Third Straight Double; May 21, 2021

That's right.  Eat your heart out.

I'm not too ashamed to say that when life gets a bit boring, go exercise a little.

I don't like it necessarily, but what am I going to do?  Wallow in self-pity.

The movement, even though I'm working through many of the issues presented to me recently, at least keeps me from ruing over things that have happened.

Third straight day for a double.  Honestly, not sure how long I'm going to be able to keep that up.

I did see a movie called "Profile" a bit earlier in the evening.  Wasn't too bad, but have seen better.

Out – 31:49.29 (2.07 miles for 15:22 pace)

Back – 29:21.04 (1.93 miles for 15:12 pace)

Total = 1:01:10.33 (4 miles for 15:18 pace)

GVRAT miles = 111.121

On pace at 21 days = 106.89

Looking forward to heading to Bellville in the morning to run the Mindy Moses 5K Memorial Fun Run.

Am expecting to get some rain, but will get to see Bellville police chief Jason Smalley and two of the classiest people you'll ever meet, Becky Nesbitt and Ken Johnson.

Have a great Saturday.

Friday Morning Four; May 21, 2021

It takes me about 10-12 minutes to get from my house just off FM 2920 and Holzwarth to The Woodlands Mall parking lot where I start by four-mile out-and-back run or walk.

I got on the The Woodlands Waterway pathway at about 6:20 a.m. and ran to the Fleet Feet location in Hughes Landing and back.  My normal route.

Not a ton of activity this morning.  A couple of people running, but nobody I knew.

I haven't had my first real test of passing certain people from within a group that has forced me to step away from the community for some time.  

I saw one runner from the group the other night when I was walking, I hollered at them but they had their earpieces in and was moving at a pretty good clip.  I had reached out electronically and shared a short, yet always positive conversation.  The individual is probably the antithesis of the problem that I've been working on losing permanently.

Even though the temperature this morning wasn't oppressive, the humidity seemed to be in full force again, for the second morning in a row.  I was soaked when I finished.

Out – 21:36.93 (2.07 miles for 10:27 pace)

Back – 20:11.16 (1.93 miles for 10:27 pace)

Total = 41:48.09 (4 miles for 10:27 pace)

GVRAT miles = 107.121

On pace at 20 days = 106.89

I did get a piece of news this morning about the fall schedule for me announcing.

I learned that the UIL Region III Preview meet will be hosted once again by Sam Houston State University's men's and women's track and field and cross country teams at Kate Barr Ross Park on Saturday, September 18, 2021.

It will be on the same day as Ten For Texas, which means that I will be in Huntsville.

I currently have a call into Megan Meaux with The Woodlands Township Parks & Recreation Department to make them aware of the conflict.  This is only an issue because Ironman Texas is being held on Ten For Texas' normal day.  I hope to be able to return to the event in 2022.

Have a good rest of the day here on Friday. 

Another Double on Thursday; May 20, 2021

My evening didn’t go as planned, but it still worked out alright.

The last two nights I’ve gone to a movie at Cinemark 17 in The Woodlands and then planned to walk (Tuesday) and did walk (Wednesday).

I was going to see “Final Account”, a movie with “never-before-seen” interviews with the last living generation of Hitler’s Third Reich.

Bought the ticket online and when I went out to start my car, the starter died.

I do not drive anything fancy.  In fact, I drive free:  my grandmother’s 2010 Hyundai Sonata.

So Waverly took me out to the airport to rent a car for the week.

When I got there, the buses were picking up people to take to the airport on the ground level.  Odd.  It was chaos.

Turns out, fuses blew and there was no power in the entire Rental Car Center building.

The depots with each car company on the ground level was and there were ferociously long lines.

Fortunately, I’m a Budget Fastbreak member and was able to bypass that, get my car and head to The Woodlands.

I got on The Waterway a little before 9 p.m. and got my four miles in in 59:57.98.

Out – 31:21.25 (2.07 miles for 15:09 pace)

Back – 28:36.73 (1.93 miles for 14:50 pace)

Total = 59:57.98 (4 miles for 14:59.5 pace)

GVRAT miles = 103.121

On pace at 20 days = 101.80

As I made my way to the turnaround where Barry Blanton’s “Some Like It Hot” aid station is for Ironman Texas – something that I may not be at this year, I saw a marriage proposal right about where I announce from each year.

I offered my congratulations.

Also Oak Ridge High School was having its 2021 graduation at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and as I was going back by Town Green Park, I had to navigate many folks.

Huntsville’s Ken Johnson was telling me last night that his family was going to be in that crowd tonight as his grandson was graduating.

Earlier in the week, his son was getting his Criminal Justice degree from Sam Houston State University.

And Sunday, Ken moves into a new age group, 80-84, as he celebrates a birthday with my daughter.

Have a great Friday.  

And please continue to keep me in your prayers.  

Thursday Morning on The Waterway; May 20, 2021

 Going to try and do a better job of getting up and running more in the morning.

I made it to The Woodlands Waterway maybe at about 6 a.m. and I ran The Woodlands Waterway parkrun 5K course.

It starts on the east side of the Waterway Square bridge and across the Waterway from Goose's Acre, goes all the way to Northshore Park and back.

Felt like I ran parts of it stronger than my time reflects, but maybe it was all just the humidity.

Out - 15:35.15

Back - 15:32.06

Total = 31:07.71 (10:01 pace)

It was my third time to run it this year,  31:44 on April 15 and then 30:02 five days later.

I then decided to run a little bit more by following the Pathway down to Timberloch and then back to where my car was.

It added another .88 mile in 8:54.39 (for 10:07 pace) and a total of 3.98 miles for the morning.

GVRAT miles = 99.121

On pace at 20 days = 101.80

Will probably add to everything some more tonight.

Have a great Thursday!

Doubled It Up On Wednesday; May 19, 2021

So what are my goals?  I don't know.  Really.

I don't have any burning desire to achieve anything.  Why?  Not sure.

There isn't any athletic item that I need to do to make me feel better about myself.

Besides, after God calls me home one day, there isn't going to be some athletic leaderboard that I'm going to be judged on.  Although many seem to do that here.

There's never anything wrong with trying to beat a certain time in a race.  I try to every one I run whether I have a chance or not, but I'm not going to mess up a day, week, month or year if I don't.

So, for me, it is just about keeping at doing something.

So what have I done the last two days?

Tuesday, May 18, I was pretty burned up over some information that came to me mid-to-late Monday evening.  I was up early and got in 8.2 miles cycling on my Air Assault bike, covering 24 minutes and five seconds.

Later that evening I was going to run or walk after a movie that I saw at Cinemark 17 in The Woodlands, but I felt like I needed to discuss some things with Waverly about some decisions that I made earlier in the day, and then the weather picked up from there.

By not running or walking, I broke an 18-day streak that I had going.

Earlier this morning, after languishing in bed a little bit, I went and brisk walked my four-mile route on The Woodlands Waterway, had breakfast and made it back here to start work just after 8 a.m.

I wore my heavier rain jacket from The Woodlands Marathon which just kept the heavier stuff off and keeping me from getting soaked.

Out (2.07 miles) - 31:02.35 (14:59 pace)

Back (1.93 miles) - 28:17.95 (14:40 pace)

Total (4 miles) = 59:20.30 (14:50 pace)

GVRAT miles = 91.141

I pretty much had the Waterway to myself.  On the return, I saw one individual on the south side of the Waterway heading east towards the Riva Row boat house.

After seeing a movie earlier this evening, at the same theater, I brisk walked four more.

Out (2.07 miles) - 31:17.54

Back (1.93 miles) - 29:02.17

Total (4 miles) = 1:00:19.71

GVRAT miles = 95.141

On pace at 19 days = 96.713

So I'm just a mile and a half off pace for making the total distance for the Great Virtual Run Across Tennessee, which makes me glad.  Have to keep it up.

My reporting months go from the 25th to the 24th.  Why the oddity?  

One year after my grandfather passed away in April 2014 and I went back to Pennsylvania over Memorial Day to visit my grandmother, I ran four races in four days.

So through the evening of the 19th, I have the following numbers:

51.336 miles running

64.161 miles walking

23.085 miles walking (Apple Health)

88.1 miles cycling

2,442 meters rowing

The Apple Health "walking" is just miles on my feet other than what I run and walk.

With five days to go, I have my highest running and walking month - 115.50 miles so far - since last May/June and the most total "time on my feet" miles (138.58) since the same time.

I have some more work to do.

I've already signed up for a race for Saturday and have already checked with the event that we'll still run as long as there's no lightning or flooded streets.  Should be fun.

Pressing The Reset Button; May 19, 2021

In many ways, I'm a complete nobody and am comfortable with that.  

I know that you're probably saying to yourself, "Isn't Jon being hard on himself?"

Actually I'm being a bit facetious.

Look, what nobody knows is that I've had a situation in our endurance sports community that's been running me ragged.

My first piece of advice to anybody is this:  The first opportunity that you have to return a text, an e-mail, a Facebook messenger, please do so.  

Even if you're answer is "No" and whatever explanation that you wish to put behind it, just make it happen.  Be a man or a woman and just take care of it.

The situation that, as it spiraled out of control, caused me some very dark moments at the hands of an individual in The Woodlands, Spring and Montgomery County endurance sports community was absolutely unnecessary.

I expected better and I was disappointed.  I don't think that they're somebody that I can ever trust again.

And in the end, as a result of a number of things that transpired over the last seven months, it has cost me much, but I will be in a much healthier space in the days, weeks and months to come.

And the price may become higher, but time will tell on that.

While I think there are so many great aspects about our athletic communities, there's so much dysfunction as well.  And it is sad to see.

I have no major goals other than to stay as healthy and happy as I possibly can.

I've been fortunate enough to finish 54 marathons in 34 states.  Some were great and some weren't pretty.

I've also seen my daughter, before she turned 25, finish her first two marathons.

She also has 15 half marathons to her credit and has a goal to add 15 more over the next four years to get to 50 before she turns 50.

So you may very well get very bored or you may have fun following along.

Last year, during the pandemic, I signed up for the first annual Great Virtual Run Across Tennessee, an attempt to log 1,000 kilometers between May 1 and August 31.  

I signed up 19 days late and was behind the eight ball when I burned out about 45 days in.

I'm in for the second edition and am close to being on track.

I had 18 consecutive days in from April 30 to May 17, before taking a break Tuesday night because of the inclement weather and needing to discussion a major situation at hand with my daughter.

More to come.  Thanks for reading and your support.

Vintage Park Half Marathon Event Report

 I ran Sunday’s Vintage Park Half Marathon for two reasons only.

1. I want to run 200 half marathons (Sunday was #153) and maybe call it a day at that distance and this race added another toward that count.

2. I ran to support Ron Stitt.  I consider Ron a friend and he is a professional at what he does.

And the other thing was that they held the price at a $100 until April 21.  

