Sweetheart 5K Race Report

I knew that the Seven Hills Running Club's Sweetheart 5K didn't start until 2 p.m.; however, I rolled into Huntsville at about noon. After making a pit stop at McDonald's, getting something to drink at Walgreen's and picking up a magazine or two and a book at Hastings, I made my way over to Bowers Stadium to wait on Ken Johnson and crew.

The Sweetheart 5K was their monthly club run/event and they are even more informal than the Run The Woodlands 5K Series; however, the bottom line is that the course is challenging and accurate and the people are great to be around.

We started in the parking lot of Bowers Stadium. There was a total of nine (9) runners doing the 5K. Robert Duncan and J.C. Guzman were certain to battle it out for the win and did as J.C. outlegged Robert by a second, 20:28 to 20:29.

Two-thirds of the first mile was in the parking lot. I passed 70-plus-year-old True Cousins before the half mile mark and eventually got to the first mile marker at 9:17.88. I wasn't too far behind Ken's son, Ben Johnson; however as we all headed out towards the turnaround point, I was surprised that Robert and J.C. weren't further along then they were.

During the second mile, I had to brisk walk twice as I went into oxygen debt. Hans Jaeger, who I was surprised that I was ahead of, warned me to keep moving because he would catch me. I made it to the mile 2 mark in 19:18.52 (for a second mile of 10:00.64). Shortly after passing the marker, I needed to take my third walking break (this one for just 60 steps).

After turning back into the Bowers Stadium parking lot to continue retracing our steps in return, I passed the 2.5-mile mark in 25:27.69. I knew there was not a PR to be had on this day.

As much of the remaining .6 miles was downhill or flat, I'm not surprised that I covered that portion in 4:58.41 (versus 2-2.5 in 6:09.17). But the pace of the last 1.1 miles was officially 10:07, my slowest all season since the club's Resolution Run 5K on New Year's Day. (Again, it was the hills!) My finishing time was 30:26.10 -- my slowest of the 2005 season!

Believe me, I'm not complaining. This event was just a $1 and I had done a 10K the day before and a challenging 5K about 6 hours prior. However, my 43-second drop between mile 1 and mile 2 was the worst drop this season (most had been 30 seconds or less) and mimiced a near 58-second slip the day before at the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K.

The key on Saturday at the Bearathon (half marathon) in Waco will be to start out slow and aim for a steady pace of 10:30/mile or better.

King of Jester 5K Race Report

The King of Jester 5K in Austin was the start of something that I've done for the 5th time (run more than one race in a day) as well as something else I had done for the 12th time (run in events on back-to-back days). For the complete list, please click here.

After driving a tad over 150 miles (140 exactly from the Shell station in Tomball), I arrived in northwest Austin at the bottom of Jester Boulevard in the cover of the night and for good reason: "Has anyone seen that hill?!" My first impression once the sun started to come up was that it was the place that we did hill workouts during Power In Motion on Jose Canseco's steroids and no grass!

Officially, the course measured 3.25 miles (as listed on the results) and included 750 feet or vertical climbing with the steepest climb reaching a grade of 20% while the steepest descent was 17%! It was imposing, to say the least, but it was one of those things that I thought: "What the heck! Might as well try it!" 156 other folks did the 5K as well. I finished 100th in a time of 35:33.38. Just under 11 minutes a mile. Not too bad for two huge hills!

The first hill is pictured on the web site (listed above). The second hill came after a steep descent and a bit of a run (which some of us were duped into thinking that there was actually a turnaround since we saw some runners earlier running the other way). However, we weren't focused on the obvious fact that they didn't have bib numbers. The latter hill wasn't as long but seemed as steep and the road itself was grated!

It was cool, fun and tough and would be something that I would encourage everyone to do. I talked to one gentleman who trains on the hill (there's nothing like it in Houston anywhere) and he had done the event last year. He had tipped me off that the second hill was tougher and he was right.

My gun time was 35:43.40 with no official "chip time" being recorded on the official results; however, I had logged a difference of 9.52 seconds between the gun and me hitting the map to give me a net time of 35:33.88! (There were no mile markers on the course, but mile splits would have been thrown out the window with a course like this.)

I got in about two minutes before 23-year-old Austinite Audra Teinert, who I talked to quite a bit before the race. She did well enough to finish 4th or 5th in her age group.

The event was well organized, timed by Run Far, who interestingly enough did the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K as opposed to Luke's or RunWild, and had a good post-race setup. The price after regular registration was a bit high ($30), but was worth it for a unique, different event.

I would take 290 East to Hwy. 21 (where I would go through Caldwell on the way to Bryan). In Bryan I picked up Hwy. 158 and eventually Hwy. 30 on into Huntsville for the second event of the day.

ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K Race Report

I guess when you go out and PR, you come back and make your entry to your blog as quick as possible! (Actually, I came home, got showered, went and watched my daughter play basketball and am heading back to the church at 5 and 6 p.m. to referee the last two games of the season!)

Congratulations go out to fellow Houston bloggers, Cassie Cowan and Sarah Graybeal, who both set PR's today at the 18th annual ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K.

Cassie Cowan 57:57 PR!
Jon Walk 59:59
Sarah Graybeal 1:03:10 PR!

Sean Wade and Kelly Keane won! Keane, who won the women's portion of the 2005 hp Houston Marathon, defended her Rodeo Run crown from last year and Wade won his fourth Rodeo Run -- his first since 2002. Justin Chaston has won 7 Rodeo Runs. Keane is the first female to win back-to-back since Joy Smith in 1992-93.

