2004 Who's Who!
Who are some famous people that I met in 2004?
1.) All-time USA running great Bill Rodgers at the Little Rock Marathon Expo in March.
2.) Runner's World columnist John "The Penguin" Bingham at the Indy Mini-Marathon Expo in May and later again at his Chicago Distance Classic in August.
3.) Legendary Houston running enthusiast and visionary Tom McBrayer at one of the packet pickups for the Oshman's 25K. Visionary in the sense that he created what is now known as the hp Houston Marathon Warm-Up Series.
Who provided some quiet motivation this year?
1.) Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson. After signing up to do the Houston Halliburton International Half Marathon last July, I looked to do a half before then to sort of measure myself. I looked at the Huntsville Half, the White Rock Half and the Motive Bison Stampede. I e-mailed Ken, who is a great guy by the way, and he said if you can't finish the distance in 2:40, you should consider not coming. I didn't. I did the White Rock Half, finished in 2:50 and found out later that he was right. The Huntsville course was tough!
2.) My consulting manager where I work at, IMA Consulting, Inc., Chris Karman. At our last staff meeting in September, he had seen the September 2004 Stridelines article and made the following comment: "If you are looking towards my second marathon, you'll never finish the first one."
But these folks are ones who were very memorable throughout the year:
1.) The regulars at the Run The Woodlands 5K Series, including series creator Don Drewniak. I never once felt like I didn't deserve to be there because I ran a 30-minute 5K. Some of those that I see a lot? Tom Phinney, Jeff Westergen, Ann Leoni, Debbie Tripp, Lou and Nora Wilson, Tom McDonough, Ken Johnson and Hans Jaeger are just some of the individuals that I've gotten to know very well over the last year.
2.) Steve Shepard and the Houston Striders. After making a comment online stating that I was thinking about joining the Striders, Steve took the opportunity to aggressively seek out whatever information I needed about joining the club. The personal attention confirmed what I thought about the group all along! Steve also recommended joining Power In Motion.
3.) Power In Motion coaches Lee Greb, Saara DeWalt and Megan Clark-Dillingham, as well as co-directors Lisa Ruthven and Pam Paling (as well as many of the other coaches). Twice during hill workouts, when I was one away from completing the higher number of trips up the hill near St. Thomas, Megan said, "I'll do the last one with you." Also Joan O'Connor was standing on the hill calling out my name as I charged up the hill! Can't beat that type of support and encouragement!
4.) Little Rock Marathon co-race director Gina Marchese Pharis. I met her at the Houston Marathon Expo and she really displayed her salesmanship. I told her that I wanted to do the HEB Texas 10K Challenge, which had the Bayou City Classic 10K the day before, and she said, "I want you do to your challenge, but I also want you to come and do our event!" I went, visited one of my high school classmates, Jerry Wild, and had a great time and set a PR on a tough course in the process.
5.) San Marcos Running Club president David Alexander. A nice guy that I had a chance to meet at the completion of their first annual Country Roads 10K in September. He answered all of my questions about the event before I ended up making the drive to San Marcos early on a Saturday morning. Nice event. Tough course.
6.) Karen Thibodeaux of Karen Thibodeaux Photography. A lady who does great work (just had placed a Christmas order) and is always an encouragement to see at an event.
7.) A friend of mine, Shelley Stephenson, who I met online and actually ran with in Akron in March while I was working on a project in Youngstown, helped me be able to actually run four miles at once without stopping by listening to my breathing while we ran. By the first of May, I ran 2.5 miles of a 5K in Lakewood, Ohio without stopping en route to a then 30:04.5 PR. Shelley and her family later moved to Houston where she ran in the USA Space City 10 Miler and the Huntsville Half Marathon with me.
8.) My co-worker, Rob Jones at IMA Consulting, Inc., who co-owns the Chester County Running Stores in Downingtown and West Chester, Pa., was actually an early inspiration in 2001 when he came down to Houston and ran in the first Compaq Marathon. It was the year that there wasn't any large prize money. Rob finished 20th. His personal best is 2:38 and ran Boston, Grandma's and Philadelphia this year.