I am not a fan of that price, but I paid it and so be it.

However, I think it stayed there up until race day, but I honestly did not check.

What does that tell me?  The race is trying to get to certain numbers to cover costs or make their projected profit margin.

Let’s face it:  You cannot lose money forever.  (And nobody is suggesting they were or are.)

I have no issues with an attempt to make a profit, but when you see the price put out there higher and pulled back you realize that there might have been an overestimation and correction was needed.

So how did things go numbers wise for the event?

Vintage Park Half Marathon - Sunday, April 9, 2017

Vintage Park Half Marathon - Sunday, April 8, 2018

Vintage Park Half Marathon - Sunday, April 14, 2019

Vintage Park Half Marathon - Sunday, May 2, 2021

Half Marathon

Vintage Park 2017 - 970 (545 female + 5 elite / 413 male + 7 elite)

Vintage Park 2018 -- 876 (489 female + 377 male + 11 elite)

Vintage Park 2019 -- 907 (488 female / 399 male / 14 elite / 6 PC)

Vintage Park 2021 -- 838 (401 female / 434 male / 3 PC; 981 live entered)

5K

Vintage Park 2017 -- 356 (221 female / 135 male)

Vintage Park 2018 -- 392 (252 female / 140 male)

Vintage Park 2019 -- 430 (262 female / 168 male)

Vintage Park 2021 -- 480 (297 female / 183 male; 603 live entered)

Half Marathon Relay

Vintage Park 2017 -- 52 (19 female / 10 male / 23 mixed)

Vintage Park 2018 -- 64

Vintage Park 2019 -- 38

Vintage Park 2021 -- 15 (31 entered)

Kids 1K

Vintage Park 2017 -- 59 (30 female / 29 male)

Vintage Park 2018 -- 60 (29 female / 31 male)

Vintage Park 2019 -- 71 (35 female / 36 male)

Vintage Park 2021 -- 45 (21 female / 24 male; 65 live entered)

Total Finishers (Counting Relay as 1 finisher)

Vintage Park 2017 -- 1,437

Vintage Park 2018 -- 1,392

Vintage Park 2019 -- 1,446

Vintage Park 2021 -- 1,278

So overall, the numbers were down about 11.6% from the last running of the event. 

And I don't give a rats butt about virtual:  before or after.  Those numbers aren't included anywhere. 

In the post-COVID running world, that is not terribly bad; however, that would suggest that the brand is strong and the relationships that Ron has cultivated with some of the larger running clubs in the area – Cypress Running Club, Champions Running Association and Northside Running, of late, paid off.

While on the course, you either saw lots of shirts running from two of the three and certainly a lot cheering from the other.

So when this race got cleared to be produced, the first thing I noticed was on Facebook where I saw an advertisement under TXRUNS.  Looked kind of odd to me because I never had associated that with the Run Houston Race Series or the Bayou City Half Marathon Series.  

However, I had bigger things personally in my life to worry about at that time.

As I started to think about racing it, I noticed the main photograph at the RunSignUp page and I was trying to place it.  I couldn’t.  Bill Baumeyer has taken pictures at Aaron and Ron’s races over the years and it wasn’t one of his.  Thought to myself that it was odd not to see an actual event race photo, given all of the previous branding.

Then I noticed some All Community Events references and that’s when I realized that the father and son who had owned the two race series – after they bought it from the original owner, Aaron Palaian -- had sold it to a company based out of Illinois.

And was there any announcement of it?  Of course not.

So, an out-of-state race production company coming into Texas?  Hmmm.  

We saw this with the Santa Hustle race in Galveston and others.

Texas is viewed as a place I guess where runners – and triathletes – will support anything.  

Personally, I question that a little bit.  

Even though I’m from Pennsylvania originally and am proud of it, I identify with Texas’ independent spirit and I think that Texas runners are pretty loyal, for the most part, but you have to definitely earn it.

As I do most of the times, I’m boots on the ground at a race site very early to see how things are done, especially when I know new folks are involved.

When I was driving to the race site to park, I went down Cypresswood to 249 so I could pull in where I would not be trapped in getting out after I was done running.

Doing so, I noticed that Cypresswood was very well-coned off, but I did not see any mile marker signs.  (I was told they were going up on a second pass of the course before the start of the race.  And they were out there.)

After parking, I noticed where the start was going to be and that it was buttoned up well.  There was an opening so I followed the line of cones to where runners would enter the corrals in.

There was a sign there about runners not entering it until 10 minutes before their start time and, of course, there was no way they would be able to police that.  Unless, if there was a QR code on the bib that had the start time and you had a volunteer with a QR reader in their hand to enforce entry.

Shortly after six a.m. I started to hear announcements – something I always take a keen interest in.

Nothing really alarmed me.  I even heard time mentions, like I do as we roll to a start.

The one thing that I never heard though was directions being given as to where to enter the corrals at.

There were large groups in front of the starting line at the arches of Vintage Park - close to the 6:45 a.m. start - that had not even begun to make their way there.

All but the latter item is, of course, style points.

I made it around and was not even able to get in at my appointed time of 6:56 a.m., but I could see what was going on.  The front of the line had not started to move.

The pre-race messaging was two runners every three seconds.

838 finishers and that 1,257 seconds or almost 21 minutes.  I think it might have been slightly longer than that.

However, that was not the main issue.

The announcer was making comments that it was to allow for social distancing on the course.

Maybe so (although really that is impossible unless everybody is lined up perfectly according to pace all at once and everybody runs their pace with no variation; never going to happen), but the end result was that the corral had rows and rows of people all within less than six feet of each other and about half of the people were not wearing masks.

Basically, no staff enforcement of the protocols that you put into place - likely to get your permit(s) - and I would love to see what the comparison of people’s start times as to what they registered for to what their actual really was.

I would surmise they were nowhere close.

I call this COVID-19 theater.

Learn something from Texas folks at The Woodlands Marathon:  go to a walking, rolling start.  It worked first for the 5K and then for the marathon and half marathon.  

People walk slowly to the line together, maintaining distancing and then you take off and run.

Additionally, your social distance argument on the course went out the window when the 5K and half marathoners merged into a single lane of traffic.

Course and traffic control, otherwise, was pretty much flawless, with a small exception.

When I finished and as I was heading west on Vintage Preserve Parkway in the left-hand lane, there was an awkward crossover of runners and cars before the intersection you would turn right onto – before making a left to the finish.

That was really the only hiccup.  It seemed like you would stay in the left-hand lane and then make a right-hand turn into the left-hand lane.

Otherwise, that was probably the most spot-on item of the entire race.

One thing that was off were the mile markers a little bit.

Only an issue for old schoolers like me that don't wear a Garmin or some other device.  My 50-lap Ironman model watch has served me well for 15-16 years.

At mile 2.  Wait, or was it 3?   The mile 3 marker was placed where mile 2 is.  I ran by the flag and then realized that I should probably hit my watch.  At mile 3, there was the mile 2 flag.

So you immediately get a negative thought in your head like, "Wow, is it going to be like this the rest of the way?"

There was no mile four marker or it wasn’t very visible.  (A runner told me they saw it near a busy aid station.)  And other markers were off.  I would suggest that 10, 11 and 12 might have been in question some what.

The one big thing that I noticed is that while water and Gatorade were in disposable bottles – a COVID measure, for sure – it gave license to a poor performance by runners and walkers to lay them in a range of distance from the aid station so much greater than any race I have ever seen before.

That is not necessarily on the race, but rather just lazy and inconsiderate runners.

Running coaches, get off the course with your bike.  

The only thing that being on the course is that it appears that you may be giving your athletes unfair pacing assistance.  

Whether you are or are not, it looks that way and secondarily, it is a safety issue no matter if you can handle your bike like Greg LeMond.

And that goes for anybody else that is not an official race vehicle.

Race producers should be able to give law enforcement the ability to pull them off and give them a warning, if necessary.

I saw a guy on a bike on multiple spots on the course from at least mile six on - and he was at Blue Bell too.  Element something on the back of his grey shirt.

Then there was a 9- to 10-year-old boy that was riding in the traffic lane on Cypresswood going no more than about five miles an hour and he went through a manned intersection and the two law enforcement officials did nothing to get him to get in the lane with runners and out of traffic.

Also, not sure how many times it needs to be said, but if you don’t have a bib, get off the racecourse, especially on the roads.

In the Preserve, cannot really do anything about that, but saw others – not pacing – just out running in the middle of things.  They were with a group that there is a sense of privilege with.

And one – or maybe two – of Bill’s runners was running on the course against runners around mile 10.  

A second runner was with him, who said something to me, but I did not recognize him even though I was walking.

Finally, something I noticed that might have gone unnoticed.

There was no Adam Reiser, who has announced the two Series’ races maybe going back to their beginning.

You take one of Texas’ most respected voices out and replace him with a rah-rah voice.  Please.  The guy had a great voice, but basically your insulting our running base here with that.

If you want a natural, high energy guy, bring Mark Purnell over from San Antonio.

The thing about not having an Adam there - especially being involved in event production, smarter than most as a Rice grad and a former collegiate athlete -- is that you take away another set of eyes and ears for the race director.  

I know I can say that every race director I worked with knew that I would manage the start and finish line - and that they could go and attend to other things.

That told me all I needed to know about this new entity that took over, All Community Events.

Cut, cut, cut.

The other thing is that there was no announcing of names at the finish line.

I personally do not care about it when I run, but I asked if around if there were at other times and I was told not.

I don't know what they do in Illinois or wherever other places ACE has events at, but runners here in Texas - and I think many other places -- love hearing their name announced every place that I've been.

How did I become as well known and loved as I have in our sport?  

Ah, the name announcement at the finish line as one of a great group of announcers to do so.

I'm just very weary of people who do not have roots here coming in and immediately don't handle the little things well that make you think that they're just here to make a buck off of people that they don't know.

I ran Rock N Roll San Antonio the very first year after they took over just because they had a ridiculous $65 day one registration price, but never again.  (I know some love their races for the experience and I’m glad others do.)

But their numbers in San Antonio aren't what they have been from the early days and, of course, the Dallas Half Marathon that they produced was dropped after numbers softened some.

ACE seems to be trying to force an unknown - and yet unmerited - brand on you, but have made absolutely no effort to take the time to reach out and communicate with you the local runner on a personal level.

How about a Facebook Live, "Hey, my name is so and so and I'm with ACE.  We're happy to have acquired ...." and so on?  Absolutely no PR savvy whatsoever.

And they're expecting to build it by putting race staff in red shirts and so on?  Gimme a break.

Most people won’t see or care about any of this and that’s OK, but that’s what companies in these situations are hoping for.  That you don't care, will just fork over your hard earned money and not say anything.

That you're too ignorant to know and that you’re so hungry – especially post-COVID – to run anything live that you’ll look past imperfections that might otherwise not get past the naked eye.

