Thursday, March 11, 2021

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

Sunday, March 7, 2021

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.

Sunday, February 28, 2021

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

Sunday, February 21, 2021

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.


Thursday, February 18, 2021

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)

Sunday, February 14, 2021

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

Saturday, February 13, 2021

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

Friday, February 12, 2021

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.

Thursday, February 11, 2021

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

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Who's Going for No. 10 at The Woodlands Marathon or Half Marathon?


Who's signed up for their 10th The Woodlands Marathon or 10th The Woodlands Half Marathon?

Six of the ten marathoners (bolded below) and all but one of the half marathoners have declared their intentions to run in just over three weeks.

MARATHON (10)
Brent Scott
Charles Frymire
David Coats
Gabriel Belforti - (Signed up for The Woodlands Double)
Henrita Van Wyngaarden
Jonathan Zwickel
Karen Berglund
Kori Scott
Ron Berglund
Stephen Kallus

HALF MARATHON (12)
Barry Beacher
Camellia Jacks - (Signed up for The Woodlands Double)
Carlos Sepulveda
Catriona Edmond
Deborah Sanborn
Denise Andrew
Edward Campos
Erica Welter
Kathy McWilliams - (Signed up for The Woodlands Double)
Lyndon Yates
Rich Fredrich
Rip Reynolds

Sources:  nolimitstiming.com (2012-2016), mychiptime.com (2017-2020), thewoodlandsmarathon.com

This Date In Running History - February 10, 1974


Judy Ikenberry, 31-year-old mother of three from Southern California, won the first AAU women's national marathon championship yesterday at San Mateo and a 10-year-old San Francisco girl finished a strong fourth.

Mrs. Ikenberry, from Crestline, was timed in 2:55:17 for the 26-miles, 385-yard run.  She took the lead at the 12-mile mark and held it to the end.

Marilyn Paul of Portland, Ore. was second, in 2:58:44, Peggy Lyman of Palo Alto, third in 2:58:55, San Francisco schoolgirl Mary Etta Boitano next in 3:01:15 and Nina Kuscsik of Melville, N.Y., fifth in 3:04:56.

Miss Boitano holds five unofficial girls' age group records for the marathon and is a veteran of the San Francisco Examiner's annual 7.8-mile Bay to Breakers race.

6. Lucy Bunz, UC San Francisco, 3:05:07.
7. Marjorie Kaput, Phoenix, Ariz.,3:07:46
8. Jan Arenz, Twin Cities TC, 3:08:20
9. Irene Rudolf, San Francisco, 3:12:20
10. Jennie Taylor, Cambridge, Mass., 3:12:27
11. Joan Uliyot, San Francisco, 3:13:13.

Source:  The San Francisco Examiner, February 11, 1974


Monday, February 8, 2021

2020-2021 Texas 10 Series - First Three Races


These 65 athletes have run the first two races in the 2020-2021 Texas 10 Series, including the races at Conroe, College Station and Bridgeland.

10-Mile (36)
Britney Alban, Montgomery
Steve Allen, Huntsville
Jose Avellaneda, Missouri City
Kevin Baker, The Woodlands
Joel Barr, Spring
Steve Bickford, Huntsville
Jessica Carpio, Missouri City
Mario Carrera, Houston
Eugenia Carter, Pasadena
Leigh Foreman, Houston
Daniel Gassett, Spring
Nancy Goodnight, Waco
James Griffis, The Woodlands
Tommie Hunter, Porter
Van Joslin, Spring
Samuel Keen, Houston
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
Tricia Terry, Spring
Angela Wakefield, Houston
Katrina Wakefield, Houston
Courtney West, Spring
Rich Wickboldt, Houston
Candy Willis, Deer Park
Tabitha Willis, Conroe

5-Mile (16)
Melinda Ardoin, Spring
Cathy Bickford, Huntsville
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
Holly Steirman, Willis
Kara Stockton, Montgomery

5K (9)
Gloria Ballin, Conroe
Marissa Bonnett, Conroe
Stacy Fellers, Magnolia
Tammy Guidry, Spring
Vivian Guidry, Spring
Anita Munoz, Houston
Alvaro Trejo, Houston
Lusi Trejo, Houston
Isabel Trejo-Fuentes, Houston

Multiple Distances (4)
Sallie Campbell, Conroe
Ben Guidry, Spring
Heather Nusz, Conroe
Yanna Williams, Kingwood

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Don't Overlook A Sign From God To Your Next 5K


I have a pretty good life and I’m thankful for it.  

