more appropriate - and to list it on the website to be able to plan for it (or to carry water if it wasn't satisfactory).

Normally for a 10-kilometer race on a flat course, you may or may not need to have water at all, but on a warmer day with a hilly course it just could have been more evenly placed.

And while there was EMS at the finish and maybe around ~100 runners (the race had 121 finishers the year before), it just seemed as if somebody could have easily run into a rough spot where they would have been out of touch with anyone for a mile (between mile 2 and mile 3 and mile 3 and mile 4).

This viewpoint was exacerbated by the fact that a runner who was sitting and waiting for somebody between miles 2 and 3, maybe more early in mile 2. They were OK when I asked them (and before I made it to mile 3 there was a vehicle that was coming to get to them). Additionally, there was an "older than me" runner who was bobbing and weaving a little bit ahead of me. I caught up to him, let him have some of my water and then advised everybody I came in contact with ahead of me to just make sure he was alright.

Would I recommend the race to a friend? Yes, but I would arm them with information that I've shared here that isn't disclosed on the race's main webpage.

To the race: Think about everything possible that somebody who isn't from your area needs to know to get to your race, where to start (there were people from Altoona and State College - in the area - that were asking) and many other things.

Texas' Fastest Marathon Courses - Mid-2016 Update

Last late year, I put together a listing based on the average marathon times of all marathon courses in Texas from results captured by MarathonGuide.com (or calculated from timer's websites if the event was not listed there).

Since we won't see another marathon until late September, it is time to update the listing based on results earlier this year.  Please let me know if I'm missing anybody!  - Jon

1,000 finishers and over
4:25:45 - Houston Marathon (2016; 7,807 finishers; 4:30:29 in 2015)
4:34:56 - Austin Marathon (2016; 3,072 finishers; 4:37:28 in 2015)
4:38:03 - Dallas Marathon (2015; 2,747 finishers; 4:42:46 in 2014)
4:46:57 - Cowtown Marathon (2016; 1,252 finishers; 4:52:37 in 2014)
5:01:43 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon (2015; 2,494 finishers; 4:49:41 in 2014)

500-999 finishers
4:29:16 - The Woodlands Marathon (2016; 874 finishers; 4:26:01 in 2015)
4:37:02 - Bryan-College Station BCS Marathon (2015; 639 finishers; 4:43:33 in 2014)

250-499 finishers
4:29:35 - El Paso Marathon (2016; 314 finishers; 4:26:42 in 2015)
4:31:43 - Fort Worth Marathon (2015; 284 finishers; 4:38:19 in 2014)
4:52:21 - Big-D Texas Marathon (2016; 490 finishers; 4:54:18 in 2015)
5:18:16 - South Padre Island Marathon (2015; 378 finishers; Debut year)
5:31:24 - Texas Marathon (2016; 329 finishers; 5:19:50 in 2015)

Under 250 finishers
4:13:57 - Marathon 2 Marathon (2015; 101 finishers; 4:30:15 in 2014)
4:29:02 - Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon (2016; 148 finishers; 4:29:13 in 2015)
4:38:33 - HITS Running Festival - Austin (2015; 44 finishers; 4:38:24 in 2014)
4:43:30 - Tyler Rose Marathon (2015; 164 finishers; 4:31:34 in 2014)
4:44:35 - Gusher Marathon - Beaumont (2016; 75 finishers; 4:40:47 in 2015)
4:44:41 - Irving Marathon (2016; 206 finishers; 4:34:52 in 2015)
4:50:23 - New Year's Eve Marathon - Allen (2014; 140 finishers; 4:59:36 in 2014)
4:51:45 - McAllen Marathon (2015; 183 finishers; 5:01:39 in 2014)
4:51:47 - Chosen Marathon for Adoption - New Braunfels (2015; 163 finishers; 4:46:49 in 2014)
4:58:52 - Hill Country Marathon - Marble Falls (2015; 57 finishers; 5:11:30 in 2014)
5:02:04 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon (2016; 175 finishers; 5:00:52 in 2015)
5:02:07 - New Year's Day Marathon - Allen (2016; 77 finishers; 5:24:16 in 2015)
5:08:54 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase - Groveton (2016; 68 finishers; 5:13:33 in 2015)
5:15:10 - Frankenthon Monster Marathon - Cedar Park (2014; 129 finishers; 4:36:06 in 2013)
5:21:05 - Grasslands Trail Run Marathon (2016: 78 finishers; 5:47:16 in 2015)
5:25:39 - USA Fit Marathon - Sugar Land (2016; 238 finishers; 5:22:46 in 2015)
5:22:50 - Surfside Beach Marathon (2016; 79 finishers; 5:09:10 in 2015)
5:27:45 - Miracle Match Marathon - Waco (2016; 111 finishers; 5:13:18 in 2015)
6:21:41 - Dust Bowl Series - Dalhart (2016; 39 finishers; 6:12:46 in 2015)

2015 Marathons not in 2016
4:49:48 - The Army Marathon (2015; 419 finishers; 4:38:04 in 2014)
5:12:57 - Love. Run. Marathon. - Huntsville (2015; 51 finishers)

Overall
4:13:57 - Marathon 2 Marathon (2015; 101 finishers; 4:30:15 in 2014)
4:25:45 - Houston Marathon (2016; 7,807 finishers; 4:30:29 in 2015)
4:29:02 - Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon (2016; 148 finishers; 4:29:13 in 2015)
4:29:16 - The Woodlands Marathon (2016; 874 finishers; 4:26:01 in 2015)
4:29:35 - El Paso Marathon (2016; 314 finishers; 4:26:42 in 2015)

4:31:43 - Fort Worth Marathon (2015; 284 finishers; 4:38:19 in 2014)
4:34:56 - Austin Marathon (2016; 3,072 finishers; 4:37:28 in 2015)
4:37:02 - Bryan-College Station BCS Marathon (2015; 639 finishers; 4:43:33 in 2014)
4:38:03 - Dallas Marathon (2015; 2,747 finishers; 4:42:46 in 2014)
4:38:33 - HITS Running Festival - Austin (2015; 44 finishers; 4:38:24 in 2014)

4:43:30 - Tyler Rose Marathon (2015; 164 finishers; 4:31:34 in 2014)
4:44:35 - Gusher Marathon - Beaumont (2016; 75 finishers; 4:40:47 in 2015)
4:44:41 - Irving Marathon (2016; 206 finishers; 4:34:52 in 2015)
4:46:57 - Cowtown Marathon (2016; 1,252 finishers; 4:52:37 in 2014)
4:50:23 - New Year's Eve Marathon - Allen (2014; 140 finishers; 4:59:36 in 2014)

4:51:45 - McAllen Marathon (2015; 183 finishers; 5:01:39 in 2014)
4:51:47 - Chosen Marathon for Adoption - New Braunfels (2015; 163 finishers; 4:46:49 in 2014)
4:52:21 - Big-D Texas Marathon (2016; 490 finishers; 4:54:18 in 2015)
4:58:52 - Hill Country Marathon - Marble Falls (2015; 57 finishers; 5:11:30 in 2014)
5:01:43 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon (2015; 2,494 finishers; 4:49:41 in 2014)

5:02:04 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon (2016; 175 finishers; 5:00:52 in 2015)
5:02:07 - New Year's Day Marathon - Allen (2016; 77 finishers; 5:24:16 in 2015)
5:08:54 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase - Groveton (2016; 68 finishers; 5:13:33 in 2015)
5:15:10 - Frankenthon Monster Marathon - Cedar Park (2014; 129 finishers; 4:36:06 in 2013)
5:18:16 - South Padre Island Marathon (2015; 378 finishers; Debut year)

5:21:05 - Grasslands Trail Run Marathon (2016: 78 finishers; 5:47:16 in 2015)
5:25:39 - USA Fit Marathon - Sugar Land (2016; 238 finishers; 5:22:46 in 2015)
5:22:50 - Surfside Beach Marathon (2016; 79 finishers; 5:09:10 in 2015)
5:27:45 - Miracle Match Marathon - Waco (2016; 111 finishers; 5:13:18 in 2015)
5:31:24 - Texas Marathon (2016; 329 finishers; 5:19:50 in 2015)

6:21:41 - Dust Bowl Series - Dalhart (2016; 39 finishers; 6:12:46 in 2015)

2016 Texas Marathons by Event Finishers

23,314 - Houston Marathon, 1/16-17 (7,823 marathon, 11,081 half, 4,410 5K)
20,294 - Cowtown Marathon, Fort Worth, 2/27-28 (373 ultra, 1,263 marathon, 6,326 half, 3,110 10K, 2,902 adult 5K, 6,320 kids 5K)
12,129 - Austin Marathon, 2/21 (3,225 marathon, 8,114 half, 790 5K; not including 166 marathon to half)
  5,195 - The Woodlands Marathon, 3/5 (878 marathon, 3,277 half, 900 5K, 140 marathon relay)
  2,055 - Big D Texas Marathon, Dallas, 4/10 (492 marathon, 1,563 half marathon)

  1,876 - El Paso Marathon, 2/21 (314 marathon, 1,023 half, 539 5K)
  1,515 - USA Fit Marathon, Sugar Land, 1/31 (260 marathon, 928 half, 327 5K)
  1,455 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon, 3/18-20 (175 marathon, 45 marathon relay, 419 Saturday half, 51 half marathon relay, 321 Sunday half, 143 Friday 5K and 301 Saturday 5K)
  1,235 - Gusher Marathon, Beaumont, 2/27 (77 marathon, 311 half, 847 5K)
  1,196 - GE Irving Marathon, Irving, 4/16 (205 marathon, 536 half, 253 10K, 202 5K)

  1,062 - New Year's Day Marathon, Allen, 1/1 (77 marathon, 477 half, 508 5K)
     902 - Galveston Marathon, 2/14 (146 marathon, 556 half, 200 5K)
     734 - Miracle Match Marathon, Waco, 1/31 (41 ultra, 145 marathon including relays, 298 half, 150 10K)
     601 - Texas Marathon, Kingwood, 1/1 (325 marathon, 276 half)
     385 - Surfside Beach Marathon, 2/20 (53 marathon, 308 half, 22 kids K)

     170 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase Marathon, Groveton, 4/23 (69 marathon, 83 half, 18 5K)
     165 - Amarillo Marathon, Amarillo, 4/9 (29 marathon, 121 half, 15 relay)
     112 - Dust Bowl Series Marathon, Dalhart, 3/23 (39 marathon, 48 half, 1 10K, 24 5K)

The next Texas marathons are:

To be posted soon!