That's what I saw based on my experience working with 10-15 different race production groups over the last 15-16 years.  Certainly hope some of the little things behind the scenes get better.

Texas 10 Series - Female - Single-Age Bests - 2020-2021 Season

Below is the best time from every single age of all females that have participated in a Texas 10 Series race in the 2020-2021 season.  

The age, time, name, city and race are listed.

10 - 1:25:00 - Haley Roth, Beaumont - (Huntsville)

12 - 1:35:42 - Savannah Smith, Franklin - (College Station)

13 - 1:34:41 - Rylie Seale, Lovelady - (College Station)

14 - 1:31:56 - Minnie Beedle, Conroe - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

15 - 1:33:35 - Mackenzie Dixon, Montgomery - (Conroe)

16 - 1:37:48 - Tristan Schkade, Missouri City - (Sienna)

17 - 1:38:19 - Isabelle Morcombe, College Station - (College Station)

18 - 1:11:38 - Morgan Brown, Spring - (College Station)

19 - 1:53:08 - Breanna Gamble, Cypress - (College Station)

21 - 1:15:18 - Vita Riera, College Station - (College Station)

22 - 1:47:36 - Kirsten Ough, Spring - (Katy)

23 - 1:25:18 - Hanna Trocko, Spring - (Katy)

25 - 0:58:34 - Gabriela Deleon, Irving - (Katy)

26 - 1:35:34 - Brittany Rogers, College Station - (College Station)

27 - 1:36:39 - Amy Ly, Spring - (College Station)

28 - 1:12:28 - Ally Milner, Houston - (Sienna)

29 - 0:58:09 - Lauren Stroud, Lake Jackson - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

30 - 1:01:42 - Heather Oliva, San Antonio - (Sienna)

31 - 1:21:05 - Yumi Chen, Houston - (Conroe)

32 - 1:05:05 - Melissa Bittick, Seabrook - (Katy)

33 - 1:03:43 - Tiffany Moran, Spring - (Conroe)

34 - 1:24:44 - Mollie Langwell, New Braunfels - (Cypress)
35 - 1:09:58 - Amanda Stephens, Houston - (Cypress)
36 - 1:08:28 - Amber Burleson, Marquez - (Huntsville)

37 - 1:06:34 - Becca Sawyer, Austin - (College Station)

38 - 1:05:39 - Adrienne Langelier, College Station - (Conroe)

39 - 1:05:52 - Halley Pigford, The Woodlands - (Conroe)

40 - 1:05:52 - Halley Pigford, The Woodlands - (Katy)

41 - 1:08:50 - Alison Matthews, Houston - (Cypress)
42 - 1:05:06 - Flora Lai, Houston - (Sienna)

43 - 1:06:25 - Jamie Johnston, Mont Belvieu - (Conroe)

44 - 1:19:28 - Mary Moellmer, Tomball - (Conroe)

45 - 1:15:48 - Akiko Forman, Katy - (Katy)

46 - 1:15:55 - C. Stephenson-Lake, Cypress - (Cypress)

47 - 1:03:27 - Catherine Kruppa, Houston - (Sienna)

48 - 1:22:30 - Sandra Ruiz, Houston - (Conroe)

49 - 1:24:48 - Lara Guerrieri, Cypress - (Sienna)

50 - 1:14:35 - Becky Nesbitt, Hempstead - (Conroe)

51 - 1:16:33 - Becky Nesbitt, Hempstead - (Cypress)
52 - 1:17:43 - Kim Smith, Montgomery - (Conroe)

53 - 1:36:04 - Christine Thoorsell, College Station - (College Station)

54 - 1:13:10 - Nancy Goodnight, Waco - (Conroe)

55 - 1:19:03 - Lyn Denison, Cypress - (Huntsville)

56 - 1:11:07 - Maria P. Whitworth, Houston - (Cypress)
57 - 1:21:23 - Julie Stevenson, The Woodlands - (College Station)

58 - 1:23:30 - Sharon Morin, Houston - (Katy)

59 - 1:27:24 - Jetola Anderson-Blair, Houston - (Sienna)

60 - 1:12:14 - Pam Meaux, The Woodlands - (Katy)

61 - 1:36:10 - Joy Comeau, Katy - (College Station)

62 - 1:37:41 - Mary Pegg, Katy - (Katy)

63 - 1:34:30 - Marta Mixa, Conroe - (Conroe)

64 - 2:00:56 - Joanne Bartles, College Station - (College Station)

66 - 2:05:17 - Marlene Shakra, Houston - (Katy)

68 - 1:47:51 - Becky Fletcher, Spring - (Conroe)

69 - 1:35:10 - Linda Skogsberg, The Woodlands - (Conroe)

Sources:  Texas 10 Series, mychiptime.com

Texas 10 Series 30-Mile Challenge Finishers

Forty-three (43) of 52 eligible runners ran on Sunday at the Cypress 10 to earn their Texas 10 Trifecta 30-Mile Challenge medal by running Katy, Sienna and Cypress on three consecutive Sundays:

-A-

Steve Allen, 48, Huntsville

Mark Amann, 31, Conroe
Jose Avellaneda, 44, Missouri City

-B-

Sagrario Baca, 30, Houston

Kevin Baker, 45, The Woodlands

Joel Barr, 68, Spring

Steve Bickford, 60, Huntsville

Randy Bradley, 58, Spring

-C-

Jessica Carpio, 35, Missouri City

Mario Carrera, 19, Houston

Eugenia Carter, 56, Pasadena

Guillermo Chutrau, 58, Houston

-E-

Ofelia Elizondo, 41, Victoria
Jennifer Ellis, 49, Katy

Karen Ellis, 40, Cypress

-F-

Matthew Ford, 34, Humble

-G-

Robert Gay, 44, Magnolia

James Griffis, 68, The Woodlands

-H-

Darren Hadden, 46, The Woodlands

Hiroshi Hamada, 59, Houston

Esteban Hernandez, 40, Houston

-J-

Willie James, 62, Nacogdoches

Van Joslin, 35, Magnolia

-K-

Samuel Keen, 41, Houston

-L-

Konstantin Loguinov, 44, Houston

-M-

Mary Moellmer, 45, Tomball

Sharon Morin, 58, Houston

Cindy Muniz, 35, Houston

Kirk Myers, 44, Houston

-O-

Heather Oliva, 30, San Antonio

-P-

Bobbie Petersen, 45, Conroe

-R-

Haley Roth, 10, Beaumont

Jayden Roth, 11, Beaumont

Jeff Roth, 46, Beaumont

Juana Roth, 32, Beaumont

Taylor Roy, 41, Tomball

-S-

Erika Sampson, 47, Houston

Hec Seg, 60, Houston

-T-

Gary Tashima, 36, Houston

-W-

Courtney West, 40, Spring

Yanna Williams, 45, Kingwood

Candy Wills, 39, Deer Park

Tabitha Wills, 28, Conroe

Sources:  Texas 10 Series, RunFAR USA

Texas 10 Series - Male - Single-Age Bests - 2020-2021 Season

Below is the best time from every single age of all females that have participated in a Texas 10 Series race in the 2020-2021 season.  

The age, time, name, city and race are listed.

11 - 1:18:47 - Jayden Roth, Beaumont - (Katy)

15 - 1:35:11 - Aaron Smith, Franklin - (College Station)

16 - 0:57:42 - Jack Voelker, Magnolia - (Sienna)

17 - 1:40:59 - Jonathan Mooneyham, Kingwood - (Conroe)

18 - 1:04:57 - Jorge Cantu, Cypress - (Cypress)
19 - 1:12:42 - Mario Carrera, Houston - (Katy)

20 - 0:53:13 - Connor McNellis, Bryan - (College Station)

21 - 1:00:50 - Andrew Hanna, College Station - (College Station)

22 - 1:01:20 - Matt Sandberg, Springfield - (College Station)

23 - 0:58:35 - Lu Bouanga, Houston - (Cypress)

24 - 0:58:51 - Rick Hawley, Spring - (College Station)

25 - 1:04:07 - Pedro Beltran, Waco - (College Station)

26 - 1:12:58 - Jesus Garza, Bryan - (College Station)

27 - 1:05:31 - Andrew Raggio, Spring - (Conroe)

28 - 0:58:07 - Brent Williams, Cypress - (Sienna)

29 - 1:09:40 - Mitchell Sides, Spring - (Katy)

30 - 0:52:34 - Jason Garcia, Conroe - (Conroe)

31 - 0:54:02 - Mark Amann, Conroe - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

32 - 1:12:50 - Jaime Garcia, Houston - (Sienna)

33 - 0:59:00 - Michael MacKelvie, Conroe - (Katy)

34 - 1:05:14 - Matthew Ford, Humble - (Katy)

35 - 0:58:50 - Dustin Joubert, Nacogdoches - (Huntsville)

36 - 1:01:36 - Richard Bralow, Houston - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

37 - 0:56:19 - Luis Murillo, Houston - (Conroe)

38 - 1:12:22 - Luke Gosnell, San Antonio - (College Station)

39 - 1:01:34 - Jeff Short, Pearland - (Sienna)

40 - 0:58:50 - Lars Finanger, Spring - (Conroe)

41 - 0:59:49 - Matthew Manning, Katy - (Cypress)
42 - 0:58:02 - Noe Robles, Addison - (Katy)

43 - 1:06:59 - Leigh Foreman, Houston - (College Station)

44 - 1:00:50 - Paul Chapman, Katy - (Katy)

45 - 1:02:30 - Darren Hadden, The Woodlands - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

46 - 1:01:53 - Darren Hadden, The Woodlands - (Cypress)

47 - 1:08:20 - Michael Prejean, Cypress - (Sienna)

48 - 1:16:58 - Steve Allen, Huntsville - (Conroe)

49 - 1:06:57 - Donald Paull, The Woodlands - (Katy)

50 - 1:01:01 - Patrick Wills, Spring - (Cypress)
51 - 1:03:08 - Mark Speets, Houston - (Conroe)

52 - 1:01:21 - Steve Sievert, Tomball - (Sienna)

53 - 1:04:39 - A.j. Terrell, Katy - (Katy)

54 - 1:01:10 - Brian Gray, Tomball - (Cypress)
55 - 1:07:27 - Steve Schroeder, Sugar Land - (Katy)

56 - 1:53:44 - Michael Pehl, Georgetown - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

57 - 1:07:34 - Mark Fanelli, The Woodlands - (Huntsville)

58 - 1:24:17 - Guillermo Chutrau, Houston - (Cypress)

59 - 1:24:11 - Hiroshi Hamada, Houston - (Cypress)

60 - 1:12:23 - Larry Smith, Wisconsin Rapids, WI - (Cypress)
61 - 1:29:40 - Scott Schweinsberg, Spring - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

62 - 1:12:09 - Willie James, Nacogdoches - (Cypress)

63 - 1:08:28 - Rich Fredrich, Katy - (Cypress)

64 - 1:12:20 - Gregory Thomas, Hockley - (Conroe)

65 - 1:45:10 - David Fox, Houston - (Bridgeland @Conroe)

66 - 1:37:47 - John Salmon, Huntsville - (Huntsville)

67 - 1:24:07 - James Griffis, The Woodlands - (College Station)

68 - 1:21:05 - Joel Barr, Spring - (Katy)

69 - 1:43:41 - Chris Haeckler, Crockett - (Huntsville)

70 - 1:40:09 - Mark Dembeck, The Woodlands - (Conroe)

73 - 1:43:38 - Dave Stadnick, Katy - (Sienna)

Sources:  Texas 10 Series, mychiptime.com

Texas 10 Series 5-Mile 2020-2021 Runners: Three or Four Races (Out of Four)

Through four races of the 2020-2021 Texas 10 Series, these runners have run either three or four 5-Mile races - with three more races - Katy, Sienna and Cypress - to come later this month.

