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!