Christopher's 1st Annual 5K Run Race Report

This 5K was a new event to memorialize an 11-year-old young man named Christopher Schindler, who passed away a year ago, October 29, 2004 from Mitochondira Disease. It was done as an opportunity to raise money for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.

Once I had decided that I was going to do a 5K on Saturday, I knew that, unless I pulled something, I was going to do this one as well. PLUS I was looking forward to seeing Cassie Cowan (wore out from Friday's U2 concert) and Steve Bezner (wore out from a 30K training run on Saturday) both there! (But, neither was to be found!) I even wore my orange shirt to motivate Ms. Cowan on the course!

Race day registration was $20. If you were a planner, it was regularly $15. Not a bad deal at all for a 5K. (If you were late for the Pumpkin Run on Saturday, it would have set you back a week's worth of Starbucks - $25 - for a 5K.)

Waverly and I got downtown at about 6:45 a.m. I registered, got my bib number (#62) and my timing chip. (On the way down, I asked her if she wanted to run it this morning; however, she wasn't in the mindset to go all out so she decided not to. Plus I'm not sure how she would have handled the 3 underpaces in the second mile.)

Getting there pretty early, we were able to see that the organization of a first-year event was quite new for many; however, the event went off fine. Plenty of volunteers. Post-race food was more than abundant. Water stops just past mile 1 and right before mile 2.

It took the timing company a little bit to get set up right. (I don't think that they had their "A" team at this event this morning.)

The course is the exact same one that is used in May by the Houston Young Lawyers Association' Tie One On For Charity 5K. (And I can see Lance Collins' eyebrows being raised already!) Yes, this meant that many runners swear that the mile markers, even though it is a certified course, are off. Here's why (May time is in parenthesis):

Mile 1 -- 8:37.28 (8:39.73)
Mile 2 -- 9:58.01 (9:03.00)
Mile 3 -- 10:21.81 (11:13.55)
Last .1 -- 1:04:33 (47.08)

Watch time -- 30:00.43 (29:43.36)
Chip time -- 30:00.5 (was posted on-site, but not online)

From my Tie One On race report, "...a runner during the post-race indicated that he thought mile 2 was short and mile 3 was long as his split was a minute off." That was Lance!

I know that mile 2 included going down and back up the underpass at Montrose twice and Waugh once (down outgoing and up going back), but I just didn't think that I slowed down that much AND I didn't think that I was going as fast this morning in mile 1 as I had yesterday. Who knows? I'm not complaining, but there were really good runners (like the second female finisher) who were standing around after talking about the splits.

And I told them of Lance's comment from earlier in the year. I just don't know how you can set up the mile markers off on a certified course. (Sidenote: Before the race on the event's website, they listed an '02 course certification. So I went to the USATF site to see if I could find the map. However, it had been updated with an '05 recertification and listed the name as the June-run Pride Week 5K. BUT, the map in the race packet was one of the course from 04/04/02 by Tom McBrayer.)

If you run the course twice and you only here the mile markers being off one time, you might believe that the markers were set up wrong. But if both times, there are comments about the mile splits being off, you have to wonder about the course itself. I do not believe that in the case of Edwin's race on Saturday that the course was short. In fact, if anything, the finish might have been a little long according to the diagram. (There is just no way in almost same weather conditions that I slow down 15 seconds in the last .1 mile one day later.)

So this race was really hard to benchmark. The one in May, on the same course, was humid and I was sick. Today, it was cool (although it warmed up with the sun in your face coming back) and I'm healthy and ready to run at New York City next Sunday.