Fellow Houston Striders fared as such:

Laura Babcock 59:11
Tim Bowler 49:44
Theresa Drago 59:09
Sabra Harvey 52:38 4th in age group
Kerry Kilgore 1:14:49
George Killinger 56:21
Judy Loy 58:14 2nd in age group
Marjorie Marks 59:01
Noah Matthews 59:06
Yoichi Morishima 47:39
Joan O'Connor 1:00:23
Marcella Paull 46:44 1st in age group
Michele Reynolds 50:26
Mike Rydin 56:45
Sophie Rydin 1:02:34
Doug Spence 1:11:09
Stacy Stepler 1:03:26
Dora Tognarelli 49:40
Mike Tognarelli 39:19
Tom Woltz 48:41

And here were some Striders that I missed (thanks Steve Shepard):

Marian Bell - 57:53
Jackie Connelly - 41:42 4th in age group!
Tracy Fry - 58:07
Patrick Gear - 45:11 PR!
Helen Grant - 40:16 3rd in age group!
Angelica Hernandez - 56:07 PR!
Barb Kennedy - 1:22:56
Jennifer Kim - 1:07:47
Penny Pfeffer - 1:08:22
Holly Steadman - 50:48
Lisa Van Stone-Fieri - 1:12:35
Michael Windeler - 42:20 PR!

Joan O'Connor caught me somewhere after mile 4 and we passed each other multiple times. She took the last "gun time" lead coming down the incline at the end of mile 6., but I still got her by chip time! Admittedly though, Joan said that she hadn't run in about two weeks!

My split times were all over the map. I was kind of disappointed with how I ran. As you can see, no consistency:

Mile 1 - 9:01.88 (I felt great in this mile. Picked off a lot of runners and walkers early.)
Mile 2 - 9:59.63 (Still felt OK; however, I was shocked when I saw the split. I'm wondering if the mile markers were off. I usually only slide 20 seconds from mile 1 to mile 2.)
Mile 3 - 9:26.43 (I think they were. All of this mile include the long steady inclines on the Elysian Viaduct.)
5K - 29:38.72
Mile 4 - 9:53.52
Mile 5 - 10:19.44
Mile 6 - 9:26.88
Last .2 - 1:49.57 (1:48 is a 9:00/mile pace)

Other notable times:

hp Houston Marathon head Steve Karpas 37:09 4th in 35-39
Runner of the most Houston Marathons, Jack Lippincott 47:09
Houston Chronicle Running Notebook writer Roberta MacInnis 49:36

Brandon Mendiola (30-year-old that attended the same church) 53:15
Rachel Johns (the mother of one of my daughter's friends in the 4th grade) 1:04:47
Galena Park ISD AD Ed Warken 1:09:57

Finally, in closing, it was great to see "The Rocket", Roger Clemens, as one of the race starters with Houston Mayor Bill White. However, whatever hat Mayor White was wearing made him look like a cartoon character this morning ... perhaps Mr. Magoo?

What's next? Well, at a minimum, the Seven Hills Running Club's Valentine 5K at 2:00 p.m. in Huntsville. I may (a big "may") go to Austin in the morning to also do the King of Jester 5K -- it might be the hardest 5K in Texas!

This Past Week

Wow ... no, I haven't died. I've just been a bit busy with work, having to travel to Hartford, Connecticut on Wednesday night, and getting back late, late last night before getting snowed in up there.

What's going on?

1.) I'm behind in assisting Paula Robertson with the weekly "Love The Half" update; however, I may wait until after Cowtown this weekend to pick up everything from Freescale Austin two weeks ago. Lots of people should have hit the 5-event goal between the two weekends!
2.) I went and picked up my race packet on Wednesday for the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K on Saturday. (Am still trying to figure out if I'm going to be able to get somebody to pick up my chip to be able to do both the Run The Woodlands 5K and the Rodeo Run 10K.)
3.) Speaking of Run The Woodlands 5K series, what a great article on Thursday by Roberta MacInnis of the Houston Chronicle on that bi-weekly race series that is in its sixth year. What a tribute to a great guy in Don Drewniak!
4.) It looks as if HARRA president Steve Shepard will be featured the Sunday after next, March 6th, on the public affairs programming of Cox Radio stations, which include 93Q Country and 97.1 Country Legends, 106.9 The Point (80's rock) and Oldies 107.5 . I'll provide more information about that as the time comes.
5.) I'm working on documenting who this year completed the original Texas Marathon Challenge that Roger Soler of San Antonio put together back in 1999. That would be the San Antonio, White Rock, Houston, Austin and Fort Worth marathons!
6.) I'm also working on some calculations of the HARRA Runner of the Season stats from over the last five seasons.

My workouts suffered this week with the travel. Schedule has looked like this:

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: 45 minutes hard on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands, covering 4.53 miles at level 15 random.
Wednesday: 2.1 miles in the subdivision in 21:00.11, an even 10 minute/mile pace.
Thursday: Nothing. Travelled back from Hartford early to avoid the storm. Could have stayed over and worked out while waiting out the snow, but could have gotten stuck there this weekend too.
Friday: 60 minutes hard on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands, covering 5.99 miles at level 15 random.

That should get things back up to speed a little bit! Have a great day!

Park to Park Run 5M Race Report!

It's a day late, but certainly not a dollar short! Or, at least, I hope it isn't.