Four Races (12)

Glenn Frable, Cypress

Bethany Gardner, Houston

Erin Gowton, Montgomery

Jimmie Gowton, Montgomery

Bradley Huggins, Franklin

Sara Huggins, Franklin

Ken Johnson, Huntsville

Quintin Kneen, Spring

Patrick Lewis, Huntsville

Chris MacGregor, Houston

Mary Meaux, Conroe

Cindy Ough, Spring

Three Races (13)

Melinda Ardoin, Spring

Cathy Bickford, Huntsville

Ben Castillo, Katy

Guadalupe De Paz, Houston

Kristen Edwards, Conroe

Ben Guidry, Spring

Kirsten Ough, Spring

Gustavo Roque, Houston

Dianna Sarno, Huntsville

Ray Sarno, Huntsville

Holly Steirman, Willis

Kara Stockton, Montgomery

Jon Walk, Spring

Sources:  Texas 10 Series, RunFar Racing Services

Texas 10 Series 10-Mile 2020-2021 Runners: Three or Four Races (Out of Four)

Through four races of the 2020-2021 Texas 10 Series, these runners have run either three or four 10-Mile races - with three more races - Katy, Sienna and Cypress - to come later this month.

Four Races (28)

Steve Allen, Huntsville

Jose Avellaneda, Missouri City

Kevin Baker, The Woodlands

Joel Barr, Spring

Steve Bickford, Huntsville

Mario Carrera, Houston

Eugenia Carter, Pasadena

Daniel Gassett, Spring

James Griffis, The Woodlands

Tommie Hunter, Porter

Van Joslin, Magnolia

Konstantin Loguinov, Houston

Audrey Maness, Spring

Geoff May, Magnolia

Mary Moellmer, Tomball

Sharon Morin, Houston

Kirk Myers, Houston

Bobbie Petersen, Conroe

Michael Prejean, Cypress

Rip Reynolds, The Woodlands

Erika Sampson, Houston

Jeff Short, Pearland

Steve Sievert, Tomball

Gary Tashima, Houston

Courtney West, Spring

Rich Wickboldt, Houston

Candy Willis, Deer Park

Tabitha Willis, Conroe

Three Races (25)

Britney Alban, Montgomery

Mark Amann, Conroe

Mayra Caamano, Conroe

Jessica Carpio, Missouri City

Jennie Elliott, The Woodlands

Leigh Foreman, Houston

Linda Fox, Houston

Nancy Goodnight, Waco

Cristina Gray, Spring

Darren Hadden, The Woodlands

Hiroshi Hamada, Houston

Amanda Jenkins, Houston

Samuel Keen, Houston

Chris Paschke, Houston

Benjamin Rossman, Spring

Haley Roth, Beaumont

Jayden Roth, Beaumont

Jeff Roth, Beaumont

Juana Roth, Beaumont

Taylor Roy, Tomball

Sandra Ruiz, Houston

Tricia Terry, Spring

Angela Wakefield, Houston

Katrina Wakefield, Houston

Yanna Williams, Kingwood

Sources:  Texas 10 Series, RunFar Racing Services

106 Complete The Woodlands Double in 2021

These are the folks who can't pass up a good race, right?

5K on Saturday and then follow it up the next Saturday with the 10K, half marathon or marathon.

Before the event, 117 were identified as having the potential to complete The Woodlands Double, in its third year.

However, 106 did.  

And three additional runners - Spring's Kristina Archuleta (2K and half marathon), Tomball's Curtis Linehan (2K and marathon) and Humble's Michael Williams (2K and 5K) -- ran two events, with one of them being the Pathfinder Pediatric 2K.

Four runners ran the double -- and the 2K with their children.  They included Spring's Chrissy Coffin, Phoenix, Arizona's Taylor Lopez, The Woodlands' James Spencer and Magnolia's Meagan Vernuccio.  (There were parents who registered only as an accompanying parent - and they aren't included in these as they were not timed.)

Congratulations to all who did two or more events.  The detailed lists are as follows:

5K and 10K (21 runners)

0:49:33 - Andrew Littlefield, 29, M, Houston, TX

0:56:21 - Mark Coalmer, 50, M, Tomball, TX

0:58:44 - Bradon Arrant, 15, M, Conroe, TX

0:58:53 - Thomas Samples, 32, M, Clifton, TX

0:59:23 - Kevin Baker, 45, M, The Woodlands, TX

1:07:46 - Ronald Arrington, 56, M, Houston, TX

1:08:35 - Maria Sanchez, 19, F, Spring, TX

1:12:26 - Bartenderx Oropeza, 45, M, Houston, TX

1:13:13 - Hugo Dimas, 40, M, The Woodlands, TX

1:20:20 - Anita Torr, 45, F, Tomball, TX

1:22:56 - Debbie Rudisill, 51, F, Spring, TX

1:25:53 - Stefanie Delzer, 40, F, Spring, TX

1:31:33 - John Rudisill, 52, M, Spring, TX

1:43:55 - Holly Steirman, 43, F, Willis, TX

1:48:32 - Christa Townes, 52, F, Conroe, TX

1:55:02 - Jim Braden, 85, M, Spring, TX

1:55:39 - Puneet Ahuja, 41, M, The Woodlands, TX

1:55:47 - Latiffany Sauls, 50, F, Missouri City, TX

1:57:41 - Sharee Moore, 56, F, Tomball, TX

2:11:33 - Ken Johnson, 79, M, Huntsville, TX

2:22:57 - Rossana Cervantes, 56, F, Spring, TX

5K and Half Marathon (53 runners)

1:37:05 - Ronnie Delzer, 39, M, Spring, TX

1:41:54 - Patrick Wills, 50, M, Spring, TX

1:43:33 - Zachariah Wrobel, 16, M, Houston, TX
1:44:39 - Konstantin Loguinov, 44, M, Houston, TX

1:49:25 - Marcus Lewis, 44, M, Rosharon, TX

1:50:02 - Marcela Jaramillo, 47, F, Spring, TX

1:50:32 - Sean Sipko, 44, M, Spring, TX

1:52:50 - Van Joslin, 35, M, Magnolia, TX

1:54:17 - Alfredo Balli, 49, M, Montgomery, TX

1:56:14 - Maria P. Whitworth, 56, F, Houston, TX

2:03:57 - Joseph Mensching, 44, M, Magnolia, TX

2:03:58 - Jesse Sarabia, 55, M, Houston, TX

2:04:35 - James Spencer, 40, M, The Woodlands, TX

2:07:15 - Donnie Hay, 39, M, Spring, TX

2:13:28 - Lila Carrera, 45, F, Spring, TX

2:18:43 - Amanda Lopez, 42, F, The Woodlands, TX

2:20:45 - John McGowan, 47, M, The Woodlands, TX

2:20:59 - Wendy Peters, 53, F, Splendora, TX

2:23:33 - Angel Rivera, 48, M, Spring, TX

2:25:31 - Bobbie Petersen, 45, F, Conroe, TX

2:27:17 - Katerina Savelieva, 48, F, Spring, TX

2:31:10 - Thomas Cooper, 18, M, The Woodlands, TX

2:35:02 - Diana Sanchez, 40, F, Magnolia, TX

2:37:43 - Kelly Wrobel, 42, F, Houston, TX

2:38:55 - Frank Natale, 49, M, Spring, TX

2:40:28 - Jennifer Lofland, 41, F, Spring, TX

2:40:31 - Britney Alban, 32, F, Montgomery, TX

2:40:39 - Enrique Tabarini, 53, M, Magnolia, TX

2:42:30 - Austin Leblanc, 28, M, Cypress, TX

2:43:46 - Michael Gartner, 59, M, Cedar Park, TX

2:45:12 - Rana Shammas, 27, F, Houston, TX

2:47:20 - Molly Dopico, 11, F, Spring, TX

2:47:32 - Pablo Dopico, 51, M, Spring, TX

2:50:16 - Kathy McWilliams, 76, F, The Woodlands, TX

2:57:37 - Sandra Gonzalez, 49, F, Baytown, TX

2:58:39 - Danielle Cureton, 33, F, Spring, TX

2:59:19 - Yanna Williams, 45, F, Kingwood, TX

3:04:54 - Cameron Seale, 34, F, Huntsville, TX

3:06:01 - Brian McCloskey, 62, M, Spring, TX

3:07:12 - Cecilia Sarabia, 55, F, Houston, TX

3:11:57 - Cayla Byrd, 27, F, Spring, TX

3:16:41 - Kristine Rice, 34, F, Houston, TX

3:17:46 - Patrick Steirman, 45, M, Willis, TX

3:22:00 - Courtney Dunham, 40, F, Spring, TX

3:22:56 - Melissa Valencia-Perez, 42, F, Spring, TX

3:29:07 - Cecylee Pierre, 43, F, Conroe, TX

3:32:55 - Nancy Tran, 56, F, Cypress, TX

3:36:12 - Tammy Crozier, 48, F, Cypress, TX

3:42:27 - Sahar Halim, 29, F, Sugar Land, TX

3:49:45 - Sadie Davis, 40, F, Spring, TX

3:50:52 - Camellia Jacks, 53, F, The Woodlands, TX

4:08:55 - Kristen Ingram, 28, F, Cypress, TX

4:09:10 - Keith Ingram, 72, M, Spring, TX

5K and Marathon (32 runners)