Greater Houston's Top 25 10-Mile Times of 2013

Men

0:50:25 - Enoch Nadler, 28, Space City 10-Miler
0:51:04 - Barnabas Kirui, 27, Space City 10-Miler
0:51:50 - Sammy Kiplagat Chetpoo, 40, Space City 10-Miler
0:52:28 - Jarrett Leblanc, 23, Space City 10-Miler
0:53:31 - Richard Powell, 25, Space City 10-Miler

0:53:37 - Adam Saloom, 23, Ten For Texas
0:53:50 - Erik Burciaga, 26, Texas 10 Katy
0:54:14 - Roberto Moratilla, 35, Space City 10-Miler
0:54:27 - Ryan Smith, 28, Space City 10-Miler
0:54:32 - Jeremy Daum, 27, Space City 10-Miler

0:55:35 - Vaughn Gibbs, 39, Space City 10-Miler
0:56:06 - Zachary Cater-Cyker, 28, Ten For Texas
0:56:36 - Nate Crum, 24, Space City 10-Miler
0:56:39 - Zachary Cater-Cyker, 28, Space City 10-Miler
0:56:45 - Peter Lawrence, 41, Space City 10-Miler

0:58:50 - Luis Armenteros, 41, Space City 10-Miler
0:58:57 - Joe Oveido, 37, Ten For Texas
0:59:18 - Rogelio Pena, 40, Space City 10-Miler
0:59:36 - Kerry Lee, 38, Space City 10-Miler
0:59:39 - Edward Aviles, 43, Space City 10-Miler

0:59:51 - Chris Robbins, 38, Space City 10-Miler
1:00:08 - Geoffrey Speelman, 20, Ten For Texas
1:00:16 - Colin Wolfe, 33, Ten For Texas
1:01:06 - Zach Morgan, 23, Space City 10-Miler
1:01:31 - Andrew Sharenson, 42, Space City 10-Miler

Women

0:58:29 - Samantha Draney, 25, Texas 10 Conroe
0:59:36 - Mary Davies, 31, Space City 10-Miler
1:00:25 - Samantha Draney, 25, Ten For Texas
1:01:48 - Kristine Burciaga, 24, Texas 10 Katy
1:02:05 - Megan Saloom, 25, Ten For Texas

1:02:21 - Lauren Smith, 22, Space City 10-Miler
1:03:45 - Kimberly Mac Namee, 42, Space City 10-Miler
1:04:22 - Obsie Birru, 24, Ten For Texas
1:05:34 - Steph Shasteen, 27, Texas 10 Katy
1:05:55 - Laura Bennett, 45, Ten For Texas

1:06:10 - Anngela Caron, 32, Space City 10-Miler
1:06:31 - Steph Shasteen, 27, Ten For Texas
1:06:33 - Amber Brunmeier, 24, Texas 10 Katy
1:07:19 - Kylee Short, 33, Space City 10-Miler
1:07:55 - Cheryl Bridgens, 25, Ten For Texas

1:08:00 - Amanda Stephens, 27, Texas 10 Conroe
1:08:18 - Nikki Dillard, 35, Ten For Texas
1:08:38 - Kim Tripp, BCS Five and Dime
1:09:15 - Cindy Taylor, 44, Space City 10-Miler
1:09:24 - Michelle LeBlanc, 38, Ten For Texas

1:09:46 - Kassie Harris, 27, Texas 10 Katy
1:10:01 - Krista Blevins, 43, Ten For Texas
1:10:04 - Natalia Dominguez, 36, Space City 10-Miler
1:11:17 - Oleysa Prystayao, 28, Ten For Texas
1:11:35 - Vera Heg, 53, Ten For Texas

Texas Marathons - By Start Year

1971 - White Rock (Dallas)
1972 - Houston
1975 - San Antonio
1979 - Cowtown (Fort Worth)
1992 - Austin
2000 - Texas (Kingwood)
2003 - Marathon 2 Marathon
2003 - Grasslands Trail Run (Decatur)
2004 - Big-D (Dallas)
2004 - Seabrook Lucky Trail
2004 - Miracle Match (Waco)
2005 - Surfside Beach
2006 - Cross Timbers (Lake Texoma)
2007 - El Paso
2008 - Fort Worth
2008 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase (Groveton)
2009 - Frankenthon Monster (Cedar Park)
2009 - USA Fit (Sugar Land)
2010 - The Gusher (Beaumont)
2010 - Tyler Rose
2011 - Chosen Marathon for Adoption (New Braunfels)
2011 - Galveston
2011 - Bryan-College Station
2011 - New Year's Eve (Allen)
2012 - Crazy Desert Trail (San Angelo)
2012 - New Year's Day (Allen)
2012 - The Woodlands
2013 - Dust Bowl Series (Dalhart)
2013 - Hill Country (Marble Falls)
2013 - HITS Running Festival (Austin)
2013 - Irving
2014 - Brazos Bend (Needville)
2014 - McAllen
2015 - Amarillo
2015 - South Padre Island

Texas' All-Time Female Finishers at U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials

2:30:39 - Francie Larrieu, 3rd, 1992
2:35:09 - Carol McLatchie, 12th, 1984
2:35:09 - Joy Smith, 6th, 1992
2:38:44 - Lori Stich Zimmerman, 14th, 2004
2:38:35 - Patty Valadka, 16th, 1996

2:39:11 - Donna Burge, 27th, 1984
2:40:47 - Allison Macsas, 45th, 2012
2:41:18 - Melisa Christian, 27th, 2008
2:42:36 - Allison Macsas, 22nd, 2016
2:42:40 - Megan Skeels, 59th, 2012

2:42:50 - Bridget Degan, 35th, 1996
2:42:54 - Chris Kimbrough, 39th, 2008
2:43:33 - Cindy Cockroft, 54th, 1984
2:44:16 - Anita Perez, 33rd, 2016
2:46:22 - Ingrid Mollenkopf, 47th, 2016

2:46:58 - Kathy Molitor, 83rd, 1984
2:47:03 - Becky Angeles, 97th, 2012
2:47:06 - Debbie Warner, 84th, 1984
2:47:23 - Kathy Molitor, 63rd, 1988
2:47:28 - Kelly Keane, 47th, 2004

2:47:33 - Teresa Villasenor, 66th, 1988
2:48:11 - Desiree Ficker, 79th, 2008
2:48:12 - Donna Burge, 70th, 1988
2:48:54 - Cassandra Henkiel, 87th, 2008
2:48:59 - Kelsey Bruce, 60th, 2016

2:49:45 - Alison Unterreiner, 106th, 1984
2:49:57 - Elizabeth Northern, 68th, 2016
2:49:58 - Carol McLatchie, 46th, 1992
2:50:19 - Cindy Bass, 112th, 1984
2:52:35 - Rebecca Wade, 85th, 2016

2:53:18 - Katie Angel, 106th, 1988
2:53:21 - Lauren Smith, 88th, 2016
2:53:25 - Allison Mendez, 89th, 2016
2:53:28 - Peggy Kokernot, 139th, 1984
2:53:34 - Cindy Gans, 109th, 1988

2:54:16 - Joy Smith, 70th, 2000
2:54:16 - Kimberly Hager, 75th, 2004
2:55:19 - Claudia Kasen, 74th, 2000
2:55:29 - Vickie Smith, 154th, 1984
2:58:28 - Noelle Stenger, 108th, 1996

3:02:05 - Dawn Grunnagle, 126th, 2016
3:02:34 - Vanessa Vajdos, 176th, 1984
3:02:39 - Debbie Watner, 146th, 1988
3:04:54 - Jaime Leshansky-Durkin, 185th, 1984
3:07:33 - Nora Colligan, 134th, 2016

Sources:  MarathonGuide,com, usatf,org

40 New Aramco Houston Half Legacy Runners Expected Next Sunday

By Jon Walk
(c) Original research by Walk Sports Services

According to information obtained from HoustonResults.com, 62 runners have completed exactly nine (9) Aramco Houston Half Marathons.

Next Sunday, 40 of them are registered - per the Chevron Houston Marathon's online confirmation search feature -- and set to complete their 10th Aramco Houston Half Marathon.