Excellent day. I covered the 5 miles from Minute Maid Park to Hermann Park in 47:06.7. A new PR! at that distance, eclipsing the 49:45 I posted at the Anadarko Run Thru The Woods on Thanksgiving in The Woodlands. I really feel like I'm running well. PR's at four (4) different distances since January 16th: marathon, 5K, 10K and 5 miles. I'm still getting out a bit too fast. My mile splits were as follows:

Mile 1 - 8:59.99
Mile 2 - 9:08.91
Mile 3 - 9:29.08 (27:37.98, a 5K PR pace)
Mile 4 - 9:49.01 (walked right after the water stop at mile 3 and again right before the mile 4 sign)
Mile 5 - 9:41.02

There were five other Houston Striders there that I saw (a sixth, John DiMarco, ran the event, but I haven't met him yet). The ones that I knew about were Karen and Tim Bowler, Barry Chambers, Noah Matthews and Theresa Drago. All excellent runners, but even better people. I talked to Karen before the race and updated her about some of the numbers that I've compiled about her Houston marathon performance at age 55 and how it rated across the state. I told her I'd love to see her write something about her experience as an "Invited Runner" at the hp Houston Marathon.

I had met Theresa only twice before. Once at a Strider meeting (the one after the Egg Race) and as she surged past me at the finish line in November at the Run with the Saints 5K.

I also had a chance to visit at length with Lou Wilson of The Woodlands. Lou is 68 and has done six (6) Texas marathons so far this season and has three more on the calendar (Cowtown on Saturday, Lucky Trails in Seabrook and then the Big D in Dallas in April). He's done 36 marathons and this is all in the last 6.5 years, he said. Amazing! He and his wife, Nora, are great people who I first met at the Run The Woodlands 5K series.

I wasn't concerned about the distance on Saturday. Just the visual. It looks a LOT longer than 5 miles. Maybe because, essentially, it is a straight-away course.

I never attempt to go out too fast. I just get into a good rhythm. Somewhere around the mile 1 point, I passed Noah and Theresa. (But in the back of my mind, I was concerned about fading and that they'd pass me. No shame in that. They're experienced runners. Noah, last weekend, ran a 1:56:49 half marathon to win his age group (60-69) at Surfside Beach.) I joked and said that I was trying to catch Sean Wade, one of Houston's top runners, who is in my age group. Sean won in 24:42!

Mile 2 was OK, but I could start to feel taxed a bit in Mile 3. Because the water tables were in front of the mile marker at Mile 3 (put them behind please), I grabbed a cup, kept moving until I crossed the marker, hit my watch, and then took a walk break.

I was going too fast, in a sense, because I could feel the oxygen being sucked right out of me; but I still felt like I didn't need to slow down (and that I needed to push). Mile 4 was my slowest, but I stopped to walk right before the Mile 4 marker. Then, I pushed it on in. When I first saw the clock, I saw that it was late in the 46th minute (Sean probably had had two beers by then); however, I was just a little bit too far to reel in a sub-47 minute 5M.

Lou passed me in mile 3 and said that he didn't think that he'd catch me, but he was running strong. His chip time was 46:20.4, finishing ahead of Noah at 47:33.9 (in their age group).

Karen won her age group (55-59), Tim was second in his (50-54) and Barry was third in the 60-64 category. Theresa was 1.5 seconds in chip time from finishing 3rd; however, Noah said that they ran the race they wanted to. So all the Striders were happy!

Part of the entry fee included a token to get back to your car that was parked on the other side of Minute Maid Park. Bottom line: the Light Rail train is slow! Don't get me wrong, it's nice and eventually I think will be a great addition to the city as they expand it. However, they need to treat it like a train with rail crossings (and speed it up). Just my take!

Weekly Workout Information

Monday: Rest. (Much needed.)
Tuesday: Rest. (Was lazy, to be honest.)
Wednesday: AM - 113 situps. An hour on the stationery bike at the Bally's in The Woodlands (Level 8, random, averaged about 90 rpm). PM - 4.5 miles from the PIM meeting place at Memorial Park to the Jackson Hill water fountain. Overall time: 42:45.73 / 9:30 pace. 22:08.07 / 9:50 pace on the way out. 20:37.66 / 9:10 pace on the way back. Helps to run with faster runners. Striders in attendance were Gavin and Megan Dillingham, Lee Greb, Yoichi Morishima, Steve Shepard, Barry Chambers, Lynlee Linke, Noah Matthews, Loren Neufeld, Lisa Ruthven, Jack Rubalcalva, Frank Halter, Pam Paling.
Thursday: Rest. (Lazy again, but I deserve it.)
Friday: PM: An hour on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands (Level 15, random, didn't keep track of the miles).
Saturday: 5 miles in the Park to Park Run (47:06.7) and refereed four (4) half court basketball games in our church's Upward Basketball League.
Sunday: 8.5 miles at Terry Hershey Park among a group of Striders: Steve and Barb Shepard, Santos Hernandez, Lee Greb, Gavin and Megan Dillingham, Lynlee Linke, Carole Flad, Tim and Karen Bowler, Clarence Silva, Becky Stevens, Geoff and Rachel Guenther. Also saw Cindy Laidlaw and Whitney LaRocca on the course.

Arlington/D-FW Update from Jeph Abara

I'm on the e-mail list of Arlington-area race director Jeph Abara after running one of his well-organized events in mid-August of last year. Here is his update that came along with an area race calendar (if you'd like the calendar, please let me know):

"First, some terrific news. Marty Leicht is home and continues his remarkable recovery. In fact, he was with us at the Haltom Stampede 10K/5K last Saturday. In typical Marty fashion, he cracked a couple of jokes and then thanked everyone who has been praying for him. So, keep up the prayers. Isn’t life wonderful?"