1.) All-time USA running great Bill Rodgers at the Little Rock Marathon Expo in March.
2.) Runner's World columnist John "The Penguin" Bingham at the Indy Mini-Marathon Expo in May and later again at his Chicago Distance Classic in August.
3.) Legendary Houston running enthusiast and visionary Tom McBrayer at one of the packet pickups for the Oshman's 25K. Visionary in the sense that he created what is now known as the hp Houston Marathon Warm-Up Series.
Who provided some quiet motivation this year?
1.) Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson. After signing up to do the Houston Halliburton International Half Marathon last July, I looked to do a half before then to sort of measure myself. I looked at the Huntsville Half, the White Rock Half and the Motive Bison Stampede. I e-mailed Ken, who is a great guy by the way, and he said if you can't finish the distance in 2:40, you should consider not coming. I didn't. I did the White Rock Half, finished in 2:50 and found out later that he was right. The Huntsville course was tough!
2.) My consulting manager where I work at, IMA Consulting, Inc., Chris Karman. At our last staff meeting in September, he had seen the September 2004 Stridelines article and made the following comment: "If you are looking towards my second marathon, you'll never finish the first one."
But these folks are ones who were very memorable throughout the year:
1.) The regulars at the Run The Woodlands 5K Series, including series creator Don Drewniak. I never once felt like I didn't deserve to be there because I ran a 30-minute 5K. Some of those that I see a lot? Tom Phinney, Jeff Westergen, Ann Leoni, Debbie Tripp, Lou and Nora Wilson, Tom McDonough, Ken Johnson and Hans Jaeger are just some of the individuals that I've gotten to know very well over the last year.
2.) Steve Shepard and the Houston Striders. After making a comment online stating that I was thinking about joining the Striders, Steve took the opportunity to aggressively seek out whatever information I needed about joining the club. The personal attention confirmed what I thought about the group all along! Steve also recommended joining Power In Motion.
3.) Power In Motion coaches Lee Greb, Saara DeWalt and Megan Clark-Dillingham, as well as co-directors Lisa Ruthven and Pam Paling (as well as many of the other coaches). Twice during hill workouts, when I was one away from completing the higher number of trips up the hill near St. Thomas, Megan said, "I'll do the last one with you." Also Joan O'Connor was standing on the hill calling out my name as I charged up the hill! Can't beat that type of support and encouragement!
4.) Little Rock Marathon co-race director Gina Marchese Pharis. I met her at the Houston Marathon Expo and she really displayed her salesmanship. I told her that I wanted to do the HEB Texas 10K Challenge, which had the Bayou City Classic 10K the day before, and she said, "I want you do to your challenge, but I also want you to come and do our event!" I went, visited one of my high school classmates, Jerry Wild, and had a great time and set a PR on a tough course in the process.
5.) San Marcos Running Club president David Alexander. A nice guy that I had a chance to meet at the completion of their first annual Country Roads 10K in September. He answered all of my questions about the event before I ended up making the drive to San Marcos early on a Saturday morning. Nice event. Tough course.
6.) Karen Thibodeaux of Karen Thibodeaux Photography. A lady who does great work (just had placed a Christmas order) and is always an encouragement to see at an event.
7.) A friend of mine, Shelley Stephenson, who I met online and actually ran with in Akron in March while I was working on a project in Youngstown, helped me be able to actually run four miles at once without stopping by listening to my breathing while we ran. By the first of May, I ran 2.5 miles of a 5K in Lakewood, Ohio without stopping en route to a then 30:04.5 PR. Shelley and her family later moved to Houston where she ran in the USA Space City 10 Miler and the Huntsville Half Marathon with me.
8.) My co-worker, Rob Jones at IMA Consulting, Inc., who co-owns the Chester County Running Stores in Downingtown and West Chester, Pa., was actually an early inspiration in 2001 when he came down to Houston and ran in the first Compaq Marathon. It was the year that there wasn't any large prize money. Rob finished 20th. His personal best is 2:38 and ran Boston, Grandma's and Philadelphia this year.
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