They are - listed in alphabetical order - as follows:

Al Garcia, M, 57, Katy - B

Barbara Lowndes, F, 58, Houston - D
Billie-Kay Melanson, F, 62, Orange - A
Byron Spruell, M, 50, Warren, NJ - B

Cale Kobza, M, 40, Cypress - B
Carolyn Galfione, F, 65, Houston - D
Catalina Garcia, F, 44, Houston - D
Cody Blazek, M, 25, Houston - A
Cynthia Severson, F, 65, Missouri City - D

Debby Currin, F, 64, Humble - D
Debra Sukin, F, 45, The Woodlands - B

Edward Standige, M, 48, Houston - C

Fran Blanton, F, 56, The Woodlands - C

Gordon Schott, M, 72, Houston - D

Janis Kinison, F, 60, Kingwood - D
Jay Murry, M, 63, Little Rock, AR - D
Jennifer Nitschmann, F, 55, League City - D (5K)
Jesus Jijon, M, 59, Houston - B
Jill Tischbein, F, 56, Kingwood - D
John Beath, M, 61, Beaumont - C

Kathy Haeckler, F, 61, Crockett - C (5K)

Lorri Wolff, F, 50, Houston - B
Lynn Detrick, F, 70, Houston - C

Marlene Shakra, F, 61, Houston - D
Mary Torian, F, 56, Waller - D
Mike Kerley, M, 63, Houston - A

Ned Graber, M, 64, Houston - B

Patrick Goemans, M, 39, Tomball - B
Peggy McElroy, F, 64, Sugar Land - D

Razelle Kurzrock, F, 61, San Diego, CA - C
Robin Holcomb, F, 49, Montgomery - A
Ruberman Aldana, M, 52, Houston - B

Sandra Aguilar, F, 36, La Porte - B
Sandy McKinney, F, 75, Houston - D
Sophie Rydin, F, 65, Sugar Land - C (5K)
Susan Cournoyer, F, 67, Katy - C
Susan Gutkowski, F, 53, Houston - C

Tammy Zientek, F, 52, Porter - D
Thomas Herren, M, 74, Houston - D

Vernita Harris, F, 57, Houston - D
Vic Vacek, M, 69, Houston - D

Three - denoted above with the "5K" to the right of their starting corral - will run the ABB 5K to kickoff their quest for the Houston Double.

Sources:  ChevronHoustonMarathon.com and HoustonResults.com

76 Aramco Houston Half Marathoners Ready to Add to Legacy Total

By Jon Walk
(c) Original research by Walk Sports Services

Just under 100 runners -- 97, to be exact -- have finished 10 or more Aramco Houston Half Marathons since its inception in 2002.

Twenty-seven (27) completed their 10th half at last year's Aramco Houston Half.

Entering next Sunday's 15th running, 76 of those 97 runners -- approximately 78 percent -- will be looking to add one more finish to their Legacy Runner total.

The most experienced racer is the one who has finished all 14 to date -- 79-years-young Nathaniel "Skippy" Collins from Houston.

Three runners -- San Antonio's Michael Chicka, Killeen's Scott Zarley and Houston's Sharon Newquist -- will be looking for their 14th finish, missing only one year.

Another 15 half marathoners have completed 12 to date and will be going for their lucky 13th finish.

Forty women and 36 men will be in the starting corrals with an average age of 56.

The youngest is 34-year-old Angela Hemmen from San Antonio.

And one runner, Houston's Luis Armenteros, 43, will be in the Elite corral as the former Rice Owl will be looking for his 11th Aramco Houston Half Marathon finish.

Fifteen (15) will begin next Sunday in corral A.  Corrals B and C will hold 12 runners each while corral D will be the pre-race home for 37 runners.

Ten runners will be getting their weekend started on Saturday with their participation in the ABB 5K as they attempt to complete the Houston Double with their half marathon finish on Sunday.

Below is the complete list of the 76 entrants (Name, Gender, Age, Residence - Corral) with data obtained for the Chevron Houston Marathon's Confirmation Search feature and listing generated from HoustonResults.com:

14 finishes
Nathaniel Collins, M, 79, Houston - D

13 finishers
Michael Chicka, M, 71, San Antonio - A
Scott Zarley, M, 56, Killeen - A
Sharon Newquist, F, 54, Houston - A

12 finishes
Alan Hopkins, M, 48, Houston - B
Ann Wacker, F, 57, Houston - A
Carol Madrid, F, 58, Friendswood - D
Catherine Usry, F, 60, Pasadena - D
Charlotte Dudley, F, 69, Houston - D
Diane Bell, F, 68, Houston - D
Don Burney, M, 69, Houston - C
Henry Amin, M, 69, Houston - C
Ingrid Hoyle, F, 68, Houston - D
Karen Riede, F, 68, Cypress - D
Lisa Lopez, F, 44, Houston - D
Olivia Brown, F, 70, Houston - D (5K)
Sally King, F, 67, Houston - B
Sesh Bala, M, 71, Sugar Land - D
Stephen Oneil, M, 56, Beaumont - A

11 finishes
Angela Hemmen, F, 34, San Antonio - D
Angelica Ornelas, F, 55, Houston - D
Anne Court, F, 59, Galveston - C
Douglas Kelly, M, 52, Katy - B
Frederick Dwyer, M, 56, Houston - A
Gail Edmonson, F, 53, Katy - C
Hans Mayer, M, 80, Houston - D
John Wilson, M, 59, Houston - B
Julie Grissett, F, 48, Sugar Land - D
Julie Krampitz, F, 43, Houston - B
Lisa Berman, F, 51, Evergreen, CO - A
Mark Hemmen, M, 70, Spring Branch - D
Mark Wege, M, 53, Houston - A
Pamela Holmes, F, 57, Austin - B
Paul Erickson, M, 51, League City - A
Paula Floeck, F, 54, Waco - D (5K)
Ray Bednar, M, 63, Houston - C (5K)
Robert Crissman, M, 53, Houston - B
Robert Kiber, M, 69, Houston - C
Sean Cochran, M, 50, Houston - D
Sheila Bahr, F, 58, Houston - D
Sonny Mims, M, 60, Houston - C
Susan Scarrow, F, 53, Houston - B
Susan Sternberg, F, 62, Sugar Land - D
Suzanne Armour, F, 57, Wharton - C (5K)
Teresa Weidler, F, 52, Sugar Land - D (5K)
Tom Richardson, M, 61, Houston - D

10 finishers
Allison Higbie, F, 43, Houston - B
Bradley Kalmans, M, 50, Houston - B
Brian Shah, M, 40, Kingwood - D
Christina Todd, F, 47, Angleton - D (5K)
Christine Henry, F, 43, Pearland - D (5K)
Connie Clark, F, 56, Houston - D
Daniel Hu, M, 55, Houston - A
Darrell Nichols, M, 62, Crosby - B
David Epperson, M, 53, Tyler - A
Emily Sattler, F, 60, Richmond - D
Gloria Hinton, F, 61, San Leon - D (5K)
Janae Evans, F, 48, Houston - C
Jane Wallace, F, 57, Houston - D
John Polisini, M, 62, Houston - A
Joslynn Newton, F, 58, Spring - C
Julie Baucum, F, 60, Houston - D
Keith Cox, M, 58, Sugar Land - D
Laura Kelly, F, 45, Katy - D
Laura Kohlmaier, F, 48, Katy - B
Lena Adams, F, 66, Houston - D
Luis Armenteros, M, 43,  Houston - Elite
Mark Whittemore, M, 54, The Woodlands - A
Michael Lacy, M, 45, Houston - C (5K)
Missy Maxwell, F, 45, Friendswood - D
Nancy Ordonez, F, 50, Houston - D
Paul Wetherold, M, 73, Kingwood - D
Randall Koenig, M, 60, Katy - D
Rusty Lacy, M, 52, Sugar Land - C
W Harrison, M, 58, Houston - D (5K)
Walter Won, M, 44, Houston - A

Sources:  ChevronHoustonMarathon.com and HoustonResults.com

Texas' Fastest Marathon Courses

Late yesterday afternoon (originally December 10, 2015) at work, I was listening to a podcast and a certain race director self-rated his course second behind Houston and in front of Austin and Dallas as the fastest in Texas.

(UPDATE:  Before the marathons run on the weekend of December 12-13, 2015, the above statement was NOT true.  However, things changed and that statement is now true.)

I live my life trying to flush out hype.

Think of it as running's equivalent of  FactCheck.Org.

Actually, it is a debate - who has the fastest course - that you can never really settle. 

Because even if the same person ran two different courses, it is impossible for them to enter the race under the exact same conditions.

So I went to the place that has a lot of this data already calculated when they load up a race's results:  MarathonGuide.com.

Granted, we've had races having to cancel because of weather conditions in the last year (think Cowtown and Frankenthon Monster Marathon) and some that are still yet to happen in 2015.