"This weekend (February 19-20) presents us only two local races we know of – The Mustang Challenge 5K/1 Mile in Carrollton on Saturday and FWRC’s Cowtown Coutdown 5 Mile in Fort Worth on Sunday. The last weekend of the month has a few more races. Two of those are the Spring Fever 5K/1 Mile in Highland Park and the Plano Pacers’ 15K/5K. Then, of course, in Fort Worth, there is The Cowtown whose menu now includes the Half. Back to this weekend."

"The Mustang Challenge 5K appropriately offers a challenging course – good for the heart, the legs and, even the soul. We invite you to go for the challenge! We hope to see you in Carrollton on this Saturday; then in Fort Worth on Sunday; and again in Fort Worth next Saturday."

"As we hinted last month, there will be some missing veterans in the lineup in the coming months. As the Byrds popularized with their pop hit many years ago, "To every thing there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted." (Eccl. 3:1-2). Well, my friends, this year is fast becoming a season for plucking in the local road racing scene. James Thruston’s Dallas Trails Marathon has come to the end of its road. It had been a March feature for more than 10 years."

"Five other March races will not return this year. April also has at least four no-shows from last year. One of them is the Corporate Challenge 3.5 Mile series which will bypass Dallas this year. However, there are plans to bring it back in 2006."

"Notwithstanding the several absences, March and April still are about to begin showering us with an exciting mix of races and the special walks for a gamut of institutional charities, featuring several events every weekend – sometimes as many as nine races beside the walks – and introducing some new ones. More about those special walks some other time."

"Among the March rush of races is the Fillie Trot 5K/1 Mile which, in its fifth year of running (and moving from January), offers an awesome event with the spectacular Lake Grapevine as its back drop. There also are the veteran races, from the always boisterous St. Paddy’s Day Dash in Dallas to the popular Run to Joe’s in Fort Worth, and a bunch of other fine races – including the Uptown Run with its inspirational Special Olympian Run 1K -- on the roads and in the parks."

"As always, let’s run/walk for the fun, but also for the funds -- to benefit a charity or a cause!! May benevolence and peace and respect prevail throughout God’s beautiful earth and may our God of Forgiveness, of Grace, of Healing, of Hope, of Love, of Mercy & of true PEACE bless!"

April 10th: Ed Whitlock vs. Joop Ruter (70's Showdown)

The running prowess of Canada's Ed Whitlock has been well-documented the last couple of years, particularly with his 2:54:49 effort last September at Toronto's Waterfront Marathon.

The New York Times reported on Sunday [registration required] that Whitlock will face 71-year-old Dutchman, Joop Ruter, in the Rotterdam Marathon on April 10, 2005. Ruter ran 3:02:49 last year at the same marathon after turning 70.

Coast to the Capitol 26.2 Double

Four (4) brave individuals ran marathons on back-to-back days this past weekend when they did the inaugural Surfside Beach Marathon as well as the 14th running of the Freescale Austin Marathon.

Tom Detore, 57, of Unadilla, Nebraska led the four individuals in a composite time of 8:52:26 (4:00:58 in the Surfside Beach Marathon and 4:51:28 in the Freescale Austin Marathon).

Steve Boone, 55, of Humble was next with a composite time of 10:20:38 (4:46:18, 5:34:20) followed by Gene Bruckert, 69, of Arlington Heights, Illinois at 11:41:08 (5:43:13; 5:57:55) and Lou Wilson, 68, of The Woodlands at 12:33:54 (6:13:49; 6:20:05).

Both Boone and Wilson ran both the Texas Marathon on January 1st and the hp Houston Marathon on Januray 16th. Boone's times were 5:31:12 and 4:30:13, a drop of 1:01:29, while Wilson's were 5:28:08 and 5:17:33, respectively.

Wilson has done six (6) of the eight (8) Texas marathons so far this season while Boone has done five (5). Wilson completed the San Antonio marathon in November while he and Boone both tackled White Rock in December.

Wilson and Rosenberg native John Frederickson are the only two individuals 60 years and older who have completed San Antonio, White Rock, hp Houston and Freescale Austin this season.

Run The Woodlands 5K #123 Race Report

I finished in 28:58.52, which is my second straight 5K under 29 minutes now and was a course record for me at the Run The Woodlands series.

After a brief warm-up run of about a half of a mile, I really didn't feel like it was going to be my day at all. And, in fact, it turned out that I had some in the tank, but it wasn't anything like I felt the week before when I posted a 28:39 (but still not bad at 230!)

Couple of stats though (available because of the dilligence of Tom McDonough):

+ The 48 participants is the 26th race out of 123 that had 40 or more runners. (One of the regulars said that she thought the upshot in runners was from the results appearing in The Villager.)
+ The first three races in 2005 had 140 runners. This was 2 more than the first 10 races in the series from January-November 2000.
+ I joined the 20-race club and became only the 24th runner ever to do that. The following regulars added to their totals: Ann Leoni (70), Tom Pinney (57), Jeff Westergren (46), Debbie Tripp (37), Anne Westfall (34), Jon Freeman (31), Douglas Brandon (28), Kyle Horsting (22).

I started out fairly strong and knew that I was because I was ahead of Debbie Tripp for the first time in awhile. In a little bit of the downhill slope before the bridge at about three quarters of a mile, I passed another female runner, Trisha Blackburn from Pearland. My watch revealed 9:08.68.

Somewhere in mile 2, Trisha passed me, Mark Hedquist and a couple (Tara and Steve Wilson) and went on to finish in 28:30. I, in the meantime, ran through mile 2 in 9:28.41 (18:37.09 for 2 miles).