All of it, even the not so fun stuff.

I also like to laugh at the good things in life and I enjoy sharing them with all of you.

But here’s a lesson:  When you dream about a flat on your back left tire and you go out to your car that morning (where it’s 42 degrees) and the low pressure light is on – and a Discount Tire is within walking distance from your hotel, you get it checked out.

Before that, though, I did try to put a little air in three of the four tires and start to head out to Cayuga in northwest Anderson County for a 5K that the baseball program was putting on.

However, I thought that out beyond Tennessee Colony on Highway 287 that cell coverage might not be the greatest if I got a flat so I turned it back around to the Discount Tire here on the loop in Palestine.

The front two tires were wearing and really needed replaced, but the back left tire had a screw in it.

So that’s being done now (and actually they just called that they're done) – and maybe I’ll still get a run in before going up to Athens to catch a basketball game in a new Texas college, university or JUCO gymnasium at 2 p.m.

I can attest that my walk with Christ isn’t completely where it needs to be right now, but I’m thankful that He’s still looking out for me – and that I’m wise enough to see the signs especially when it hit me square in the face.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

2020-2021 Texas 10 Series - First Two Races


These 100 athletes have run the first two races in the 2020-2021 Texas 10 Series, including the races at Conroe and College Station.

10-Mile (63)
Britney Alban, Montgomery
Steve Allen, Huntsville
Jose Avellaneda, Missouri City
Damian Avila, Houston
Kevin Baker, The Woodlands
Joel Barr, Spring
Steve Bickford, Huntsville
Lisa Bourett, Montgomery
Scott Bowen, Webster
Mayra Caamano, Conroe
Jessica Carpio, Missouri City
Mario Carrera, Houston
Eugenia Carter, Pasadena
Leigh Foreman, Houston
Jason Garcia, Conroe
Daniel Gassett, Spring
Nancy Goodnight, Waco
James Griffis, The Woodlands
Hiroshi Hamada, Houston
Matthew Hanes, Conroe
Michelle Hanes, Conroe
Taylor Hunt, Willis
Tommie Hunter, Porter
Amanda Jenkins, Houston
Henry Joslin, Magnolia
Samuel Keen, Houston
Wendy Kirby, Houston
Konstantin Loguinov, Houston
Audrey Maness, Spring
Eduardo Martinez, Pasadena
Eleazar Martinez, Pasadena
Carlos Martinez, Pasadena
Geoff May, Magnolia
Alejandro Medina, Humble
Cesar Medina, Humble
Mary Moellmer, Tomball
Sharon Morin, Houston
Kirk Myers, Houston
Bobbie Petersen, Conroe
Michael Prejean, Cypress
Jessica Rabon, Houston
Rip Reynolds, The Woodlands
Michelle Richardson, Helotes
Haley Roth, Beaumont
Jayden Roth, Beaumont
Jeff Roth, Beaumont
Juana Roth, Beaumont
Erika Sampson, Houston
Cliff Saunders, Houston
Jeff Short, Pearland
Steve Sievert, Tomball
Kim Smith, Montgomery
Mark Speets, Houston
Gary Tashima, Houston
Tricia Terry, Spring
Angela Wakefield, Houston
Katrina Wakefield, Houston
Sarah Waters, Montgomery
Courtney West, Spring
Rich Wickboldt, Houston
Yanna Williams, Kingwood
Candy Willis, Deer Park
Tabitha Willis, Conroe

5-Mile (26)
Melinda Ardoin, Spring
Cathleen Bickford, Huntsville
Sallie Campbell, Conroe
Ben Castillo, Katy
Guadalupe De Paz, Houston
Kristen Edwards, Conroe
Glenn Frable, Cypress
Bethany Gardner, Houston
Erin Gowton, Montgomery
Jimmie Gowton, Montgomery
Ben Guidry, Spring
Bradley Huggins, Franklin
Sara Huggins, Franklin
Ken Johnson, Huntsville
Quintin Kneen, Spring
Patrick Lewis, Huntsville
Chris MacGregor, Houston
Mary Meaux, Conroe
Heather Nusz, Conroe
Cindy Ough, Spring
Kirsten Ough, Spring
Angie Philips, Tomball
Russell Philips, Tomball
Gustavo Roque, Houston
Holly Steirman, Willis
Kara Stockton, Montgomery