Therefore, these are the average times by races within the same groups of numbers of finishers using the data from their last completed race:

1,000 finishers and over
4:30:29 - Houston Marathon (2015; 7,132 finishers)
4:37:28 - Austin Marathon (2015; 3,137 finishers)
4:38:03 - Dallas Marathon (2015; 2,747 finishers)
4:52:37 - Cowtown Marathon (2014; 1,995 finishers)
5:01:43 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon (2015; 2,494 finishers)

500-999 finishers
4:26:01 - The Woodlands Marathon (2015; 894 finishers)
4:37:02 - Bryan-College Station BCS Marathon (2015; 639 finishers)
4:54:18 - Big-D Texas Marathon (2015; 663 finishers)

250-499 finishers
4:26:42 - El Paso Marathon (2015; 365 finishers)
4:31:43 - Fort Worth Marathon (2015; 284 finishers)
4:34:52 - Irving Marathon (2015; 415 finishers)
4:49:48 - The Army Marathon (2015; 419 finishers)

Under 250 finishers
4:13:57 - Marathon 2 Marathon (2015; 101 finishers)
4:29:13 - Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon (2015; 128 finishers)
4:38:24 - HITS Running Festival - Austin (2014; 33 finishers)
4:40:47 - Gusher Marathon - Beaumont (2015; 111 finishers)
4:43:30 - Tyler Rose Marathon (2015; 164 finishers)
4:51:45 - McAllen Marathon (2015; 183 finishers)
4:51:47 - Chosen Marathon for Adoption - New Braunfels (2015; 163 finishers)
4:58:52 - Hill Country Marathon - Marble Falls (2015; 57 finishers)
4:59:36 - New Year's Eve Marathon (2014; 140 finishers)
5:00:52 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon (2015; 176 finishers)
5:09:10 - Surfside Beach Marathon (2015; 92 finishers)
5:12:57 - Love. Run. Marathon. - Huntsville (2015; 51 finishers)
5:13:18 - Miracle Match Marathon - Waco (2015; 140 finishers)
5:13:33 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase - Groveton (2015; 64 finishers)
5:15:10 - Frankenthon Monster Marathon - Cedar Park (2014; 129 finishers)
5:22:46 - USA Fit Marathon - Sugar Land (2015; 220 finishers)
5:24:16 - New Year's Day Marathon - Allen (2015; 84 finishers)
5:47:16 - Grasslands Trail Run Marathon (2015; 65 finishers)
6:12:46 - Dust Bowl Series - Dalhart (2015; 43 finishers)

And then if you merged them altogether, this is what it would look like:

Overall
4:13:57 - Marathon 2 Marathon (2015; 101 finishers)
4:26:01 - The Woodlands Marathon (2015; 894 finishers)
4:26:42 - El Paso Marathon (2015; 365 finishers)
4:29:13 - Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon (2015; 128 finishers)
4:30:29 - Houston Marathon (2015; 7,132 finishers)
4:31:43 - Fort Worth Marathon (2015; 284 finishers)
4:34:52 - Irving Marathon (2015; 415 finishers)
4:37:02 - Bryan-College Station BCS Marathon (2015; 639 finishers)
4:37:28 - Austin Marathon (2015; 3,137 finishers)
4:38:24 - HITS Running Festival - Austin (2014; 33 finishers)
4:38:03 - Dallas Marathon (2015; 2,747 finishers)
4:40:47 - Gusher Marathon - Beaumont (2015; 111 finishers)
4:43:30 - Tyler Rose Marathon (2015; 164 finishers)
4:49:48 - The Army Marathon (2015; 419 finishers)
4:51:45 - McAllen Marathon (2015; 183 finishers)
4:51:47 - Chosen Marathon for Adoption - New Braunfels (2015; 163 finishers)
4:52:37 - Cowtown Marathon (2014; 1,995 finishers)
4:54:18 - Big-D Texas Marathon (2015; 663 finishers)
4:58:52 - Hill Country Marathon - Marble Falls (2015; 57 finishers)
4:59:36 - New Year's Eve Marathon (2014; 140 finishers)
5:00:52 - Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon (2015; 176 finishers)
5:01:43 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon (2015; 2,494 finishers)
5:09:10 - Surfside Beach Marathon (2015; 92 finishers)
5:12:57 - Love. Run. Marathon. - Huntsville (2015; 51 finishers)
5:13:18 - Miracle Match Marathon - Waco (2015; 140 finishers)
5:13:33 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase - Groveton (2015; 64 finishers)
5:15:10 - Frankenthon Monster Marathon - Cedar Park (2014; 129 finishers)
5:22:46 - USA Fit Marathon - Sugar Land (2015; 220 finishers)
5:24:16 - New Year's Day Marathon - Allen (2015; 84 finishers)
5:47:16 - Grasslands Trail Run Marathon (2015; 65 finishers)
6:12:46 - Dust Bowl Series - Dalhart (2015; 43 finishers)

Twist it how you wish because some already are.

2015 Race Announcing Year in Review

Wow.  What a year it has been ... but I'm looking forward to a little bit of a break.

After finish line announcing yesterday's 28th annual Fort Bend Kia 30K, produced by Andy Stewart and Finish Line Sports, I thought it was more but it was my 32nd race to announce in 2015.

This doesn't count the two track and three cross country meets or the "Some Like It Hot" run course water station at Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas in The Woodlands.

So call it 37 official events for the year.

There are other guys in the business - like San Antonio's Mark Purnell and Austin's Logan Delaware and perhaps others - who do more each year.

Whether I get to do one or 37, I'm always very, very thankful of the trust and respect that I have earned from the race directors that I've been fortunate enough to work with this year.

I had two 2-day events (Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon and the Sylvan Beach Duathlon and Triathlon) and four weekends where I announced two races.

I worked six races for Willie Fowlkes, five races for Robby Sabban, four races each for Andy Stewart and Bill Gardner, four events for Juris Green and The Woodlands HS track and field and cross country program and three races for Richard and Amie James.

I also had the opportunity to work with a few new race directors this year:

+  Danielle Jackson with Run For A Nurse 5K in Nassau Bay (on a referral from Chuck Bach).

+  Mana Vautier with Yuri's Night 5K, also in Nassau Bay.  Mana had heard me work Robby's races, but approached me at the Run For A Nurse 5K race.

+  Graham Schooley for Green 6.2 and Monster Mash.  Willie brought me in to work Green 6.2 as part of some other services he provided Graham, but RA Sports engaged me directly for Monster Mash.  I was invited to do the LinksRun Series, but was unable to be at three of the six first-year events.  (Therefore, I ran two of them and will probably do some of the ones this spring.)

+  Kelly Ramey and Azita Erfani with the Run One Series.

+  David Self with Sam Houston State University when I did the UIL Region III cross country meet (on a referral from Juris Green, but also as a result of Bearkat assistant cross country coach Tyler Sunwall hearing me at Nike South in the past).

I also want to thank Roxanne Davis, Lars Finanger, Angie Parker and Lauren Smith (the event producer, not the fast runner) for reaching out to me this past year to ask me to do a specific event or inquire about my availability.

My greatest joy out of doing what I get to do - besides the friendships that have developed as a result of it - is when things go well (i.e. an event starts on-time or flows smoothly as the result of excellent communication) and people are encouraged.

I had always gleaned my direction from the verse in Ephesians 4 that speaks about edification, but upon further study realized that this might have been in error.

What I do at a finish line - besides thanking sponsors and instructing athletes what they need to do or where they need to go - is more along the lines of exhortation or the "gift of encouragement".

Something I read stated the following:  "The Greek word for this gift is Parakaleo.  It means to beseech, exhort, call upon, to encourage and to strengthen."

Besides a lot of preparation for every event that I work (anywhere from three to six hours per race) and an incredible ability to recall a lot of information quickly, I believe making the finish line experience personally special - when possible (meaning sometimes I miss people) -- is a God-given ability that I'm very thankful to have.

The best moment of 2015?  Easy.  That was when I got to announce the finish at the Seabrook Lucky Trail Saturday Half Marathon of my daughter, Waverly.  What really got me emotional was while doing the awards and announcing her third place age group finish!

I also got to call her finish at the Baytown Bud Heat Wave this Fourth of July.

The most cool thing this year?  Definitely getting to interview Mary Cain before the Awards Ceremony at the Nike Cross South Regionals in The Woodlands.  A distant second was to call the pass in the water station as Matt Hanson took the lead on the second loop of the run course in going on to win this year's Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas.

Most flawless execution all year?  No doubt, the inaugural Run One Series race in downtown Houston in late August.  With wave starts, a different start and finish line and no timing mat at the start line, requesting for Jack McClintic to bring his digital clock for the start and ensuring that we started each wave exactly when the clock turned a precise time was probably my best execution in 2015.  Another distant second were Texas 10 Series races in Plano and Conroe when we started as the pre-race countdown clock hit zero.  (We might have done this at the Toughest 10K Kemah too.)

Runnerup to this might have been the plan that was put together as part of Running Alliance Sport to host the RRCA Southern Region 10K Championship in September at the Toughest 10K Kemah.  We were rewarded with being able to host the championship again in 2016.  (We're waiting on Texas state championship designations for 2016 currently.)

Most challenging race to work?  Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon in Port Arthur in November.  First, mosquitos that were of a different breed and then a torrential downpour with absolutely no cover.  (Working on acquiring a first-rate tent is an early season 2016 goal for me.)

I certainly wouldn't be able to do what I do well without the assistance of a number of different timers.

They've included this year (in alphabetical order):

Brad Davison, Lone Star Timing (Austin, TX)
Chuck Campbell and Rafael Iniguez, IAAP (San Antonio)
David O'Conor and Mike Takaha, Flash Results Texas (Houston) at UIL Region III XC Meet
Gary Mulvihill with Run Wild Sports Timing (Houston)
Jack McClintic, Greg Zarate and Patrick Zarate with Run Houston Timing (Houston)
Megan Cary, Cadence Sports (Austin) at CB&I Triathlon
Mike Hutcheson, Justin Smith and JJ Kick, No Limits Timing (Shreveport / Dallas)
Raul and Meghan Najera, RunFar Timing (Mansfield, TX)
Richard Campbell, Campbell Timing Systems (League City, TX)
Scott Wood, Athlete Guild (New Braunfels) at Muddy Trails

In a lot of places where I'm positioned at, I don't necessarily have access to power.  (Some places where we do, like Boerne for Texas10 Boerne, we aren't allowed to use it.)  I really appreciate Robby Sabban allowing me to use regularly - because I also use it for his five events - a Honda generator on a year-round basis.

The biggest change for me this past year was the acquisition of another sound setup in April, with some guidance from Steve Curry with SkyGod Productions in The Woodlands.

Basically, it is just two 1,500-watt JBL speakers and a Shure wireless microphone system.