3:23:22 - Roger King, 39, M, Conroe, TX

3:35:03 - Greg Gibbons, 48, M, Spring, TX

3:37:34 - Robert King, 39, M, Conroe, TX

3:40:02 - Bryan Alsdorf, 38, M, Spring, TX

3:53:08 - Regina Massingill, 37, F, Houston, TX

3:57:15 - Gabriel Belforti, 49, M, The Woodlands, TX

3:59:03 - Mark Bonney, 50, M, The Woodlands, TX

4:00:49 - Robert Stepp, 60, M, Spring, TX

4:01:38 - Nikki Cannon, 39, F, Houston, TX

4:04:15 - Pedro Colunga, 31, M, Houston, TX

4:08:03 - Jose Herrera, 19, M, Houston, TX

4:14:52 - Chrissy Coffin, 36, F, Spring, TX

4:17:49 - Wendy Valdez, 39, F, Spring, TX

4:20:33 - Julie Stevenson, 57, F, The Woodlands, TX

4:28:27 - Tom Cooper, 56, M, The Woodlands, TX

4:33:17 - Jeffrey Custer, 50, M, Conroe, TX

4:46:17 - Kim White, 60, M, Spring, TX

4:53:10 - Aidan Rangel, 21, M, Richmond, TX

4:57:33 - James Wight, 39, M, Conroe, TX

4:57:50 - Dawn Spoljaric, 39, F, The Woodlands, TX

5:01:24 - Paul Minder, 56, M, Cypress, TX

5:08:06 - Phillip Parcon, 52, M, Beaumont, TX

5:09:05 - Meagan Vernuccio, 29, F, Magnolia, TX

5:10:24 - James Healy, 26, M, Conroe, TX

5:15:19 - Taylor Lopez, 21, F, Phoenix, AZ

5:15:47 - Chelsea Newgord, 30, F, Spring, TX

5:18:39 - Aby Goff, 41, F, Lufkin, TX

5:32:17 - Amanda Kelly, 48, F, Magnolia, TX

5:40:27 - Danielle Skelton Reeves, 63, F, The Woodlands, TX

5:45:04 - Megan Suggs, 35, F, Houston, TX

5:57:28 - Brad Kuykendall, 45, M, Spring, TX

5:59:22 - Stephanie Weiss, 59, F, Tomball, TX

Source:  mychiptime.com and RunFarUSA

2021 The Woodlands Marathon Event Report

Me announcing Saturday’s The Woodlands Marathon started out kind of innocently.

After a good friend of mine, Chuck Engle, and his wife Sommer ran the Texas Marathon in Kingwood on New Year’s Day after visiting her family in Texas, he and I had a conversation about him possibly coming to run The Woodlands Marathon after the Little Rock Marathon had pushed to the fall.

I told Chuck that I would put in a call to the race director.  Of course, that’s Willie Fowlkes.

We had a good, solid conversation about where all the moving pieces of the event were and as things worked out, I had agreed to become the race’s announcer in its 10th year.

As I have shared before, Terry Bisogno from Long Island announced year one and Adam Reiser and Logan Delaware – both in the Austin area - had done the last eight.

Willie desired me to announce earlier in the history of the event, but while I was on the committee the first five years, he needed me more in other areas.  

Another ask came in 2018, but I had turned down any interest without getting into any details.

In the meantime, two years before, I was fortunate enough to announce for parts of a couple of hours at the finish line of the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth.

This certainly gave me the confidence that I could hold my own with the best in the announcing world – at one of the five largest marathons in Texas.

The Woodlands Marathon is basically number six in Texas behind what I would call the “Big Five”.

So, to now be the voice of that race, I was honored at having the opportunity; however, there was a little bit of pressure that came with.

Some external, the rest internal.

The external came from some of my peers thinking that I could not do all eight hours – from 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – all by myself.

In addition, some of my peers wanted to be here and play.

Neither one of those was really pressure, but more motivation.

The internal pressure came from the fact that I am generally well-loved in the community.  I have – and have had – my detractors, but when people think so highly of you there is a tendency to not want to let them down.

The original offer Willie made did not include the Saturday before with the 5K and 2K, but my belief is that you should have consistency between the two weekends – and given what he was trying to accomplish with the event’s “Return to Run” protocols he did not need to be trying to announce.

I agreed to do both.

Things last Saturday went very, very well and because of Randy Bradley and Bill Dwyer’s guiding all the participants across the 5K start line, we went with a rolling start approach for Saturday’s marathon and half marathon – as well as the 10K.

My preparation for this race was no different than any other, with the exception that I scripted a lot of my pre-race material and read it instead of just adlibbing it.

I was around the Expo all day Friday.  Just helping the rest of the team and gathering any last-minute information that I needed for Saturday.

The team is lean, but very good.  No egos.  And while small things tend to happen in the run-up to race day, I saw people working things out and apologizing where and when necessary.

My biggest fear was not waking up in time for Saturday morning.  

I did not sleep well Thursday night into Friday morning, so I could not afford it a second day.

Waverly helped me by printing and lamenting my material.  Five cards.  Lots to cover.  Two were more geared towards the finish line.

I always feel like I am one of the most prepared in the business.

Saturday morning came early.  I was in the drive through at the Whataburger across the road at 3:40 a.m. and was parked and walking towards the race site by 4:00 a.m.

I had parked in the Blue Lot just south of the park by the Riva Row Boathouse and as I was walking through the Green Lot I could see the gait of Bill Dwyer.

We walked to the finish line area, where he was going to be stationed most of the day and then I went on to race headquarters behind the Town Center Green parking garage to get another Race Staff badge because I gave my original one to Waverly for her to get to where I was without hassle and into her corral late if need be after singing.

Willie was going over the corrals with some of the other staff right around 4 a.m. and then I walked the Market Street parking garage to see how they were going to be laid out so I could articulate it clearly.

Steve Curry was handling the sound once again.  I’ve worked with both him and Roxanne Davis’ son Andy on numerous occasions and they are both great.

He was still setting a few things up and he asked me what time I wanted to wake the neighbors.  I said 5:30 a.m.  

I walked a good bit during the day – 5.8 miles – and before I started talking, I burned off some nervous energy in some of that mileage by covering more of the grounds.

Before I entered the area between the streets on Lake Robbins near the start in front of Town Green Park, I could see Jordan Hasay sitting on the curb with another athlete.

As I approached from the side, I said that I was glad to see her back in The Woodlands.

She recognized my voice and then me from the 2018 NXN South Regional at Bear Branch Sports Park.  We had a good, short conversation.  I really feel for her and the amount of trash that gets talked about her on places like the letsrun.com message board and elsewhere.  She just seems like a nice person.

As I got started announcing, I could tell that folks were not moving as quickly out of Town Green Park and towards the corrals as I was hoping.  

I started thinking about all the work that went into setting up safe protocols that not only had been signed off by the appropriate governmental bodies to grant a permit, but to also keep runners safe if somebody was out there that had COVID-19.

And then to have that possibly set aside because some runners did not want to plan – like pre-pandemic – and then try to crash the corrals, taking out the distance spacing that had been designed by race management.

We kept rolling towards 6:32 a.m. when State Representative Steve Toth was to address the audience.

He was short.  Like 15-20 seconds.  I joked that he might be able to buy some votes with a short speech as a politician.

Then things went off script.

Willie was set to lead the invocation at 6:34 a.m., but I had no sight of him nor knowledge where he was.

When I had gone through the timeline with Steve Curry, he informed me that Toth was also a pastor.  At that time, it was a “good to know” item.

Turned out I needed it and I asked him to pray.

We still had a little time in the bank with not a long prayer, so it was time for Waverly to sing the National Anthem at 6:36 a.m.

She did a tremendous job that received a lot of comments and I would not have started, but suddenly Willie comes running towards me saying that we were going to have a delay for some course issues.

It is something that every race producer hates to have happen – and I do not enjoy being in front of a large group of waiting runners, but I think we handled it as best we could at the start line.

We agreed that we would condense the two-minute gap between the Athletes With Disabilities and the rest of the race and make it a one minute gap.

I think we were finally able to get the AWDs underway at 6:59 a.m. and the rest at 7:00 a.m.  (Or maybe 7:00 a.m. and 7:01 a.m.)

It took a little bit of time to get all the half marathoners out on to Grogan’s Mill and after a shifting of the cones, we got the 10K started – and then I was off to the finish line.

The hardest thing for me as an announcer is what I would call the “hype” or “rah rah”.  I don’t do it well and is something that I have to work on.

Where does this happen at?  In between the start of the race until everybody leaves the corrals.

I just try to focus on clubs, groups, and people that I know – and it usually works out OK.

When Willie first gave me the opportunity to let me do the finish line at the CB&I Triathlon in The Woodlands, I still laugh at what he said to me, “I really like Michael Garfield’s energy.”

Garfield is a great guy and is naturally high energy – and brings it across a microphone naturally, but it was like issuing a challenge to me.

Today, Michael still does the start and then I handle the finish line and awards.  The event gets the best of the both of us.

On the way to the finish line, I saw Conroe Courier sportswriter Justin Maskulinski and his wife.  Good guy.  He ran the half marathon last year and pointed out that had it been a week later it likely would not have gone off.  I agreed with him.

As I got to the stage or booth where RunFar Timing’s Raul Najera was and Steve Curry’s sound guy was getting things ready, I saw Cowtown race director Heidi Swartz and asked her how she has been.

And she complimented me on my announcing.

For me, who does not do this for a living, nor do I let it define me, I took those words as a great compliment.

As far as the race went from there, I had a great day.

I pulled from a place that I had never gone to before, so to speak, because I had not led an event start to finish before of this magnitude and felt that I had the latitude to really “let loose”.

I have announced the Houston Striders’ Houston Half Marathon finish line a couple of times and they have had 4,000 – 6,000 finishers, but this was a little different – and especially since it was my hometown crowd.

Every year I get asked, “Are you announcing The Woodlands?”  I have said “No!” up until this year.  I felt it was appropriate to really put on a show, without being hokey, which I will never do.

So many highlights from the day.  Really.

And so many kind words.  Almost embarrassing.

I get paid to do what I do.  It is a different skill set than most possess – and there’s a need for it.

So when you get paid, you’re expected to deliver.  And I did.  😊

I am afraid I’ll leave something or somebody out, but here are some of the highs of the highlights:

+ My daughter finishing.  She had the race of her life really.  Sure, the two marathons count for something, including the 4:51:23 marathon debut at Houston in 2018.  And as I mentioned in a couple of posts, she was excited as she has ever been, and rightfully so.  (She told me later at dinner that she used that as motivation that she knew she would hear a great finish line call from me.)

+ Every runner who engaged me when they came in.  Whether it was a fist bump, a point to me and back or raised arms, I get the most enjoyment out of that.  I joke I get paid by the smile, but it really feeds my energy.

+ Two teams that get a lot of credit to my success:  RunFar (Raul and Meghan Najera) and SkyGod (Steve Curry).  If the reader isn’t working right or well and the sound isn’t great, then I can’t have a great day.  (We had one stretch where the music wasn’t playing, and it was just me announcing – and I just didn’t feel like on my own that I was able to keep the energy up.  Even though many runners feed off the music and energy, and I have to kind of announce through it, all of that pushing tears up your voice.  But it’s worth it.)