I did everything I could to push the pace a little bit, but I could feel myself not having all of the gas that I wanted. I passed Mark at some point and kept trying to push myself as I felt like I heard either him or Debbie on my heels. (Neither one of them would pass me.) But at about the 2.75-mile mark, I heard a pair of foot steps and they belonged to George Melder and his daughter, Tori. They started out slow and finished strong. When I talked to him afterwards, he had told me that he knew that I was running a fairly consistent pace and told his daughter to keep me in sight.

At some point on my watch, I could see the school zone speed limit sign (meaning that the turn into the school drive was coming up soon) and my watch revealed 26 minutes and change (which signalled that I might be able to get under 29 minutes again.) I pushed as much as I could. At the third "blue dot" (the marking on the course for the mile marker), I had a 9:29.11 mile.

I went hard as I could in the last .1 mile and covered that in 52.32 seconds. (52 seconds in a tenth of a mile is an 8:40 pace.) This was for a finish of 28:58.52!

I'll take it for my second best 5K ever!

Weekly Workout Information

Monday: 59 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands (5.94 miles; Level 15 random).
Tuesday: Rest.
Wednesday: 5.8 miles (two loops at Memorial Park) plus 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer (2.86 miles; Level 15 random). (Also running tonight was Saara, Lee, Gavin and Megan, Barry Chambers, Sabra Harvey, Lynlee and myself. Everybody else did four miles and despite not feeling so hot about the first loop, I did another. Why? If I want to do some half marathons in March, I need to make sure my endurance is back where it needs to be.)
Thursday: 5.5 miles+ (once on 3.4-mile loop and once on 2.1-mile loop in the subdivision). (Slow pace. Total running time of 1:07:24. 3.4-mile loop plus some - took wrong turn - in 40:42.05. Connector to do 2.1-mile loop - 2:26.16. 2.1-mile loop in 24:16.20.)
Friday: 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands (4.51 miles; Level 15 random).
Saturday: 50 situps, 3.1 miles in the Run The Woodlands 5K (28:58.52) and refereed four (4) half court basketball games in our church's Upward Basketball League. (I'm officially beat.)
Sunday: 6.5 miles at Terry Hershey Park at about 7:30 am with Becky Stevens.

hp Houston Marathon's Best Cities of Runners

"Which cities had the best performances from their runners?" was the question. It was up to me to provide the answer and to no one's surprise, Houston pulled out the stops as its top five (5) male and female runners were the best of 71 cities that had five or more male or female runners.

The overall (with a team of five men and five women) top ten is: 1.) Houston, 2.) The Woodlands, 3.) Austin, 4.) Katy, 5.) Sugar Land, 6.) Spring, 7.) Kingwood, 8.) San Antonio, 9.) Pearland and 10.) Cypres..

The top men's teams were: 1.) Houston, 2.) Austin, 3.) Sugar Land, 4.) The Woodlands, 5.) Katy, 6.) San Antonio, 7.) Kingwood, 8.) Covington, La., 9.) Friendswood and 10.) Pearland.

The top women's teams were: 1.) Houston, 2.) The Woodlands, 3.) Katy, 4.) Austin, 5.) Spring, 6.) Beaumont, 7.) Cypress, 8.) Sugarland, 9.) Kingwood and 10.) Bryan.

The full link can be found at http://www.walksports.com/05houston_bestcities.htm.

hp Houston / Aramco Half -- Age Bests!

No, not age-group bests! But, age bests! Yes, I've gone nuts.

http://www.walksports.com/05houston_timesbyage.htm

Six (6) Houston Striders were #1 in their "age" group while another four (4) were second. There were 14 additional HARRA male and female members that won their "age".

The Houston Striders that were #1 in their age are: 15 female - Sara Collazos (3:29:07); 33 male - Brett Riley (2:35:27); 36 male - Tommy King (2:47:15); 55 male - Ted Traynor (2:56:02); 55 female - Karen Bowler (3:27:24) -- Only one female 46 or older turned in a better performance than her; 66 female - Judy Loy (4:56:32)

Second in their age were as follows: 33 male - John Yoder; 38 male - Olaf Barth; 41 female - Jackie Connelly; 46 female - Miriam Terc.

http://www.walksports.com/05aramcohalf_timesbyage.htm

Two (2) Houston Striders were #1 in their "age" group: 53 female - Sandy Parker (1:49:57); 69 female - Carole Cain (2:48:31).

19 additional HARRA members (8 male and 11 female) won their "age".

Westfield's Nichole Jones supercharges local road running circuit

It is often no surprise to see some of the top high school stars out in force during the time between the end of cross country and the start of track and field seasons. Lining up not too far from Sean Wade at the start of the Rockets Run 5K on Jan. 2 was The Woodlands cross country phemon Ben Schultz, who finished 4th at state in the UIL and then later competed in the Foot Locker National Cross Country championships.

One young lady who will continue to be heard from is Spring Westfield sophomore Nichole Jones, who finished 7th at the UIL state cross country meet in November. Since late November, she's been tearing up the local road running circuit in preparation for track season.

Nov. 27 - 18:25 (all-time female course record) - Run The Woodlands 5K #118.
Dec. 11 - 18:35 (first overall female finisher) - Run The Woodlands 5K #119.
Jan. 8 - 18:25 (first overall female finisher) - Run The Woodlands 5K #121.
Jan. 16 - 1:22:11 (15th overall female finisher) - Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
Jan. 29 - 18:25 (first overall female finisher, 6th overall) - Texas Med 5K.
Feb. 5 - 17:47 (second overall female finisher) - Kingwood Bridge Fest 5K.