Notes: Since there are no results posted online, I can't tell you how people did that I know or have seen before. Anne Ekern and Helge Haldorsen from the Houston Harriers both ran pretty well. I think Anne won her age group as she did yesterday in the Pumpkin Run. As did Suzy Seeley (Bayou City Road Runners) ..... I had a chance to visit with Suzy a little bit after the race. She is an excellent runner, but a very classy person as well. I really appreciate the time that I get the chance to talk with her at different events. I found out that she has had a little bit of a burnout issue as well. At yesterday's Goblin Gallop, Steve Schroeder was telling me that Suzy was getting ready for marathon #100 here shortly. I asked her about it and she said that she is sitting on #97. She was going to do San Antonio in two weeks, but I believe has decided against it. She said that she's trying to keep it all fun. (Suzy runs about 10 marathons a year and her last one was back in September in Des Moines, Iowa where she posted a 3:48:26. It was her 7th marathon of 2005.) ..... A reader of this blog, Jack McClintic (I hope I remembered this right), walked up after the race, introduced himself and said Hi! But, I'm a bit confused. He had a "Katy Fit" shirt on but is listed as a Tornados member on the HARRA member list. [Jack, tell me I got this right!] ..... And finally there was a woman who I chatted with (bib number 6), who I surmised was between 30-34 because that age group didn't print on the results that were posted on the gazebo, that said she was a friend of Christopher's mother. She has problems with her right kneecap and was thinking about running the half but wasn't sure since Houston Fit had already got underway. I told her of Cassie, who had an IT band injury and had just posted her training plan for the Half, and this site. So maybe she'll remember and find it of some help for her.

Ongoing Marine Corps Marathon Notes/Coverage

(Go to the end of the post for the newest information!)

1:37 p.m.

Regular readers will note that the Houston Running Bloggers have two participants at today's Marine Corps Marathon events in Washington, D.C. Lisaleese and her husband, Chris, are running the full and Sarah Graybeal was running the 8K.

Chris' time has been posted as 4:13:50 (2:04:54 at the halfway point). His overall place of finish is 7,095. Lisa doesn't have a time posted for any splits whatsoever, but her overall place of finish is 7,093 (which would indicate that she ran it and finished).

HARRA Board member and Houston Strider Doug Spence was at 23 miles in 5:18:54. He was at the halfway point in 2:46:55. Another Houston-area blogger, but not yet part of the HRB fold, is Erica Smith. Erica hit the half way point in 3:09:34 after passing the 10K spot in 1:28:02.

1:55 p.m.

Erica Smith is now at the 23 mile point in 6:01:56!

Some early HARRA member finishes include: Carol Schmidt (Houston Striders, 3:59:14); Joel DuBois (Houston Striders, 4:08:06); April Murphy (Bayou City Road Runners, 5:06:24); Felix and Sylvia Lugo (Bayou City Road Runners, 5:32:57); Bette and Philip Lehmberg (Houston Fit, 5:48:51).

1:59 p.m.

Houston Striders' Consuela Styer made her marathon debut in a time of 4:19:18 (1:48:43 at the halfway point; 3:37:22 at mile 23).

2:07 p.m.

Thanks to Vic Kaiser with his mouse on the "auto click", Doug Spence finished in 6:12:52.

3:36 p.m.

Following up on her 10K portion of the Houston 20K relay team with Cassie Cowan, Sarah Graybeal posts a chip time of 53:06 with a nice 10:40/mile pace at the Marine Corps Marathon 8K. She was 6th among all 8K finishers from Texas and 77 of 136 females in the 25-29 age group.

Legendary runner Dick Beardsley, 49, from Detroit Lakes, MN, was third overall in the 8K with a time of 29:03 just behind Ryan Schmidt, 24, of Baltimore, MD (28:41) and Ted Poulos of McLean, Va. (28:56).

Other HARRA members posting finishing times included Irene Duvo (3:46:45); Phyliss Aswell (Houston Fit, 4:23:12); Michael Estep (Houston Fit, 4:26:38); Maria Camacho (Terlingua Track Club, 4:37:52); Robin Coyne (Fort Bend Fit, 5:24:31) and Tammy Blackburn (Houston Fit, 5:32:57).

4:16 p.m.