+ A very good friend of mine, Erika Park, was pacing a friend of hers, Pam Greene, in the half marathon and I knew ahead of time that Pam was coming back from an injury.  I don’t remember if I saw their names on the reader first or if I looked up and saw Erica on the left-hand side of the left lane, but I think I got a little exuberant over that – for them.

+ Of course, I got some love from the crowd for The Woodlands’ Jim Braden, who at 85, did the 10K, as well as Huntsville’s Ken Johnson, who did so at 79.  Both ran the 5K last Saturday.

+ Called out 10-year finishers in the marathon, to include Gabriel Belforti, Henrita Van Wyngaarden, Keri Scott and Karen Berglund.  (I missed a few half marathoners to do so, including Rip Reynolds and Rich Fredrich.)

+ In hindsight, I really do not remember having the time, but I had somebody who I admire yet have had some challenges with here recently – they have said much longer than just recently (open for discussion when they are ready to talk about it!) – take the time to come up, wait for an opening and tell me that it was great to hear my voice out there.  I really appreciated the genuine effort, especially given the contrast to the previous Saturday.

+ I tried to take care of my fellow Pennsylvanians – and Penn Staters (John and Debi Rudisill, Vincent Attanucci and Steven Sfeir) – in the field.

+ It seemed like there were a ton of runners from the Miami, Florida area, west Texas seemed to stand out (Odessa and Midland) as well as Pleasanton, which is south of San Antonio and the hometown of a good friend of mine, country singer Rodney Hayden.

+ How could I forget Waco’s Nancy Goodnight, who I mentioned about finishing every single Ironman Texas, but I just had to chuckle when I saw the time on the clock.  She was telling me at packet pickup about how much she had not run and that it was not going to be pretty.  She cranks out a 3:38:45 and takes the women’s grandmasters title.

+ It was great to see Stacy Holden and Ben Harvie.  I did not know either was running.

+ I have some runners who seem to enjoy my announcing more than others.  One of those was running and I got May Shek a good solid call.  The other one, who was not racing this weekend, is Jetola Anderson-Blair.  I appreciate the love and respect of my announcing.

+ I did my best to add in mentions of every club that I could, even though it might have sounded out that I was overboard with my friend Bill Dwyer’s Volte Endurance Training group.

As far as announcing goes, it was probably my most memorable and professionally satisfying race.

Thank you to everybody who supports me and what I do.  Your love and respect is greatly appreciated – and it motivates me to do a great job each time out.

And I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible job that The Woodlands Marathon race committee has done.  It was really great to be back a part of it this year.

Appreciate the support of the other directors, Don Wisenbaker and Danny Golden.

Tiffany Renken and Katie Bienek, who get a lot of detail stuff done for Willie.  Shared a lot of laughs with both of them and they got to hear me whine about some of my personal challenges on Friday.

Laura Faria did a helluva of a job putting together an elite field.

Angie Parker, Ron Stitt, Norm Lapell, Ray and Dianna Sarno, T Eamma, Amaris Zabiegala, Shaun Hebert, Trina Jones, Lou Fiscella, Nathan and Kelly Dietrich.  These are the ones that I know and/or engage with the most.

Cheri Turney had a great volunteer crew and got me names of them to recognize and give them a shout out.

And, of course, Bill Dwyer had a rockstar crew at the finish line:  Roxanne Davis, Barry Blanton and Jimmie Baker.

There were others on the committee that I don't know personally, but if they also weren't doing what they did the event wouldn't have been the success it is and has been.

The Woodlands Marathon 5K Four Or More Finishes (2012-2021)

Over the ten years of The Woodlands Marathon 5K, exactly 980 runners and walkers have finished the 5K distance two or more times.  (Eighty new runners were added after the 2021 race.)

Ninety-seven (97) have finished the 5K four or more times as detailed below, up 10 from last year.

Another 163 have run three (3), 718 have run two (2) and 5,566 have run just one.

There have been 7,939 official timed finishes in the nine-year history of the 5K distance of The Woodlands Marathon.

Those underlined below finished the 5K yesterday (in 2021).

Eight finishes (2)

Bartenderx Oropeza

Mark Posey

Seven finishes (5)

Bill Gause

Jack Baker

Karen Kelley

Michelle Wells

Suzy Garcia

Six finishes (6)

Amber Joseph

Debbi Childress

Diana Nichols

Linda McCall

Lupe Garcia

Tina Padilla

Five finishes (17)

Arabella Lorenzetti

Brenda Currie-Sims

Brian McCloskey

Cynthia Jimenez

Eve Kappmeyer

Gary Boerner

Huy Nguyen

Juanita Valadez

Judith Blevins

Kathy Campbell

Kimberly Long

Kirstin Lorenzetti

Mitsutaka Nakao

Natalia Lorenzetti

Quenby Gartner

Russell Hill

Stacey Frey

Four finishes (69)

Abdon Astudillo
Amanda Lopez

Ameer Bacchus

Amol Mulunjkar

Ana Velazquez

Andrew Galik

Ann McLain
Aryanna Lorenzetti

Ashley Raymond

Audrey Labbe
Betty Cobb
Blake Lopez

Camila Martinez

Cheryl Carter

Christine Hoang

Cindy Wilson
Danielle Cureton

Debbie Hunter

Deborah Morris

Donita Woodward

Donna Thomas

Ed Campbell

Elizabeth Long

Erika Moureau

Eustacia Velazquez

Eve Higgins

Gerard Reed
George Childress

Hannah Gault

Holly Rice
James Spencer

Janice Pietrzak

Jeffrey Shine

Jennifer Brotherhood

Jennifer Hessels

Jeremy Hall

Jim Pike

Jimy Prajapati

Jonathan Robbins

Joseph Pietrzak

Joshua Wells

Judy Cigich
Julie Bonner

Kathryn Labbe

Kristin Snyder

Lacin Coetzee

Leah Blevins

Lingye Lynne Labbe

Lisha Kriener

Lurdes Sifuentes

Lynn Smith

Marta Mixa

Marty Cochran

Mary Gonzalez

Melissa Wieder

Mercedes Canas

Michael Robbins
Olfeo Lorenzetti

Pam Jannergren

Raquel Eldridge-Gradnigo

Ruby Behnke

Sandy Denz
Scott Olsen

Sean Labbe
Seth Rogers

Shannon Ramsey

Spencer Leach

Stephanie Weiss

Tanner Western

The Woodlands Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K Overall Winners (2012-2021)

The Woodlands Marathon

Men

2012 - 2:15:41, Jeffrey Eggleston, 27

2013 - 2:26:29, Tirop Rich Kessio, 38

2014 - 2:19:30, Lamech Mosoti, 33

2015 - 2:19:19, Phillip Lagat, 31

2016 - 2:18:44, Hillary Too, 30

2017 - 2:21:36, Sphamandla Nyembe, 26*

2018 - 2:30:15, Calum Neff, 33

2019 - 2:29:08, Ryan Parrish, 40

2020 - 2:26:24, Benjamin Zywicki, 31
2021 -

Women

2012 - 2:37:18, Camille Herron, 30

2013 - 2:42:44, Jenna Boren, 36

2014 - 2:44:57, Dehininet Jara, 30

2015 - 2:43:52, Frehiwot Goshu, 24

2016 - 2:35:21, Ayantu Dakebo, 19

2017 - 2:51:36, Melissa Hopper, 39*

2018 - 2:52:38, Camille Herron, 36

2019 - 2:58:35, Nicole Bitter, 36

2020 - 2:44:34, Emily Parker, 35
2021 - 

The Woodlands Half Marathon

Men 

2012 - 1:07:02, Sammy Hidalgo, 38

2013 - 1:04:03, Kiyai Shadrack, 29

2014 - 1:08:50, Phillip Kandie, 33

2015 - 1:06:13, Julius Lagat, 34

2016 - 1:09:07, Drew Bean, 26

2017 - 1:05:59, Wilkerson Given, 26

2018 - 1:08:24, Geoffrey Speelman, 25

2019 - 1:07:42, Drew Bean, 29

2020 - 1:04:35, Kiya Dandena, 30
2021 -

Women

2012 - 1:18:37, Mattie Suver, 24

2013 - 1:13:17, Ehaferahu Wodaj Temesgen, 23

2014 - 1:15:37, Cynthia Jerop, 18

2015 - 1:17:00, Samantha Draney, 26

2016 - 1:25:06, Lauren Hill, 25

2017 - 1:16:04, Hillary Montgomery, 25

2018 - 1:10:08, Rachel Cliff, 29

2019 - 1:15:29, Kinsey Middleton, 26

2020 - 1:11:58, Allie Kieffer, 32
2021 -

The Woodlands Marathon 5K

Men

2012 - 21:21, Stephen Webb, 14, Pinehurst

2013 - 17:02, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, Katy

2014 - 16:15, Brock Simmons, 25, Denton

2015 - 16:16, Geoff Speelman, 22, Magnolia

2016 - 16:30, Caleb Pickett, 17, Tomball

2017 - 16:36, Leo Momoh, 25, The Woodlands

2018 - 16:07, James Gilreath, 28, The Woodlands

2019 - 16:02, Oscar Garcia, 23, Houston

2020 - 16:15, Jack Boyd, 15, Spring
2021 - 15:36, Dylan Sequeira, 18, Magnolia

Women

2012 - 18:48, Allison Urvan, 35, Spring

2013 - 19:08, Kelly Swanson, 31, Houston

2014 - 21:58, Kristen Smith, 23, Houston

2015 - 19:48, Kate Looney, 34, Spring

2016 - 19:24, Hannah Gault, 13, Conroe

2017 - 17:53, Allison Mendez, 28

2018 - 22:29, Freya McKinley, 15

2019 - 20:11, Chloe Hunt, 15, Spring

2020 - 19:53, Abby Stewart, 12, Spring
2021 - 19:40, Marcela Jaramillo, 47, Spring

117 in for the 2021 The Woodlands Marathon Double

More than 100 runners and walkers will take part in races on both weekends of The Woodlands Marathon.

The 5K will commence on Saturday, February 27, 2021 with the marathon, half marathon and the 10K happening the following Saturday, March 6.