5K (11)
Gloria Ballin, Conroe
Marissa Bonnet, Conroe
Brooke Farren, College Station
Stacy Fellers, Magnolia
Tammy Guidry, Spring
Vivian Guidry, Spring
Anita Munoz, Houston
Marcela Ortega, Houston
Alvaro Trejo, Houston
Lusi Trejo, Houston
Isabel Trejo-Fuentes, Houston

Monday, January 25, 2021

Marathon To Feature Houston A.A.U. Meet (4/26/1927)


HOUSTON, April 25 -- The second annual Houston marathon will be the feature event of the Southern A.A.U. track and field championships at Rice Field, May 21 and 22, according to Jack Rafferty, A.A.U. commissioner of the Houston district.  The marathon, a 10-mile race, will be run on Saturday, May 22.

King Ransom, Houston, winner of the marathon last year, and Bert Halla, Sam Houston High School star, will compete.  From New Orleans will come the Southern A.A.U. champion, Wade, winner of the title last season.

Source:  Fort Worth Star Telegram, Tuesday, April 26, 1927, Page 14

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

The Woodlands Double Legacy Finishers (2019-2020) - 26


Amanda Kelly, Magnolia (Marathon, both years)
Amanda Lopez, The Woodlands (Half Marathon, both years)
Bartenderx Oropeza, Houston (Half, 2019; Marathon, 2020)
Bobbie Petersen, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)
Brandy Sambirsky, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)

Chris MacGregor, Houston (Marathon Relay, 2019; Half, 2020)
Christopher Kelly, Spring (Marathon, both years)
Cynthia Biehle, Spring (Half, 2019; Marathon, 2020)
Danielle Cureton, Spring (Marathon, 2019; Half, 2020)
Elias Rodriguez, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)

Gabriel Belforti, The Woodlands (Marathon, both years)
James Spencer, The Woodlands (Marathon Relay, 2019; Half, 2020)
Jason Davis, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)
Jeffrey Custer, Conroe (Half Marathon, 2019; Marathon, 2020)
John McGowan, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)

Katelyn Hunt, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)
Kathy McWilliams, The Woodlands (Half Marathon, both years)
Malia Payne, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)
Marcela Jaramillo, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)
Marta Mixa, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)

Marty Cochran, The Woodlands (Half Marathon, both years)
Michelle Mouton, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)
Nilay Dinc, Spring (Half Marathon, both years)
Shannon Hill, Conroe (Half Marathon, both years)
Stephanie Weiss, Tomball (Marathon, both years)

Valerie Ferdin, Corpus Chrisi (Half Marathon, both years)

Thursday, January 14, 2021

USA Fit Marathon Finishers Numbers (2009-2020)


Marathon
2009 - 89 (57 women / 32 men)
2010 - 190 (88 women / 102 men)
2011 - 276 (133 women / 143 men)
2012 - 160 (74 women / 96 men)
2013 - 195 (83 women / 112 men)
2014 - 186 (95 women / 91 men)
2015 - 225 (121 women / 104 men)
2016 - 259 (143 women / 116 men)
2017 - 245 (121 women / 124 men)
2018 - 149 (56 women / 93 men)
2019 - 154 (71 women / 83 men)
2020 - 150 (56 women / 94 men)

Half Marathon
2009 - 254 (187 women / 67 men)
2010 - 848 (582 women / 263 men / 1 not captured)
2011 - 1,236 (830 women / 416 men)
2012 - 971 (600 women / 371 men)
2013 - 1,000 (612 women / 388 men)
2014 - 751 (439 women / 312 men)
2015 - 943 (604 women / 339 men)
2016 - 928 (575 women / 353 men)
2017 - 764 (442 women / 322 men)
2018 - 591 (326 women / 265 men)
2019 - 463 (259 women / 204 men)
2020 - 488 (263 women / 225 men)

5K
2011 - 238 (137 women / 101 men)
2012 - 255 (160 women / 95 men)
2013 - 287 (165 women / 122 men)
2014 - 253 (168 women / 85 men)
2015 - 384 (223 women / 161 men)
2016 - 271 (141 women / 130 men)
2017 - 422 (235 women / 187 men)
2018 - 532 (306 women / 226 men)
2019 - 536 (279 women / 257 men)
2020 - 564 (310 women / 254 men)

Sources:  athlinks.com (2009), runhoustontiming.net (2010-2019)