Texas Family Affair: Father Patrick Kearney, 46, of Lakeside, TX and sons Jeffrey, 15, and Keith, 14, all completed the marathon in under 6 hours. Patrick and Keith finished together in 5:57:06 while older brother Jeffrey, who had been behind all the way through the 23-mile mat, finished in 5:37:20.

More HARRA members included Grant Hodges (3:54:05); Ian Groom (Bayou City Road Runners, 3:55:11); Don Padilla (Bayou City Road Runners, 3:57:33); Sam Mack (Bayou City Road Runners, 4:24:12); Gary Horis (4:30:06); Mary Hymel (Houston Fit, 4:53:51); Thomas McKay (Bayou City Road Runners, 5:06:37); Carrie Pedersen (5:19:13); Alaina Metz (5:30:47); June Harris (5:50:22) and Nancy Luca (6:48:22).

4:47 p.m.

I've been viewing times all afternoon and currently my belief is that they are making some technical adjustments to the timing. Doug Spence's time jumped almost 30 minutes! I'm not sure what to believe at this point; therefore, I'm going to suspend any updates.

This is reminiscent of the evening after the hp Houston Marathon last year when times adjusted in many cases by as many as 30 seconds.

More to come ...

On The Run Cleans Up at the Pumpkin Run

On the strength of 27-year-old Webster native Gabriel Rodriguez beating Sean Wade, 39, for the second time in a month, the On The Run Racing Team took three of the top four awards Saturday at the Pumpkin Run in downtown Houston.

Rodriguez edged Wade by a narrow 3.2 seconds (15:07.2 to 15:10.4) while 37-year-old Laura Bennett, who won the 20K two weeks ago, and 43-year-old Liz Schwandt captured the women's Open and Masters divisions, respectively in times of 18:37.4 and 19:47.7.

Luis Armenteros finished third overall while Terry Garrett, Joe Flores and Orange's Joe Melanson were the top three Masters finishers (and 4th, 5th and 6th overall as well). Melanson, who won the Fired Up 5K in Sugar Land on Labor Day, and his wife, Billie-Kay, who was first in the 50-54 age group, were racing for one of the first times since Hurricane Rita blew through the Beaumont area. It was reported before the USA Space City 10-Miler that they had lost their home.

(To be continued...)

Deer Park Goblin Gallop "Hardware" Race Report

Yes, don't choke on that bagel you're eating! You read that right: Hardware!

I placed 2nd in the 35-39 age group at this morning's Goblin Gallop in Deer Park with a watch time of 29:07.25! (Shhh ... don't tell anyone, though, that there were only two competitors!)

However, a trophy is a trophy! Too bad everyone else went to the Langham Creek YMCA or the downtown Pumpkin Run events.

Actually the first place age group finisher and I could have competed in the Corporate Challenge that they had; however, I don't think our times would have placed. Steve Schroeder finished first with a PR-setting time of 18:49. We both work for different divisions of the Fortune 15 healthcare company, McKesson. (Steve was actually without his teammate, Lance Collins. Lance's wife delivered their second child two days ago. Congratulations on all counts!)

I ran pretty well. I was pleased. The weather conditions were excellent (although I saw that the temperatures tomorrow may be a little bit warmer for the Christopher's Run 5K).

My splits looked like this:

Mile 1 -- 9:07.08
Mile 2 -- 9:27.41 (18:34.49 - 9:17/mile)
Mile 3 -- 9:42.85
Last .1 -- 49.91

Final -- 29:07.25 - 9:24/mile

It was my 132nd career event and 52nd for 2005. (133/53 if I count the Bear Creek 20K.)
It was also the 31st Texas city that I've run an event in. (I really want to get to 100 one day!)
It was also the 4th fastest of 66 career 5Ks (and we are early yet in the racing season)!
The event mileage will also be the second largest of any month with 5 weekends in October.

This course is as flat as can be - just like the course earlier this fall in Alvin. City streets. Intersections were well-monitored and major streets were coned off from traffic. I think there was two water stops on the course (maybe one ... I didn't stop). Both mile markers had somebody there calling out splits.