Here is the complete list of runners in each category:

5K and 10K (21)

Puneet Ahuja, M, The Woodlands, TX

Kevin Baker, M, The Woodlands, TX

George Barratt, M, The Woodlands, TX

John Brown, M, Spring, TX

Megan Bruegger, F, Spring, TX

Rossana Cervantes, F, Spring, TX

Judy Cigich, F, Magnolia, TX

Scott Cigich, M, Magnolia, TX

Bryant Cormier, M, Spring, TX

Hugo Dimas, M, Houston, TX

Ken Johnson, M, Huntsville, TX

Andrew Littlefield, M, Houston, TX

Jennifer Lofland, F, Spring, TX

Maria McCorvy, F, Spring, TX

Thomas Samples, M, Clifton, TX

Maria Sanchez, F, Spring, TX

LaTiffany Sauls, F, Missouri City, TX

Heather Stanley, F, Spring, TX

Ryan Stanley, M, Spring, TX

Dean Tomov, M, The Woodlands, TX

Christa Townes, F, Conroe, TX

5K and Half Marathon (67)

Ola Adejuwon, F, Cypress, TX

Britney Alban, F, Montgomery, TX

Sandy Anderson, F, Cypress, TX

Alfredo Balli, M, Montgomery, TX

Kim Bowden, F, Hockley, TX

Matthew Bruegger, M, Spring, TX

Cayla Byrd, F, Spring, TX

Lila Carrera, F, Spring, TX

Thomas Cooper, M, The Woodlands, TX

Tammy Crozier, F, Cypress, TX

Danielle Cureton, F, Spring, TX +

Ann Delve, F, Spring, TX

Ronnie Delzer, M, Spring, TX

Joshua Derksen, M, Conroe, TX

Roger Derksen, M, Conroe, TX

Molly Dopico, F, Spring, TX

Pablo Dopico, M, Spring, TX

Courtney Dunham, F, Spring, TX

Angie Ferguson, F, Spring, TX

Michael Gartner, M, Cedar Park, TX

Greg Gibbons, M, Spring, TX

Sammy Gomez, M, Conroe, TX

Sandra Gonzalez, F, Baytown, TX

Vanessa Goodman, F, Conroe, TX

Sahar Halim, F, Sugar Land, TX

Michelle Hanes, F, Conroe, TX

Donnie Hay, M, Spring, TX

Avery Hunter, M, Richmond, TX

Keith Ingram, M, Spring, TX

Kristen Ingram, F, Cypress, TX

Camellia Jacks, F, The Woodlands, TX

Nelsida Jones, F, Houston, TX

Teresa Kennedy, F, The Woodlands, TX

Jennifer Klein, F, Manvel, TX

Austin LeBlanc, M, Cypress, TX

Pablo Lesarri, M, Spring, TX

Marcus Lewis, M, Rosharon, TX

Konstantin Loguinov, M, Houston, TX

Amanda Lopez, F, The Woodlands, TX +

Brian McCloskey, M, Spring, TX

John McGowan, M, The Woodlands, TX +

Kathy McWilliams, F, The Woodlands, TX +

Libby Mehrens, F, The Woodlands, TX

Joseph Mensching, M, Magnolia, TX

David Morrison, M, The Woodlands, TX

Frank Natale, M, Spring, TX

Wendy Peters, F, Splendora, TX

Bobbie Petersen, F, Conroe, TX +

Cecylee Pierre, F, Conroe, TX

Sam Presley, M, The woodlands, TX

Kristine Rice, F, Houston, TX

Angel Rivera, M, Spring, TX

Diana Sanchez, F, Magnolia, TX

Cecilia Sarabia, F, Houston, TX

Katerina Savelieva, F, Spring, TX

Stephanie Schlueter, F, Spring, TX

Jimmy Shrake, M, Houston, TX

Sean Sipko, M, Spring, TX

James Spencer, M, The Woodlands, TX

Brian Teed, M, Aubrey, TX

Nancy Tran, F, Cypress, TX

Melissa Valencia-Perez, F, Spring, TX

Maria P. Whitworth, F, Houston, TX

Patrick Wills, M, Spring, TX

Nicholle Winger, F, The Woodlands, TX

Kelly Wrobel, F, Houston, TX

Zachariah Wrobel, M, Houston, TX

5K and Marathon (29)

Bryan Alsdorf, M, Spring, TX

Gabriel Belforti, M, The Woodlands, TX +

Mark Bonney, M, The Woodlands, TX

Micheal Butts, M, Pearland, TX

Nikki Cannon, F, Houston, TX

Chrissy Coffin, F, Spring, TX

Pedro Colunga, M, Houston, TX

Benjamin Conti, M, Tomball, TX

Candy Conti, F, Tomball, TX

Tom Cooper, M, The Woodlands, TX

Jeffrey Custer, M, Conroe, TX

Aby Goff, F, Lufkin, TX

Jose Herrera, M, Houston, TX

Amanda Kelly, F, Magnolia, TX +

Robert King, M, Conroe, TX

Roger King, M, Conroe, TX

Brad Kuykendall, M, Spring, TX

Regina Massingill, F, Houston, TX

Paul Minder, M, Cypress, TX

Michelle Mouton, F, Spring, TX +

Josephine Novak, F, Spring, TX

Preston Quintela, M, Houston, TX

Danielle Skelton Reeves, F, The Woodlands, TX

Dawn Spoljaric, F, The Woodlands, TX

Robert Stepp, M, Spring, TX

Wendy Valdez, F, Spring, TX

Meagan Vernuccio, F, Magnolia, TX

Stephanie Weiss, F, Tomball, TX +

James Wight, M, Conroe, TX

+ indicates that those runners completed The Woodlands Marathon Double in both 2019 and 2020.

The Woodlands Marathon Race Day Temperatures (2012-2020)

The first number on each date is the time at 6:53 a.m., just before the start of the race, whereas the two other temperatures is at 12:53 and 1:53 p.m., which bookend the 1:30 p.m. race finish time.

March 3, 2012 - 57 / 63-65

March 2, 2013 - 40 / 54-55

March 1, 2014 - 66 / 82-81

February 27, 2015 - 38 / 42-43

March 5, 2016 - 48 / 74-74

March 4, 2017 - 56 / 64-64

March 3, 2018 - 51 / 73-76

March 2, 2019 - 55 / 69-70

March 7, 2020 - 44 / 61-60

Source:  Weather Underground (wunderground.com)

The Woodlands Marathon Five Or More Finishes (2012-2020)

Over the past nine years of The Woodlands Marathon, 1,226 runners and walkers have finished two or more marathons.

One hundred twenty (120) have finished five or more as detailed below.  Another 92 have run four (4), 238 have run three (3) and 776 have done two.

Nine finishes (10)

Brent Scott

Charles Frymire

David Coats

Gabriel Belforti

Henrita Van Wyngaarden

Jonathan Zwickel

Karen Berglund

Kori Scott

Ron Berglund

Stephen Kallus

Eight finishes (10)

Carlos Reyes

Hung Hoang

Jay Everett

Mary Berta

Natalie Camps

Quoc Duong

Richard Carroll

Rolando Reyes

Vincent Attanucci

Yen Nguyen

Seven finishes (10)

Daniel Kallus

Danielle Skelton Reeves

David Gamez

Doan Pham

Kerry Lee

Khuong Tran

Michael Smith

Stephen Baumgartner

Steven Holehan

William Moeller

Six finishes (20)

Albenis Hernandez

Andrew Strong

Anthony Serrano

Bill Pilkington

Brian Pack

Chris Robbins

Christine Gentil

Criss Neumann

Dung Quach

Edward Mickelson

Greg Park

Hamilton Hadebe

Jim Harrington

Jose Moreno

Kevin Butler

Lonnie Brauner

Malinda Hernandez

Melissa Hopper

Rachel Williams

Yong Collins

Five finishes (70)

Adnan Afzal

Alberto Agostini

Alejandro Marquez Jimenez

Alejandro Torres Guerra

Angela Tortorice

Anne Rice

Armando Bocanegra

Art Rascon

Arturo Torres

Barbara Santi

Bijou Chacko

Binh Le

Christian Lambert

Christian Rauch

Craig Dodds

Dan Greenberg

Daron Peschel

David Davison

David Raines

Davis Castillo

Diana Van Brandwijk

Doug Earle

Drew George

Eduardo Luna

Ellen Cummings

Enrique Cervantes

Eric Danziger

Evelina Stenroos

Francisco Garza

Frank Morales

German Collazos

Glenn Heumann

Jim Surratt

John Maloney

Jose Reyes

Joseph Gray

Julie Stevenson

Justin Styles

Ken Fattmann

Kimberly Pilcher

Lisa Kelly

Marc Gyselen

Mark Livingston

Michael Caldwell

Michelle Demoss

Mike Blayney

Mutlu Smith

Myrick Thibodeaux

Parvaneh Moayedi

Peter Bennett

Peter Cymbala

Peter Huntsman Jr

Peter Huntsman Sr

Peter Steelman

Reggie Bruhn

Richard Zainfeld

Rudolph L Rendon

Sarah Getty-Phelps

Sergio Leonardi

Sheila Bundscho Lewis

Stuart Kessler

Todd Woodcock

Tolu Osoba

Tom Nguyen

Tory Western

Travis Shirley

Vinay Wagh

William Featherston

William Fermo

Yvette Dunn

The Woodlands Half Marathon Seven Or More Finishes (2012-2020)

Over the past nine years of The Woodlands Half Marathon, 958 runners and walkers have finished four or more half marathons.

One hundred and five have finished seven or more as detailed below.  Another 131 have run six (6), 242 have run five (5) and 480 have done four.

Nine finishes (13)

Barry Beacher

Camellia Jacks

Carlos Sepulveda

Catriona Edmond

Deborah Sanborn

Denise Andrew

Edward Campos

Erica Welter

Kathy McWilliams

Lyndon Yates

Margot Campos

Rich Fredrich

Rip Reynolds

Eight finishes (29)

Alejandro Flores Trespalacios

Andrew Dublin

Chris Allen

Cristina Fernandez

Danielle Foder

Dawn Renken

Debra Sukin

Denise Smith

Elsa Govea

Erika Espinosa

Galbraith Weaver

John McGowan

Josh Strickland

Justo Marin

Kim Easton

Kimber Juenke

Lisa Deville

Llana Bingham

Mark Hatfield

Maybelline Martinez

Pam Anderson

Pamela Paling

Rennie Van Wyk

Rob Oberg

Robin Holcomb

Sara Hudgens

Tulio Sanchez

Valerie Byers

Yuji Iwanaka

Seven finishes (63)

Alan Davis

April Bangerter

Bill Carruth

Brandon Shaughnessy

Bret Strong

Chris Gause

Crystale Bonjour

Dana Dilbeck

Deanna Govea

Deborah Stuart

Emily Frazier

Erin Gowton

Faridy Gonzalez

Gloria Aspe

Jason Stewart

Jennifer Fox

Jeremy Stiborik

Jill Tresaugue

Jimmie Gowton

Jodi Beckendorf

Karen Goodwin

Karen Overman

Karyn Ashton

Ken Seifert

Kenneth Page

Kevin Lang

Koray Ozturk

Kristin Collins

Leslie Hajdo

Marcela Jaramillo

Maricela Conejo

Mark Chilton

Matthew Giardina

Melissa Stanosheck

Michael Galiunas

Minni Malhotra

Nataliya Novak

Noelle On

Oscar Hernandez

Pam Stanosheck

Patricia Moreno

Patricio Hidalgo

Patti Rascon

Paul Phelps

Penny Rettenmaier

Peter Schipperijn

Poonam Samudrala

Rajendher Reddy

Rakesh Malhotra

Rama Palwai

Rebecca Schany

Robert Snider

Russell Meyer

Ruth Henderson

Sandra Torsey

Silvia Jackson

Srinivas Panja

Stephanie Peloquin

Stephen Kimmel

Susan Rouse

Susan Wolf

Syndi Carlson

Tina Saims

Texas Marathon and Half Marathon All-Time Top 20 Times (2000-2021)