I believe I've made some improvements in my delivery this past year simply because my microphone isn't tethered to a speaker any more.

I've tried to do more interviewing of people in and around the finish line - winners, sponsors, vendors, etc. - to mix up what you hear up a little bit.  (My next technical mission is to figure out how to incorporate two wireless microphones as I had a lot of fun working with Lars at Sylvan Beach Duathlon and Triathlon doing some "play by play" and "commentary" as racers were exiting transition from the swim to the bike.  I can only do that well with an expert like Lars.)

For the pros out there, all of this is routine stuff for them I guess.  For me, I learn and get better.

Some of these things will prepare me for some opportunities that may surface in 2017.

I think the one thing, though, if anything, that sets me apart is my preparation.

I can't recall everything, but I try to get everything that I think that I'm going to need to know down on "laminated cards" -- and do this as close to race time the night before to get any changes that the race director may throw at me.

So what are some of the reasons you might not hear your name called at the finish line?

1.)  If the race isn't using a reader or advance mat, I print the bib list and try to spot your bib number on there as you're running right at me.  (That is, if I don't know you already.)   If you're coming in with three or more, you're probably out of luck.  And when the race is more than about 500 registrants, then I'm trying to juggle three laminated cards.  My percentage goes down really, really fast.  And believe me, I'm disappointed that I miss recognizing you.

2.)  If you registered on race day.  Some timers are able to get them in the reader file.  Most can't.  And honestly, I understand all of the reasons why you might register on race day, but my only concern is making sure - with the timer - that you are in their timing file if you show up blank on the reader.  It is just one of the downsides of race day registration, you may not be audibly recognized.

There are some other minor reasons, but I've gone on long enough.

Thank you this past year if you raced a race that I announced.

I don't get a chance to hone my skills if you haven't put down your hard-earned discretionary income to race with the event producer that I'm working for.

If there's something you think I can do better, please approach me privately and let me know.  I would value your input.

If you're comfortable using me for a race that you produce and I'm available, please reach out to me.  Or if you're comfortable referring me, pass along my name and website -- http://onthemicrophone.weebly.com.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year in 2016.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Jon

Spicewood Vineyards Half Marathon/10K - Finishers and Winners

Spicewood Vineyards Half Marathon
Finishers
2009 - 93 (59 women, 34 men)
2010 - 141 (90 women, 51 men)
2011 - 209 (139 women, 70 men)
2012 - 212 (126 women, 86 men)
2013 - 193 (113 women, 80 men)
2014 - 240 (158 women, 82 men)

Overall
2009 - 1:19:51, Alan Crane
2010 - 1:20:01, Zerihun Ayele, Austin
2011 - 1:16:51, Richard J Powell, Sugar Land
2012 - 1:15:17, Richard Powell, San Marcos
2013 - 1:13:16, Richard Powell, San Marcos
2014 - 1:28:11, Troy Hibbitts, Brackettville

Overall - Female
2009 - 1:38:08, Mandy Olivares, Austin
2010 - 1:28:36, Desiree Ficker
2011 - 1:24:22, Asia Shah, Austin
2012 - 1:42:05, Shellie Oroshiba, Austin
2013 - 1:45:53, Shellie Oroshiba, Austin
2014 - 1:31:28, Grace Howley, Austin

Masters 
2009 - 1:27:15, Hank Cantu, Spicewood
2010 - 1:34:37, Charles Cannon, Austin
2011 - 1:26:30, Rick Rischman, Plano
2012 - 1:34:35, Ned Tobey, Austin
2013 - 1:36:37, Michael Harnisch, San Antonio
2014 - 1:33:55, Dave Saltmarch, Austin

Masters - Female
2009 - 1:46:19, Laura Landes, Austin
2010 - 1:45:50, Sonya Manson, Austin
2011 - 1:35:49, Jamie Patterson, Austin
2012 - 1:44:45, Lisa Ansin, Austin
2013 - 1:53:56, Karen Lemens, Austin
2014 - 1:41:56, Sally Hall, Sugar Land

Spicewood Vineyards 10K
Finishers
2009 - 150 (104 women, 46 men)
2010 - 132 (103 women, 29 men)
2011 - 160 (113 women, 47 men)
2012 - 147 (101 women, 46 men)
2013 - 120 (88 women, 32 men)
2014 - 138 (106 women, 32 men)

Overall
2009 - 39:25, Cody Carnett, Fredericksburg
2010 - 41:58, Dylan Minnick, Austin
2011 - 41:16, Tyler Reed, College Station
2012 - 41:53, David Zucker, Memphis, TN
2013 - 42:30, David Zucker, Memphis, TN
2014 - 42:19, Jeffery Underhill, Watauga

Overall - Female
2009 - 46:12, Christina Wolfe, Austin
2010 - 45:57, Christina Wolfe, Austin
2011 - 41:53, Joleen Kinzer, Austin
2012 - 47:17, Phyllis King
2013 - 50:38, Patricia Rojas, Cedar Park
2014 - 47:28, Lanae Hall, Cedar Park

Masters 
2009 - 42:33, Barry Ortner, Copperas Cove
2010 - 47:17, Stephen Smith, Boerne
2011 - 42:37, Stephen Smith, Boerne
2012 - 51:01, Earl North, Johnson City
2013 - 46:56, Rafael Iniguez, San Antonio
2014 - 53:29, Larry Torres, Austin

Masters - Female
2009 - 53:04, Phyllis Harrington, San Antonio
2010 - 52:22, Ayon Wen-Waldron, San Antonio
2011 - 43:33, Karen Smith, Austin
2012 - 54:44, Emily Callman, Spicewood
2013 - 55:45, Lynda Gonzales, Austin
2014 - 48:51, Wendy Gaertner, Austin

Lake Jackson Turkey Trot 10K/5K - Finishers, Winners and Legacy Runners

5K - Finishers
2013 - 244 overall (134 women, 110 men)
2014 - 279 overall (154 women, 135 men)
2015 - 283 overall (156 women, 137 men)

10K - Finishers
2013 - 72 overall (38 women, 34 men)
2014 - 89 overall (58 women, 31 men)
2015 - 94 overall (48 women, 46 men)

5K - Overall
2013 - 18:44, Aaron Wieczorek, 30, Houston
2014 - 18:26, Aaron Wieczorek, 31, Arlington, VA
2015 - 17:17, Kevin Duong, 16, Angleton

5K - Female Overall
2013 - 24:08, Sarah Heaner
2014 - 20:05, Heather Welsch, 12, Alvin
2015 - 22:20, Grecia Merritt, 27, Lake Jackson

5K - Masters
2013 - 22:38, Devin Theriot
2014 - 20:26, Tracy Herrington, 40, League City
2015 - 19:20, Jorge Mercado, 40, Pearland

5K - Masters Female
2013 - 24:32, Rene Miles
2014 - 26:56, Autrey Brown, 56
2015 - 23:23, Maria Carmichael, 41, Galveston

10K - Overall
2013 - 35:19, Chris Landin
2014 - 38:40, Kevin Duong, 15, Angleton
2015 - 36:19, Pablo Ponce, 16, Clute

10K - Female Overall
2013 - 42:18, Kelly Ramos
2014 - 43:04, Kaytlynn Welsch, 14, Alvin
2015 - 44:22, Amanda Price, 15, Lake Jackson

10K - Masters
2013 - 41:43, Jeff Vandaveer
2014 - 39:42, Hugh Leidlein, 54
2015 - 45:18, Kirk Anderson, 50, Lake Jackson

10K - Masters Female
2013 - 52:44, Cyndi Rickey
2014 - 48:40, Kim Knapp, 43
2015 - 52:34, Dana Angel, 45, Freeport

Three-Time Finishers (38)
Aaron Wieczorek, 32, M, Houston
Alexa Madenjian, 11, F, Lake Jackson
Billie Brannan, 45, F, Lake Jackson
Bobby Wright, 27, M, Houston
Bryan Agan, 49, M, Lake Jackson
Carol O'Connell, 48, F, Lake Jackson
Caroline Lowe, 18, F, Lake Jackson
Cecelia Carroll, 45, F, Angleton
Chris Lopez, 50, M, Angleton
Ed Madenjian, 53, M, Lake Jackson
Gina Strebeck, 47, F, Danbury
Jacqui Sikes, 34, F, Lake Jackson
Janey Orr, 31, F, Lake Jackson
Jesse Martinez, 48, M, Freeport
Kara Weber, 45, F, Lake Jackson
Kevin Merritt, 32, M, Lake Jackson
Kirk Anderson, 50, M, Lake Jackson
Kristi Piper, 41, F, Danbury
Laurie Fisher, 50, F, Lake Jackson
Lisa Madenjian, 51, F, Lake Jackson
Margot Yung, 13, F, Lake Jackson
Mark Faulkner, 40, M, Lake Jackson
Mark Wales, 58, M, Bay City
Max Royalty, 80, M, Lake Jackson
Melanie Christian, 45, F, Angleton
Michael Land, 27, M, Lake Jackson
Michele Lowe, 47, F, Lake Jackson
Nancy Yung, 49, F, Lake Jackson
Priscilla Gonzales, 38, F, Lake Jackson
Riley Kuhlman, 11, M, Lake Jackson
Samantha Madenjian, 15, F, Lake Jackson
Sarah Heaner, 31, F, Lake Jackson
Savannah Cornelius, 31, F, Wadsworth
Suzanne Dellinger, 48, F, Angleton
Tom Munson, 55, M, Brownwood
Trevor Kuhlman, 9, M, Lake Jackson
Will Heaner, 32, M, Lake Jackson
Xavier Navarro, 33, M, Freeport