At the Aramco Half Marathon, she finished right behind former St. Agnes/UT star Maureen Sweeney and Austin-based Carmen Ayala-Troncosco and was 17 minutes ahead of anyone else 15 and under!

At the Texas Med 5K, the closest female was veteran runner, Heide Mairs, with a time of 19:56.

And this Saturday at the Bridge Fest 5K, she was the 2nd (to Desiree Skinner) overall female finisher with a time of 17:47 -- but most importantly, a second ahead of Kingwood's Brenna Williamson (who was 12th at the state meet).

Also left in the wake were Kingwood cross country stars Danielle Selner (17:55), Megan Munoz (18:25) and Elizabeth Alexander (18:52), who finished 8th, 5th and 13th to pace Kingwood to a state crown. Kingwood's Lauren Bonds was 5th in that age group with a 19:20 time while Kristen Hanselka was 2nd in the 13-14 age group with a 19:36 time.

I had a chance to visit with her, her brothers (Nathaniel and Jonathan .. speed burners in their own right) and mom after the Bridge Fest 5K was over (as I had seen them at the Run The Woodlands' races) and was genuinely impressed.

They're all very polite, pleasant and seemingly not caught up in the trappings of their successes.

And soon we'll all have to be keeping up with the Joneses, figuratively and literally!

Two Half Marathons in March!

My race schedule for the month of March became more complete today as I'm sending in a check for $30 for the Baylor Student Foundation's Bearathon (Half Marathon) on Saturday, March 5th in Waco.

I also registered online today for the Seabrook Lucky Trail Half Marathon on Sunday, March 20th.

All three of my PIM coaches (Lee, Saara and Megan) from this past fall (and fellow Houston Striders) did this event and had a blast! One of the newest Striders, Clarence Silva, who ran a 2:12:09 in his first half last month at the Aramco Half Marathon, will also be joining the bunch. [Clarence is still a little bit faster than me. He legged me out at the Striders Bear Creek 10K and was clearly stronger the Wednesday night before last in a group run. Even though I continue to make dramatic strides, I still have all kinds of people to shoot for in front of me. Therein, additional motivation!]

In the February edition of Stridelines, which won its first RRCA Southern Region award as early as 1987, other Striders running the event include: Barb Shepard, Carole Flad, Cindy Laidlaw, Laura Babcock, Megan Clark-Dillingham, Sam Ogundele, Sandy Wollangk, Yoichi Morishima and Miriam Terc. Also putting together a marathon relay team is Whitney La Rocca (which I missed getting on) ... oh well, I'll just run the half and join in the fun!

And, of course, on Saturday, March 12th, I'll be participating in the Bayou City Classic 10K downtown. It will be another event that I'll be trying to ensure that I lower my time from last year and it's the first race of the H-E-B Texas 10K Challenge.

I'm still thinking about doing God's Country Marathon in north central Pennsylvania the first weekend in June of this year and if I do, I need to start formulating my plan to get ready. I think part of the reason for my success at the Houston Marathon is because I logged a lot of miles getting ready (actually much more than I did before the Marine Corps Marathon).

All I know is this, right now in my life, the running and working out makes me happy! Not that I wasn't lacking of friends (I have tons of them as well as personal and professsional acquaintances from my work in private and parochial high schools), but the people that I have come to know since I started running have added richly to my life!

One of the dangers that I can face is being decimated with a string of less than stellar times; however, to avoid that pitfall, all I need to do is look at the picture of me coming down the stretch at that very first event (and wonder why there aren't cracks on the street in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center!)

Karpas Speaks to the Striders!

Prior to HARRA Vice President of Clubs, Roger Boak, presenting the Houston Striders with their 2004 Fall Series Team and Club Championship plaques, hp Houston Marathon race director Steven Karpas addressed the club at its February meeting (which set a new club meeting attendance record).

Some of the highlights (or lowlights, in one case) from Karpas included that 1.) hp would no longer be the major sponsor of the race, 2.) the marathon would not have to worry about crossing the light rail for at least the next four years (with many thanks and kudos to Mayor Bill White), 3.) continue to see the race caps in place at 7,500 apiece for the full and half marathons and probably 4,000 for the 5K and 4.) not to expect to see the 6-hour time limit changed.

The Striders continued to welcome new members as well as giving its club members mugs which commemorated the 2004 HARRA Fall Series "worst to first" wins!

Sunday Odds and Ends

While turning the mute off of the TV after the Paul McCartney halftime show during the Super Bowl, I noticed the M.D. Anderson advertisement and saw a runner / cancer survivor named Lourdes Hernandez. I did a little research and found that Lourdes is on the Komen Houston Affiliate 2004-05 Board of Directors. During the 2004 Race for the Cure, she posted a 25:35 5K and two years earlier was 8th in the Survivors competition with a time of 25:54.

Congratulations to fellow Striders Vic Kaiser (a reader of this blog) and Clarence Silva (a Fall 2004 Fitness PIMster) who ran their first ever HARRA event -- the Buffalo Wallow 6K Cross Country Championship on Saturday. It is the first of the 6-race HARRA 2005 Spring Series.

Another blog reader, Sarah Graybeal, noted in a comment earlier that the Mardi Gras Beach Run 5K course was short. Hard to ignore when your body (and your watch) tells you something seems to be a bit off. The On The Run Racing Team web site confirmed it indicating that "remeasurement put the course about 400 meters short of a full 5K." If anyone was going to know for sure, it would be On The Run runner Kira Abercromby. She won the female's division by over 3 minutes.