Marathon - Men
2:35:06 - Josh Heimbach, 35, Fort Worth, TX, 2021
2:42:31 - Kurt Klewin, 39, Oklahoma City, OK, 2009
2:42:59 - John Hill, 47, Kingwood, TX, 2015
2:44:39 - Daniel Lawton, 34, Cypress, TX, 2011
2:45:44 - Daniel Lawton, 40, Cypress, TX, 2021
2:46:20 - Jose Acosta, 33, Houston, TX, 2011
2:46:50 - Daniel Lawton, 31, Cypress, TX, 2008
2:47:47 - Gerry Hogg, 45, Taunton, Somerset, England, 2010
2:50:34 - Kurt Klewin, 41, Oklahoma City, OK, 2011
2:51:07 - Manfred Roenz, 41, Humble, TX, 2011
2:52:28 - Christopher Rodriguez, 23, Houston, TX, 2019
2:52:39 - Ramon Rosales, Jr., 38, Tomball, TX, 2019
2:52:44 - Chuck Engle, 34, Jackson, MS, 2006
2:53:35 - Chuck Engle, 37, Dublin, OH, 2009
2:55:28 - Daniel Bucci, 33, Houston, TX, 2016
2:55:59 - Manfred Roenz, 39, Humble, TX, 2009
2:56:01 - Richard Powell, 22, Sugar Land, TX, 2011
2:56:05 - Matthew Kadowaki, 38, Irvine, CA, 2016
2:56:13 - Collin Wills, 19, Austin, TX 2020
2:56:17 - Terry Garrett, 43, Houston, TX, 2007
2:57:01 - Patrick Flores, 45, Katy, TX, 2010

Marathon - Women
2:54:47 - Selena Pasadyn, 25, Hinckley, OH, 2021
3:06:12 - Christine Agnew, 36, Houston, TX, 2007
3:13:23 - Vicky Cook, 34, Kingwood, TX, 2012
3:16:49 - Jessica Jackson, 25, Salt Lake City, UT, 2009
3:18:44 - Shelah Miner, 33, Pearland, TX, 2009
3:19:57 - Haley Watson, 42, Kingwood, TX, 2021
3:20:15 - Erin Dawson, 35, Indianapolis, IN, 2017
3:21:40 - Shannon Shoelen, 33, Kingwood, TX, 2008
3:23:13 - Ana Trevino, 29, Golden, CO, 2018
3:24:40 - Melissa Keith, 25, Conroe, TX, 2010
3:25:02 - Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen, 48, Kingwood, TX, 2014
3:25:15 - Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen, 49, Kingwood, TX, 2015
3:25:40 - Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen, 41, Kingwood, TX, 2007
3:26:16 - Colleen Place, 24, Brooklyn, NY, 2010
3:27:03 - Traci Falbo, 38, Charlestown, IN, 2010
3:27:03 - Becky Stanford, 34, Austin, TX, 2019
3:27:52 - Taylor Votek, 25, Lebanon, NJ, 2018
3:29:10 - Erika Park, 45, Houston, TX, 2021
3:29:14 - Jacqueline O'Brien Nolen, 42, Kingwood, TX, 2008
3:29:27 - Kimberly Simmons, 44, Houston, TX, 2006
3:29:43 - Stefanie Bernosky, 33, Houston, TX, 2016

Half Marathon - Men
1:14:53 - Logan Terry, 21, 2014
1:16:49 - Jason Garcia, 18, Conroe, TX, 2009
1:18:38 - Kerry Lee, 37, League City, TX, 2012
1:18:47 - Kevin McGuire, 32, 2020
1:19:31 - Benjamin Parva, 20, Kingwood, TX, 2014
1:19:37 - Jacob Lefler, 19, 2013
1:19:37 - Kerry Lee, 38, League City, TX 2013
1:20:13 - Matthew Vance, 30, 2014
1:20:25 - Seth Kaplan, 18, Tomball, TX, 2021
1:20:35 - Owen Cole, 14, Kingwood, TX, 2020
1:21:07 - Trent Nolen, 16, Kingwood, TX, 2018
1:21:55 - Benjamin Parva, 22, Kingwood, TX, 2016
1:22:07 - Trent Nolen, 15, Kingwood, TX, 2017
1:22:07 - Jacob Cooper, 33, Reno, NV, 2018
1:23:27 - David Abbott, 36, Sacramento, CA, 2018
1:24:04 - Zach Morrow, 17, 2014
1:24:17 - Zach Morrow, 16, 2013
1:24:44 - Kerry Lee, 36, League City, TX, 2011
1:24:57 - Rick Gardner, 50, 2014
1:25:04 - Trent Nolen, 18, Kingwood, TX, 2020
1:25:11 - Trent Nolen, 17, Kingwood, TX, 2019
1:26:31 - Gordon Christie, 41, Katy, TX, 2012
1:26:45 - Zach Stone, 21, 2014

Half Marathon - Women
1:30:26 - Julie Mosier-Crosno, 37, Kingwood, TX, 2009
1:31:01 - Caroline Frenzel, 19, The Woodlands, TX, 2019
1:31:03 - Susan Sullivan, 32, Houston, TX, 2011
1:31:35 - Jennica Barrow, 18, 2013
1:32:22 - Adrian Harkey, 49, Marshall, MI, 2010
1:33:26 - Alexis Llewellyn, 38, 2013
1:34:30 - Morgan Vadheim, 34, 2013
1:34:40 - Katheryn Nolen, 16, Kingwood, TX, 2012
1:34:43 - Julie Mosier Crosno, 38, Kingwood, TX, 2010
1:34:50 - Mandy Jellerichs, 34, Houston, TX, 2009
1:35:21 - Lisa Yarrow, 43, Houston, TX, 2010
1:35:45 - Callie Yarbrough, 31, Liberty, TX, 2016
1:36:06 - Emily Potts, 17, 2014
1:36:14 - Erika Berry-Park, 38, Houston, TX, 2014
1:36:20 - Jennica Barrow, 16, Missouri City, TX, 2011
1:36:28 - Kelli Tomlinson, 28, Houston, TX, 2021
1:36:34 - Jennifer Laughlin, 38, Houston, TX, 2016
1:36:35 - Erika Park, 43, Houston, TX, 2019
1:36:53 - Gabrielle Hoekstra, 23, Spring, TX, 2017
1:37:16 - Tracy Fridye, 21, Missouri City, TX, 2011
1:37:16 - Virginia Leonardi, 29, Beaumont, TX, 2016

This Date In Running History - February 12, 1909

CLARK FIRST IN MARATHON GRIND

Spectators Numbering 400,000 Watched Brooklyn-Seagate Race

New York, Feb. 13 - James E. Clark, of the Xavier Athletic Association won the Brooklyn-Seagate Marathon, promoted by the 13th Regiment in honor of Lincoln's Birthday yesterday and as far as the entry list, and the crowd who saw the race, were concerned, they were a long way the best on record for America. The fine string of 164 men started and the crowd extended over 12 miles of roadway, from Sumner and Jefferson Avenue to Seagate. Not a foot of vacant space was seen on the sidewalks anywhere, and a conservative estimate put the throng at 400,000 persons.

Clark was with the front brigade all through the journey, but at the eighteenth mile he took the lead, and showed the way clean through Irish-A. A. C. Clark has taken part in several marathon, but the one yesterday was his first win. He jogged along nicely and comfortably in the last couple of miles on the armory floor, all the time keeping his eye on the second man. He was given a great reception during the last lap.

After crossing the line he walked across the floor unassisted to his dressing room. Third place fell to Harry Jensen, of the Pasttime A.C., and he completed the journey about a half mile behind Crowley. Clark's time, 2:46.52 4-5.

Source: The Buffalo Commercial, Buffalo, New York, Saturday, February 13, 1909

Note: Clark set the world record which held for less than three months when it was broken at the Bronx Marathon on May 8, 1909.

Fred Ward, Jr., Wins Houston Marathon; Veteran Is Second (3/3/30)

HOUSTON, Texas, March 3 -- Fred Ward, Jr., of Dover, N.J., today was the titleholder of the first annual National A.A.U. 20-mile marathon, which he ran here yesterday for the Millrose A.C. of New York, setting a time of 2 hours 12 seconds.

Ward was given a great battle by the veteran Clarence Demar, of the Millrose A. A., of Boston, but the younger man had the reserve strength to spurt up in the closing yards of the run to breast the tape by bare seven yards ahead of the 42-year-old star of many marathons.

An Indian, August Barbosa, of Dallas, came in third, 20 minutes behind Ward, and five minutes later, William Neville, of Houston, trotted over the finish line for fourth place.  James Savage, of New Orleans, was a distant fifth.

Source:  The Shreveport Journal, Shreveport, Louisiana, Monday, March, 3, 1930

This Date In Running History - February 11, 1899

HEGLEMAN WINS THE FOOT RACE

The German Makes Seventy Miles In Twelve Hours

The international twelve-hour go-as-you-please foot race for the world's championship, which opened at the Grand Palace at noon yesterday, closed at midnight with the following winners:  Peter Hegleman, Germany, 70 miles; Olaf Steen, Norway, 68 miles; James Dean, Boston, 67 miles 12 laps; Albert Carlson, Sweden, 66 miles 11 laps and Walter Pierce, Boston, 66 miles 3 laps.

There were thirty-five contestants, and each one paid an entrance fee of $5.  The prizes, consisting of 50 per cent. of the gate receipts, will be distributed among the first five men as follows:  First prize, 40 per cent.; second prize, 25 per cent.; third prize, 15 per cent.; fourth prize, 12 per cent.; fifth prize, 8 per cent.

The race was well attended during the day and evening, and the men started off in lively spirits.  A tanbark and sawdust track had been placed arond the hall, which measured fifteen laps to the mile.  The men resorted to anything from a run to an easy-going walk, and as the hour of midnight drew near presented a most dejected appearance.  About 11o'clock several of them gave out and had to be carried to the dressing rooms.  An enthusiastic crowd witnessed the finish, and the victors were heartily cheered as they crossed the line.

Pierce, who got the fifth prize, fell on the track at 11:30 o'clock.  His condition was found to be serious, and an ambulance was summoned from Flower Hospital.  The surgeon said he was suffering from exhaustion, and that he might die.  He was removed to the hospital.  He is nineteen years old, and said to be the champion five-mile runner of New England.

Source:  The New York Times, Sunday, February 12, 1899