Bay Area Turkey Trot 5K/10K - Legacy Runners (2009-2015)

Seven-Time Finishers (6)
Bitterly, Michelle
Boyd, Bruce
Boyle, Sandra
Jackson, Dan

Lancer, Karen
Rivas, Maria

Six-Time Finishers (22)
Bass, Eric
Bitterly, Charlie
Bitterly, Jessica
Bontz, Blake
Bontz, Martin
Cayton, Jeri
Clemens, Paula
Cooper, Maureen
Crawford, Ron

Danielson, Lisa
Davenport, Tami
Garcia, Anita

Hilbrich, Jake
Hilbrich, Lee Ann
Hunter, Anh

Johnston, Ruth

Lang, Kevin

Lee, Dale
Lee, Kerry
Martingano, Trina

Montoya, Monica

Stefanov, William

Five-Time Finishers (42)
Alvarez, Jim
Boodell, Kristie
Brewer, Heidi
Bue, Grant
Chapman, David
Chapman, Rylan
Conklin, Dave
Cotropia, Keith
Crawford, Angela
Crawford, Keri
Fierro, Priscilla
Frank, Terry
Garvin, Mark
Greivenkamp, Laura
Hashier, Megan
Hillman, Nicole
Jantowski, Cindy
Jordan, Carol
Kohn, Dale
Kuhl, Jennifer
Latimore, Emma
Latimore, Robin
Lucero, Javier
Maghames, Ghassan
McKinney, Sandy
Melgar, Mario
Nicodemus, Bailey
Nicodemus, Pauline
Niess, Geri
Ochel, Tina
Owen, Erin
Owen, Paul
Pearsall, Theresa
Praytor, Keith
Rios, Leno
Shaver, Matthew
Spruce, Mark
Vautier, Mana
Wheeler, Kathy
Winton, Paul
Womack, David
Yager, Carla

Four-Time Finishers (100)
Aceituno, Marjorie
Aguilar-Ramirez, Laura
Anderson, Heather
Barickman, Patricia (Pat)
Barta, Daniel
Bontz, Taylor
Carr, Bill
Christofferson, Sue
Clifford, Deb
Clifford, Erika
Clifford, Jared
Cole, Ross
Cooper, Steve
Crotwell, Garret
Decker, Kara
Decker, Kelly
Decker, Rebecca
Delafuente, Jenny
Delcampo, Adam
Delcampo, Linda
Delcampo, Nichole
Denison, Marlys
Eason, Kathy
Elgin, Page
Finkel, Timothy
Ford, Carissa
Ford, Susan
Frankum, Bonnie
Fudge, Andrew
Gannon, Kelly
Halloran, Allison
Halloran, Kate
Halloran, Sean
Hansen, Alexandra
Hansen, Ralph
Hansen, Sami
Hanson, Laura
Hardcastle, Lisa
Harper, Brittany
Harper, Tracey
Herrin, Nikki
Herrin, Tim
Huff, Ed
Johnson, Sophie
Johnson, Tom
Jones, Janet
Kessel, Andrea
Kimbrell, Raymond
Konvicka, Kristin
Latimore, Todd
Le Cara, Tony
Long, Emma
Loverdi, Mary
Lyon, Ed
Mallet, Kay
May-Sexton, Alice
Michela, Lisa
Morris, Josh
Morris, Kristi
Morris, Marla
Muldowney, Nancy
Neumann, David
Nicholas, Ashley
Nicodemus, John
Ochoa, Jose
Oliveri, Stephen
Owen, Rachel
Penders, Jennifer
Petty, Laurie
Piotrowski, Thomas
Propst, Tom
Rabel, Emily
Reeves, Michelle
Robbins, Chrs
Roberds, Taylor
Salazar, Esmerelda
Saxton, Andrea
Shaver, Bernice
Shurtz, Teresa
Snapka, Gerald
Stegemann, Anna
Sustala, Chris
Sustala, Shelby
Tate, Connie
Tate, David
Teichman, Kevin
Toler, Donna
Truscott, Brian
Ugartechea, Diane
Vassiliev, Nikolai
Velasco, Penelope
Waring, Jacquelyn
Watkins, Wendy
Wheeler, Scott
Williams, Daniel
Williams, Keith
Winton, Preston
Wittman, Judy
Yarzy, James
Yost, Marty

Bay Area Turkey Trot 10K/5K - Finishers and Winners

5K - Finishers
2009 - 256 (143 women, 113 men)
2010 - 389 (234 women, 155 men)
2011 - 467 (260 women, 207 men)
2012 - 681 (422 women, 259 men)
2013 - 516 (303 women, 213 men)
2014 - 504 (304 women, 200 men)
2015 - 469 (296 women, 173 men)

10K - Finishers
2009 - 323 (164 women, 159 men)
2010 - 251 (128 women, 123 men)
2011 - 365 (211 women, 154 men)
2012 - 382 (206 women, 176 men)
2013 - 323 (177 women, 146 men)
2014 - 345 (195 women, 150 men)
2015 - 305 (174 women, 131 men)

5K - Overall
2009 - 18:34, Larry Tidwell
2010 - 17:27, George Alvarado
2011 - 17:26, Zach Dwyer
2012 - 18:48, Forrest Bell
2013 - 17:13, Zach Dwyer
2014 - 16:56, Andrew Boone
2015 - 17:11, Andrew Boone

5K - Female Overall
2009 - 21:17, Jessica Bitterly
2010 - 19:49, Angela Vizzeri
2011 - 20:10, Savannah Alaniz
2012 - 18:51, Angela Vizzeri
2013 - 17:39, Emily Daum
2014 - 19:12, Virginia Ney
2015 - 20:46, Kelly Decker

5K - Masters
2009 - 18:43, Raymond Cruz
2010 - 17:56, Rudy Rocha
2011 - 18:54, Buddy Brown
2012 - 20:14, Dale Lee
2013 - 19;15, Christopher Marcelo
2014 - 18:56, Leno Rios
2015 - 18:37, Leno Rios

5K - Female Masters
2009 - 26:51, Silvia Valdez
2010 - 24:46, Michelle Bitterly
2011 - 26:07, Kim Kusanasi
2012 - 24:51, Tina Saldivar (24:45, Katie Raterink)
2013 - 24:40, Ashlee Dupont
2014 - 23:09, Maria Jaimes
2015 - 22:56, Venus Turner

10K - Overall
2009 - 32:58, John Hedengren
2010 - 36:46, Brian Alvarado
2011 - 34:47, Rudy Rocha
2012 - 32:00, Maximo Mendoza
2013 - 31:28, Jeremy Daum
2014 - 32:08, Matt McCurdy
2015 - 36:27, Kerry Lee

10K - Female Overall
2009 - 44:40, Ann Wacker
2010 - 47:26, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger
2011 - 38:35, Virginia Jones
2012 - 38:26, Virginia Jones
2013 - 37:31, Virginia Jones
2014 - 38:57, Stacy Holden
2015 - 41:11, Angela Vizzeri

10K - Masters
2009 - 40:59, Steve Dollinger
2010 - 40:32, Dale Lee
2011 - 37:51, Dale Lee
2012 - 38:55, Leno Rios
2013 - 37:53, David Wittman
2014 - 35:33, Chris Robbins
2015 - 36:55, Chris Robbins

10K - Female Masters
2009 - 47:12, Kimberly Zainfield
2010 - 48:14, Monica Montes
2011 - 48:23, Elizabeth Horton
2012 - 43:55, Dori Boyle
2013 - 41:35, Lori Johnson
2014 - 45:21, Ahn Hunter
2015 - 45:42, Ann Wacker

Bayou City Half Marathon Series - Legacy Runners

These 302 runners have completed both half marathons - Katy Half Marathon and Cypress Half Marathon - so far of the Bayou City Half Marathon Series, produced by Onurmark Productions and Negative Split Productions:

- A -
Ahmed, Matt, 38, M, Houston
Aldridge, Kathy, 55, F, Houston
Alford, Andrea, 36, F, Houston
Artzner, Erin, 34, F, Houston
Arvizu-Puga, Jaime, 39, M, Houston
Austin, Linda, 53, F, Houston
Avendano, Dennis, 42, M, Katy

- B -
Ballew, Kimberly, 46, F, Cypress
Banks, Tanya, 40, F, Houston
Barrett, Karen, 36, F, Katy
Barrett, Peyton, 38, M, Katy
Barron, Donald, 44, M, Sugar Land
Bates, Jack, 47, M, Spring
Berglund, Nicole, 40, F, Houston
Bernard, Jennifer, 53, F, Katy
Biernacki, Andrea, 31, F, Houston
Bodkin, Michael, 55, M, Katy
Bolin, Aaron, 42, M, Katy
Borrero, Griselda, 45, F, Cypress
Bowman, Lantz, 39, M, Cypress
Brown, Kristen, 28, F, Cypress
Bruton, William, 51, M, Cypress
Buescher, Krishtian, 25, F, Fulshear
Burke, Laurie, 36, F, Katy

- C -
Calvillo, Raymond, 53, M, Freeport
Canales, Charles, 35, M, Friendswood
Capito, Oliver, 41, M, Katy
Carlson, Anessa, 37, F, Houston
Carroll, Amy, 46, F, Cypress
Carter, Cynthia, 45, F, Prairie View
Cashman, Dana, 38, F, Katy
Castillo, Jorge, 35, M, Houston
Castor, Raul, 51, M, Katy
Chase, Brandi, 36, F, Katy
Cheshier, Melissa, 43, F, Cypress
Clark, Joshua, 41, M, Houston
Colley, Tracy, 46, F, Magnolia
Collier, Tim, 45, M, Houston
Comeau, Joy, 56, F, Katy
Conde, Aldo, 49, M, The Woodlands
Cooper, Clint, 34, M, Houston
Cooper, Saira, 39, F, Katy
Craven, Moya, 41, F, Houston
Crompton, Joshua, 31, M, Katy
Crutcher, Matthew, 31, M, Katy