I ran this morning with a number of Striders out at Cullen Park on the west side of town. Becky Stevens, a fellow Fall PIMster, and I ran a good, steady six (6) miles. Steve Shepard, Lee Greb, Gavin Dillingham, Megan Clark-Dillingham, Sam Ogundele, Stacy Stepler, Barb Shepard, Rich and Patti Sears, Yoichi Morishima, Victor Curo and a couple of others who I haven't met yet. I was thinking about doing the half in Austin next Sunday at the Freescale Marathon, but I think that I'll pass. I was a little beat today after having a busy Saturday and next Saturday will be no different. I'll probably do at least two half marathons in March (the Bearathon on Saturday, March 5th and Moe's Better Half Marathon on Sunday, March 13th) and maybe the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon Relay.

I joked this morning about having the itch to do another half and I got strange looks! Of course, I've been told that I break all of the rules ... BUT I'm having fun and feeling great about myself.

In the meantime, Becky and I are planning on running about 7-8 miles on Sunday morning at Terry Hershey Park instead.

My workouts this past week:

Monday and Tuesday - Rest.
Wednesday - A little over two miles in bitter cold.
Thursday - 43 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in West Hartford, CT (Level 14 random)
Friday night - 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the Bally's in The Woodlands (Level 14 random)
Saturday - 5K in Kingwood and then refereed three (3) half court youth basketball games at our church, North Park Baptist Church.
Sunday - 6 miles training run.

New 5K PR! Kingwood Bridge Fest 5K Race Report

The official "clock" time will be 29:02 when they post the results; however, there was a 24.18-second difference on my stopwatch. And that proves out to be a 28:37.93 new 5K PR at the Lake Houston YMCA Bridge Fest 5K in Kingwood this morning!

Temperatures were once again great (just under 50 degrees) at close to a 9 a.m. start. This is basically a flat course with an out and back that goes over a bridge on West Lake Houston Parkway, which is just south of Kingwood Drive.

After having to dodge a couple of people, I got into a good stride and passed quite a few people. The first mile resulted in a time of 8:52.19. At the turnaround point, I was at 13:57.42. Once I got there, I needed a quick 44-step brisk walk and back off again.

I got to the mile 2 marker in 9:21.44 and an elapsed time of 18:13.63. I knew that I was feeling pretty strong and I blew off the water stop just past mile 2. However, because of the 9:06 pace, I needed another breather near the 2.3-mile mark (that was about 52 steps).

Mile 3 came in at 9:22.24 and I noticed that the "clock time" was 28:00 on my stopwatch meaning that I had a shot to crack 29 minutes. (I've already figured out that a 9:20 pace equates to 54 seconds for a tenth of a mile!)

However, the last .1 mile took me 1:02.06 and I finished in 28:37.93!

Last year, it was a PR race for me as I finished in 31:19 -- an almost 3-minute improvement on the same course!

I stayed for a little bit and ended up meeting the CFO of Kingwood Medical Center (which was the primary race sponsor). I also talked to the Jones kids (and their Mom) who have run the "Run The Woodlands 5K" series the last couple of race. Nicole, a sophomore at Westfield, ran just under 18 minutes and finished second overall. She beat three of Kingwood's cross country team members (who were just recently part of the Nike cross country nationals).

All in all a good day. I would have run the HARRA Wallow 6K cross country championship today had I not paid the entry fee for this race early; however, Houston Striders running coach Steve Shepard reported that the club did well in the following report:

"We had 21 Striders at the Wallow. Brett Riley (2nd), John Yoder (5th) and Mike Tognarelli swept their age bracket. Helen Grant (3rd) and Jackie Connelly (5th) were 1-2 in the masters. Yong Collins and Patti both placed in their age bracket, as did Barry Chambers in the 60-64.

Congratulations to HARRA Fall Series Winners!

Congratulations to the Houston Striders who swept the Club and Team Competitions, their first HARRA titles in club history!

Congratulations are in order for 44 speedy HARRA members who have earned part of the $3,000 in prize money in the HARRA Fall 2004 Runner of theSeason Competition. Prizes will be awarded this Saturday following theBuffalo Wallow 6K, the first race in the 2005 HARRA Spring Race Series.

Special congratulations to the category winners, each of whom has earned a $125 first place prize:

Open Women - Caroline Burum, Al Lawrence
Master Women - Suzanne Day, Houston Harriers
Veteran Women - Karen Bowler, Houston Striders
Open Men - Sean Wade, Kenyan Way
Master Men - Joe Flores, Houston Harriers
Veteran Men - Ted Traynor, Houston Striders

Note that the masters and veteran categories are done on an age-grade basis.

Category winners in the Team Competition:

Open Women - Bay Area Running Club
Master Women - Terlingua Track Club
Veteran Women - Houston Striders
Open Men - Houston Harriers
Master Men - Tornados
Veteran Men - Terlingua Track Club

Significant updates are now in place on the HARRA web site located at:http://www.harra.org. Be sure to check out runner of the season and interclub standings from the 2004 HARRA Fall Race Series as well as information on the upcoming 2005 Spring Race Series. All of this is located on the HARRA Competitions page of the web site. There is also a new page dedicated to race and party photos, http://www.harra.org/Photos.asp.

Statewide Newspaper Running Columns

Trail run will provide thrills, help students
Tracey Myers, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Wednesday, 2/2/05

Focus is on the Fort Worth Country Day Summerbridge Thrill of the Hill 5K in March as well as information on a Masters swimming program and the local racing and cycling calendar.

UTSA event to double as city championship for 5,000 meters
John Welch, San Antonio Express News, Wednesday, 2/2/05

Diploma Dash 5K at UTSA on Saturday, February 26 will double as San Antonio's 21st annual city 5K championship. Paul Frost and Sarah Jackson were the men's and women's winners of the River Road 12-Mile Run in New Braunfels on Jan. 23 in respective times of 1 hour, 9 minutes, 21 seconds and 1:22:19.