- D -
Dartez, Candace, 49, F, Katy
Demik, Stephen, 34, M, Cypress
Dennis, Christy, 37, F, Tomball
Deslauriers, Sheena, 31, F, Katy
Deweese, Angie, 44, F, Cypress
Dlabaj, Mary, 33, F, Katy
Dobbins, Angela, 32, F, Houston
Donovan, Gregory, 47, M, Cypress
Douglas, Kevin, 53, M, Woodway
Duong, Amy, 38, F, Houston

- E -
Eckermann, Ashley, 34, F, Cypress
Edmond, Erika, 46, F, Humble
Edwards, Abigail, 25, F, Houston
Eiler, Adam, 45, M, Houston
Enockson, Carolina, 45, F, Houston
Erck, Jenny, 43, F, Richmond
Evans, George, 49, M, Cypress

- F -
Fernandez, Cristina, 42, F, Houston
Finn, Nancy, 47, F, Katy
Fisher, Tira, 39, F, Richmond
Foerster, Courtney, 37, F, Houston
Foerster, Galen, 34, M, Houston
Ford, Clint, 35, M, Tomball
Furman, Lynn, 68, F, Katy
Furman, Robert, 69, M, Katy

- G -
Garcia, Victor, 33, M, Katy
Garner, Kelly, 31, F, Houston
Garr, Jeneen, 45, F, Cypress
Gibson, Kyle, 40, M, Katy
Gil, Estela, 44, F, Cypress
Gillis, Angela, 34, F, Beaumont
Goble, Mary, 51, F, Cypress
Gomez, Brandi, 38, F, Houston
Gonzalez, Daniel, 31, M, Cypress
Gonzalez, Faridy, 38, F, Houston
Gonzalez, Hector, 51, M, Katy
Gonzalez-Prescott, Carissa, 33, F, Houston
Gooden, Remi, 41, F, Houston
Goodman, Phylicia, 30, F, Houston
Gose, Neil, 27, M, Tomball
Graves, Lindy, 34, F, Houston
Greely, Anne Marie, 33, F, Fulshear
Greely, Matheau, 33, M, Fulshear
Greer, Lyndsey, 25, F, Houston
Grimal, Tiffany, 35, F, Cypress
Grivich, Theresa, 66, F, Huntsville
Grobleben, Sabrina, 47, F, Houston
Groseth, Melissa, 42, F, Katy
Gross, Joshua, 39, M, College Station
Gutierrez, Jaime, 59, M, Cypress

- H -
Haddox, Melissa, 54, F, Cypress
Hall, Chad, 37, M, Montgomery
Hall, Mary, 50, F, Houston
Harris, Cathy, 66, F, Katy
Harris, Kassie, 29, F, Seabrook
Harris, Miranda, 54, F, Houston
Harris, Miriam, 25, F, Houston
Haskett, Brian, 44, M, Tomball
Hawryluk, Myron, 39, M, Tomball
Heflin, Yvette, 46, F, Houston
Hernandez, Jessica, 41, F, Katy
Hill, Alyssa, 41, F, Cypress
Hinojosa, Hermes, 44, M, Houston
Hirt, Mace, 61, M, Katy
Hixon, David, 36, M, Cypress
Holcomb, Nancy, 70, F, Houston
Holcombe, Deborah, 56, F, Katy
Hollis, Carol, 51, F, Katy
Horvath, Michelle, 40, F, Houston
Huff, Fallon, 34, F, Richmond
Huffman, Angela, 44, F, Cypress
Hull, Shannon, 34, F, Cypress
Huynh, Henry, 26, M, Houston
Hymel, Alan, 30, M, Rosenberg
Hymel, Catherine, 27, F, Rosenberg

- I -
Ibarra, Lisa, 36, F, Katy
Irvine, Keith, 46, M, Houston

- J -
Jamandre, Ceasar, 42, M, Houston
Johse, Jill, 51, F, Katy
Jolley, Grant, 46, M, Houston
Jones, Andrea, 36, F, Spring
Jones, Brett, 34, M, Spring
Jones, Colleen, 54, F, Houston
Jones, Mary, 30, F, Houston
Jonsson, Karl, 46, M, Katy
Joyce, Letty, 48, F, Cypress

- K -
Kampschmidt, Ann, 52, F, Houston
Kelley, Colleen, 29, F, Katy
Kennedy, Miranda, 27, F, Fulshear
Khoobiar, Susan, 53, F, Tomball
Kimbrell, Karen, 54, F, Fulshear
Knippers, Miranda, 25, F, Katy
Kolkhorst, Charissa, 43, F, Tomball
Konduri, Pradhith, 19, M, Houston
Konduri, Ramesh, 48, M, Houston
Kosel, Happy, 55, F, Fulshear
Kosub, Kelly, 30, F, Katy
Kowalczyk, Mallory, 27, F, Katy
Kramer, Torrey, 41, M, Katy

- L -
Lamendola, Silvia, 48, F, Cypress
Lancaster, Michelle, 49, F, Cypress
Lane, Erin, 33, F, Houston
Lansang, Albert, 26, M, Houston
Laughlin, Jennifer, 38, F, Houston
Lawson, Kim, 44, F, Katy
Le, Van, 40, F, Houston
Lebig, Andrew, 32, M, Katy
Lee, Jenny, 32, F, Cypress
Lee, Nathan, 34, M, Cypress
Leigh, Robert, 17, M, Katy
Lemoine, Crystal, 43, F, Katy ,
Levy, Dora, 52, F, Cypress
Lewis, Emma, 38, F, Houston
Lockwood, Ryan, 29, M, Cypress
Loginov, Arthur, 55, M, Houston
Lopez, Phill, 44, M, Katy
Lowrey, Kimberly, 40, F, Houston

- M -
Mann, Mark, 55, M, Friendswood
Manuel, Roland, 49, M, Katy
Marcum, Sadie, 36, F, Houston
Marshall, Katherine, 34, F
Martin, Angeline, 35, F, Cypress
Martin, Rian, 35, M, Katy
Martinez, Carmen, 34, F, Houston
Martinez, Chuck, 46, M, Houston
Martinez, Maybelline, 41, F, Humble
Masraff, Lauren, 45, F, Cypress
Mathew, Molly, 63, F, Houston
Mayorga, Jesus, 32, M, Houston
McAfoose, Melody, 39, F, Cypress
McCraw, John, 45, M, Houston
McGriff, Christopher, 30, M, Katy
McInnis, Courtney, 33, F, Cypress
McKenna, Trent, 42, M, Houston
McKenzie, Rita, 49, F, Houston
McKernan, Diane, 48, F, Houston
McMurtrey, Samantha, 48, F, Houston
McPherson, Melissa, 43, F, Houston
Meier, Laurie, 43, F, Houston
Melloy, Kathy, 44, F, Cypress
Mentillo, Kelly, 47, F, Katy
Mickelson, Edward, 45, M, Pearland
Miller, Matthew, 38, M, Houston
Miller, Rachel, 28, F, Houston
Milner, Nicole, 38, F, Katy
Mitchell, Tonette, 48, F, Houston
Monarch, Stephanie, 43, F, Katy
Monroe, Christine, 40, F, Cypress
Morales, Frank, 47, M, Humble
Moran, Donna, 59, F, Willis
Moran, Mark, 60, M, Willis
Mosley, Lamegra, 41, F, Houston
Munger, Tiffany, 34, F, Cypress
Mwandia, Robert, 30, M, Richmond

- N -
Nathan, Shelly, 48, F, Houston
Neff, Calum, 31, M, Katy
Newsom, Kevin, 36, M, Katy
Nguyen, John, 36, M, Seabrook
Nguyen, Thi, 58, F, Cypress
Nguyen, Tuffli, 36, M, Cypress
Nicklen, Keri, 38, F, Katy

- O -
Ogle, Marcus, 33, M, Katy
Olleri, Winston, 39, M, Houston
Orzech, Charles, 52, M, Houston
Osborne, Jennifer, 41, F, Cypress

- P -
Pangilinan, Stella, 52, F, Houston
Paz, Elizabeth, 33, F, Katy
Perez-Abreu, Norma, 40, F, Houston
Pierce, Myca, 49, F, Katy
Pipes, James, 32, M, Katy
Pipes, Naomi, 33, F, Katy
Poduska, Daryl, 41, M, Houston
Polasek, Shana, 31, F, Katy
Ponder Jr., William, 35, M, Cypress
Probstfeld, Matt, 56, M, Katy

- R -
Ragsdale, David, 49, M, Brookshire
Ramirez, Rosa, 30, F, Cypress
Ramsey, Gary, 49, M, Houston
Raybon, Charmaine, 49, F, Katy
Reeves, Bradley, 29, M, Houston
Rey, Julia, 45, F, Tomball
Rhone, Lafrance, 48, F, Richmond
Riede, Meredith, 42, F, Cypress
Roach, Ann, 48, F, Pearland
Roach, John, 47, M, Pearland
Rock, David, 45, M, Cypress
Romero, Edgar, 46, M, Houston
Romero, Sandra, 42, F, The Woodlands
Russell, Katherine, 25, F, Houston

- S -
Sadberry, Denise, 48, F, Katy
Saikowski, Natalie, 37, F, The Woodlands
Salazar, Amy, 33, F, Houston
Salinas, Tencha, 53, F, Eagle Lake
Saqr, Sam, 42, M, Cypress
Scroggins, Karla, 52, F, Richmond
Shah, Shetu, 34, M, Katy
Shaner, Kim, 64, F, Katy
Shelander, Steve, 43, M, Sugar Land
Short, Brenda, 51, F, Cypress
Siebe, Angela, 46, F, Katy
Sinsabaugh, David, 54, M, Katy
Smith, Addison, 38, M, Sugar Land
Smith, Elizabeth, 39, F, Houston
Smith, Mike, 43, M, The Woodlands
Smith, Mike, 66, M, Cypress
Smith, Richard, 58, M, Cypress
Souders, Roger, 57, M, Houston
Spraberry, Jessie, 38, F, Tomball
Stafford-Cole, Stephanie, 46, F, Houston
Stein, Kari, 30, F, Richmond
Stephen, Brittany, 25, F, Houston
Stephenson-Lake, C., 41, F, Houston
Stewart, Jason, 32, M, Cypress
Stitt, Ron, 50, M, Houston
Stone, Wayne, 65, M, Houston
Stoneham, Kate, 40, F, Houston
Study, Rosemarie, 42, F, Katy

- T -
Terrell, A.j., 48, M, Katy
Thompson, Cherish, 38, F, Houston
Thompson, Eric, 44, M, Spring
Tielke, Andrea, 33, F, Houston
Tijerina, Manuel, 45, M, Cypress
Tomes, David, 53, M, San Antonio
Tomes, Nicole, 24, F, San Antonio
Tran, Giang, 45, M, Houston
Trnka, Kymberlee, 28, F, Katy

- U -
Urdaneta, Ivonne, 47, F, Cypress

- V -
Valle, Ruby, 27, F, Houston
Van Wie, Tory, 45, F, Cypress
Vasquez, Hector, 34, M, Katy
Vazquez, Violeta, 40, F, Cypress
Vitelli, Sean, 41, M, Cypress
Vu, Trang, 36, F, Katy

- W -
Walker, Billy, 60, M, Sachse
Watt, Mark, 43, M, Katy
Watts, Gail, 35, F, Fulshear
West, Margaret, 45, F, Fulshear
West, Mark, 44, M, Fulshear
Williams, Jeni, 39, F, Houston
Willmon, Bryan, 39, M, Katy
Willmon, Sharon, 35, F, Houston
Wilson, Sonya, 44, F, Tomball
Wise, Amy, 27, F, Houston
Wise, Patrick, 31, M, Houston
Witschonke, Shawna, 40, F, Cypress
Witte, Andrea, 46, F, Katy
Witte, Scott, 51, M, Katy
Woest, Debbie, 44, F, Katy
Wood, Kevin, 36, M, Cypress
Woodley, Janey, 61, F, Richmond

- Y -
Yamaguchi, Yoshiaki, 65, M, Houston

- Z -
Zapatka, Julie, 35, F, Humble
Zietsman, Kirsteen, 48, F, Cypress
Zimmerman, Jim, 57, M, Sugar Land
Zimmerman, Ron, 68, M, Tomball
Zorbas, James, 30, M, Cypress
Zwygart, Tiffany, 34, F, Katy

Chevron Houston Marathon Legacy Runner Notes

So I'm using borrowed data here, but it is very well put-together data.

Data that started as an effort to take all of Jack Lippincott's results books of the early years of the Chevron Houston Marathon and put it into a very usable form.

The individual that spearheaded the gathering, OCR scanning and programming of the databases and subsequent website was done by a good friend of mine, ultramarathoner and Chevron Houston Marathon veteran himself, Dalton Pulsipher.

It resides on the Internet as HoustonResults.com.

I discovered yesterday that there are four links to be able to download the current lists of marathoners and half marathons who have run 10 or more of each event as well as those who have run 5-to-9 of one or the other.

I took those clicks on the Information Superhighway!

These are the following numbers in each category:

+  1,572 marathoners have run 10 or more Chevron Houston Marathons  (1,225 men, 347 women)

+  4,213 marathoners have run between 5 and 9 Chevron Houston Marathons (3,154 men, 1,059 women)

+  97 half marathoners have run 10 or more Aramco Houston Half Marathons (48 men, 49 women)

+  1,740 half marathoners have run between 5 and 9 Aramco Houston Half Marathons (805 men, 935 women)

That's 7,622 entries for a total of 59,582 official finishes.

1,832 of those 7,622 -- 24% -- finished one of the two races last year.  1,482 did the marathon while 350 ran the half marathon.

73 of those 97 half marathoners that are now Aramco Houston Half Marathon veterans ran the race in 2015.

There are three runners who are veterans at both distances:

Nathaniel Collins (24 total finishers - 14 half marathons and 10 marathons)
Joann Luco (22 total finishes - 12 half marathons and 10 marathons)
Sammy Balch (20 total finishes - 10 half marathons and 10 marathons)

Another 178 have five or more finishes in both events.

Jay Murry, who last finished the half marathon in 2013, is the next one that is eligible to enter this group of "double veterans" as he recorded 16 marathon finishes through 2014 and crossed nine half marathon finish lines through 2013.

The five most number of combined finishes - where the runner has five or more in both events - are as follows:

Gerald Meyers (31 total finishes - 25 marathons and 6 half marathons)
Phillip Smith (30 total finishes - 25 marathons and 5 half marathons)
Margaret Montgomery (29 total finishes - 24 marathons and 5 half marathons)
Robert Thompson (28 total finishes - 23 marathons and 5 half marathons)
Stephen Sawchak (27 total finishes - 20 marathons and 7 half marathons)

Speaking of "Who wants to become a Chevron Houston Marathon or Aramco Houston Half Marathon veteran?", there's 348 - 286 marathoners and 62 half marathoners - that have nine (9) official finishes in that respective distance.

Almost 40% of those runners (including me) finished that same distance last year.  134, to be exact - or 38.5%.

Youngest in the Marathon 5-to-9?  Jenna Loredo, who finished her 5th Houston Marathon last year at the age of 17.  Twenty-year-old Auston Douglas is the youngest male with 6 marathon finishes.

The youngest half marathoners in the 5-to-9 pool are Connor Hannigan and Carrie McIntyre, who both finished their fifth Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 2014 at the age of 16.

So who are the youngest marathon veterans?

Raymond Tam and Elaine Ver Halen.

They were 25 and 31 when they finished their last Houston Marathon, respectively, in 2015 and 2014.  Raymond has 10 marathon finishes while Elaine has 11.

Brett Davis ran this year's marathon (2015) at the age of 31 for his 16th finish while Chris St. Jean ran his 12th Chevron Houston Marathon - also this year - at 32.

There are also 24 runners age 70 and over who are veterans at either distance -- and all of them finished last year's race.

The oldest of the marathoners are Boris Balic and The Woodlands' Jim Braden.  Both were 79 when they finished this January.  Boris has 33 finishes to his credit while Jim has 19.

Two females - Sally Sims and Ute Eisele - are also in that category.  They are both 71 and Ute last year ran her 10th Chevron Houston Marathon to become a veteran.

Four half marathoners - the oldest being Hans Meyer at 79.  He has finished 11 half marathons while Collins has 14 (at the age of 78) followed by Michael Chicka's 13 and Sesh Bala's 12.

Findlay Township Semi-Great Race 5K Event Report

Those of you who know me well and/or have for a long time know that I'll jump into race just about anywhere I can.  Solely for the fun of it and the experience of running some place new.

In the midwest, there's a lot of races on weekday evenings, especially in small towns.

So I looked just this past week to see if there were any such events between the Pitsburgh International Airport and Parkersburg, West Virginia, where I would run in the News and Sentinel Half Marathon for the fifth time.

Sure enough, there was.

And it was within five miles of the airport.

And within an hour and a half of when my plane was scheduled to land.

That part was fairly easy as we landed early, but bags coming to the carousel from United took longer than it normally does.

Getting my rental car from Enterprise and out of the garage, I was in Findlay Township and Clinton, Pennsylvania no later than 6:15 p.m.

By 6:45 p.m., I had signed up -- just $10 (Wow!), changed clothes, cleared my times from my last race (after writing them down) and headed to the start line with plenty of time.

The race was the Findlay Township Semi-Great Race 5K and it is part of the 40th annual Findlay Township Fair in The Woodlands, held in "woodsy Clinton Park".

And woodsy is a good thing.  It was really nice.

While there seemed like a few more at the start, there were 165 official timed finishers.

This race had a "hometown, old school" feel to it, which was great.

No need for a lot of announcements.  The gun was fired and we were off.

The first half mile ran through where they were holding the Fair on a paved trail.  Then the first couple of hills came.

It was basically an out and back with rollers.  You ran across State Highway 30, which was backed up with traffic in both directions, out to about the 1.8-mile mark and then haded back to the Park (just off a place that you passed on the way out).

Regarding the traffic:  Sure there had to be some mad people in those lines.  I probably would have been, especially if I had somewhere to go.

The time wasn't great (33:21.78), but work has been kicking my butt the last few weeks.  The last time I had run was last Saturday when Waverly and I completed the Lynchburg Half Marathon in Virginia together.

The miles went by in 10:44.21, 10:54.74 and 11:42.83 in the last 1.1.  I mapped it back here at the hotel in Marietta, Ohio a little while ago and it turned up 3.12 miles.  Perfect.

Totally worth doing and I would encourage it for anybody that happened to be in the greater Pittsburgh area whenever they hold it in the future.

It was my 39th race of 2015 and the 128th North American town or city outside of Texas that I've run in since 2003.