Race becomes one-man time trial
Brom Hoban, Austin American-Statesman, Monday, 1/31/05

Hanson-Brooks Distance Project runner Brian Sell breaks away from a pair to post more than a minute victory with a 1:02:59 effort at the 3M Half Marathon in Austin. Mexican Olympic marathoner Angelica Sanchez won the women's title with a 1:13:26 effort.

Be cautious of overtraining for long-distance runs
Moe Johnson, San Marcos Daily Record, Sunday, 1/30/05

Rivas, Cox each win at Mardi Gras 10K
Bernice Torregrossa, Galveston County Daily News, Sunday, 1/30/05

Members of team that supports elite runners here for (3M) race
Brom Hoban, Austin American-Statesman, Friday, 1/28/05

Nice article on the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project running team and the members of the squad in Austin for the 3M Half Marathon.

Fort Worth race helped set his course
Debbie Fetterman, Dallas Morning News, Friday, 1/28/05

Race director Michael Polansky continues as an integral part of the Cowtown Marathon as well as news about a couple of aquabike events among the summer Texas triathlon circuit.

Cold in Connecticut!

After resting on my laurels from Saturday's run (and refereeing three basketball games at our church), I rested on Sunday. The next day, I flew to Hartford, Connecticut to start a week long business office assessment at a hospital in Torrington, about 45 miles west of the capital city.

On Tuesday, I went out to eat with my project team and ended up staying out until about 9:45 p.m. -- a little late to drive to West Hartford to go to a Bally's there.

Tonight, the same thing occurred as we didn't get back to the hotel until 9 p.m. However, I decided to go out in the 25 degrees weather and run 12:25 out (north of downtown) and 11:56 back -- a grand total of 24:19! I had no idea how far I ran; however, in that short period of time, I began to feel my toes get a little too cold!

Tomorrow, I'll try to make it to the Bally's early in the morning or late in the evening as I am running the Lake Houston YMCA Bridgfest 5K in Kingwood.

"Love The Half" Challenge Update

Congratulations to the 39 "Love The Half (Marathon)" Challenge participants that participated in either the 3M Half Marathon in Austin or the Lake Benbrook Half Marathon in Benbrook this past weekend. (Results still have not been posted online from Steamboat Half Mountain in Abilene or the San Antonio Road Runners Endurathon in Bulverde.)

Special recognition is due to Stephen P. Brown from Lewisville who participated in both in Benbrook and then Austin! Stephen posted a season-best half marathon time of 2:08:16 on Saturday in Benbrook then turned around and ran a sterling 1:54:25 at the 3M Half.

3M Half Marathon Participants

Beth Gerth, Kingwood, 2:27:31
Cheryl Millett, Dallas, 1:58:36
Dan Lucy, Flower Mound, 1:59:46
David Aungst, Grapevine, 1:55:59
Ginger Gonzalez, McKinney, 3:00:59
Gregory Bethke, Sugar Land, 1:20:12
Jaime Noyola, Austin, 1:46:09
Juanita Espinosa, Seguin, 2:46:45
Jon Levy, Austin, 1:47:37
Lettie Estrada, Irving, 2:42:15
Linda Kay Peterson, Breckenridge, CO, 2:27:13
Linda Lyles, Dallas, 2:37:48
Lisa Drummond, Austin, 2:21:19
Mark Wigginton, Austin, 2:26:18
Michelle Hastings, Austin, 2:08:25
Pam Thompson, Highland Village, 2:03:17
Ralph Lira, Denton, 2:14:50
Robert Espinosa, Seguin, 2:46:41
Rod Collins, Dallas, 2:03:59
Sheryl Cox, Austin, 2:02:09
Stephanie O'Brien, Dallas, 2:37:47
Stephen Brown, Lewisville, 1:54:25
Susan Lira, Denton, 1:42:56
Vickie Anders, Allen, 2:14:49

Lake Benbrook Half Marathon Participants

Angela Earle, 2:21:11
Carrie Fenton, Flower Mound, 2:42:54
Dani Tassell, Irving, 2:22:13
Elizabeth Mendiola, Crowley, 2:10:07
Helene Cano, Fort Worth, 2:03:34
Janet Fuller, Grapevine, 1:52:26
Nancy Henley, Burleson, 2:07:53
Norie (Leonora) Alvarez, Watauga, 2:39:50
Patti Petersen, Dallas, 2:02:47
Rene Cheek, Mesquite, 2:24:18
Stan Shanks, Flower Mound, 1:39:40
Stephen Brown, Lewisville, 2:08:16
Susan Williams, Fort Worth, 2:24:55
Teresa Chilian, 2:01:57
Theresa Snyder, Grand Prairie, 2:02:46
Vonda Spinks, Dallas, 2:38:46

You are now at the halfway point of the inaugural Challenge and we still need for you to report all of your results!

Gregory Bethke of Sugar Land was the second person to reach the 5-event goal on Sunday in Austin at the 3M Half with his fastest half marathon of the Challenge, 1:20:12. Bethke completed the Huntsville Half (in October), the San Antonio Half (in November), the Houstonian Lite 30K (in December) and the Aramco Houston Half (in January). All four half marathons were in 1:23 or under.

There are 183 participants in the inaugural Challenge. Unofficially, the breakdown of the number of completed events is as follows:

6 events - 1
5 events - 1
4 events - 19
3 events - 38
2 events - 76
1 event - 37
0 events - 11