A very well-run event with a simple white T-shirt and logo in the upper left corner (with no advertising). Lots of door prices and awards. :)

I felt real good through mile 1. I knew that I was pushing the upper limit a little bit; however, I really could feel myself back off and then go again - even if it was just for 5-10 seconds. I didn't really race anybody here, but I had one older gentleman cut in front of me on the second turn of the course.

Passing mile 1, I heard the timer call "9:05" but I didn't go, "Oh no, I might be going too fast." I just tried to keep on hammering it. I started to feel my legs be challenged a little bit; however, I got a little motivation as I turned on to 13th St. (the back part of the course). I actually was able to reel in a couple of runners.

One young man, who was in his 20s (remember, I'm 38), had a Longhorns pullover on and I passed him. (Immediately, I thought about Cassie and the orange that I wear that fires her up. Well, it is the UT orange that fires me up!) After I passed him, he started to mount a little bit of a challenge, but I was able to hold him off as we turned left down, yes, Meadowlark Lane.

I passed the 2-mile point in 18:35 and then I tried to keep pushing knowing that I had an outside shot of being in the 28's. I knew that a couple of guys didn't have a shot of catching me, but as I had turned left onto "X" Street I couldn't believe my eyes. There was this little girl, much shorter than Waverly, who was walking!! I didn't slow down enough for me to see if she really had a 5K bib number on!

After I had made a right turn on to Luenla and before I made the last right back to East San Augustine, I heard this woman almost whoop and holler! I thought it might had been the girl's Mom and she was all of a sudden pacing her. She did this at least twice and then right at the mile 3 marker, and before the last .1 of a mile, she passed me and might have slipped in under 29 minutes.

So did I know that I was winning hardware? Yes. The event used a card system at the finish. So I got something like #71 and I walked it inside. One of the young volunteers asked what age group I was in and I just told her that I was 38. She turned the page and the only other person's name on there was Steve's!

Jose Lara and Francisco Perez took first in the overall and Masters for the men. Danielle Venable and Bonnie Jo Barron went first in the same for the women.

After the race and while watching the kids 1-mile event, Steve and I talked with former HARRA president John Phillips, Bonnie Jo and her Mom, Bertie Jo Moore (who is back racing again after a long injury). If they're not at the Christopher's 5K Run tomorrow, be sure that they'll probably be at Run with the Saints 5K next weekend. (Bonnie Jo and her Mom do a LOT of 5k's. They're super nice people.)

Best line of the morning went to Jake Tonge who was responding to Phillips as he was asking Tonge how he did. Jake said, "I didn't have it today. But I had a PR for today!"

The race was put on by the Parks & Recreation Department of Deer Park and Steve indicated that they have a Fourth of July event that is run on the exact same course.

Checking NYC Weather

Sunday, November 6th's forecast, according to weather.com, is 63 / 56.

I'd prefer to see more of a 55 / 45. The weather for the Houston Marathon last year was spectacular. I wore my Marine Corps race jacket the entire way and it was absolutely perfect. I think that was more like 54 (finish)/ 38 (start).

Off to Deer Park in the morning for the Goblin Gallop 5K.

(Went to the gym at Bally's in The Woodlands at about 9 p.m. this evening to get in some elliptical work since I won't be near a Bally's when I see my grandparents. They changed hours and they were closing then. Ugh!)

Highlights of October HARRA Board Meeting

Each month, HARRA president Tom Stilwell e-mails to a group, that includes 71 e-mail addresses and is a very interesting cross-section of the Houston running community, his recap of HARRA's monthly Board meeting, which any HARRA member can attend. This e-mail is not in lieu of the monthly minutes that appear on the HARRA web site.

It is now held at the Memorial Park Club House on the 3rd Monday of every month beginning at 6 p.m.

Here are items that I felt appropriate to share with you, the rank-and-file runner:

+ As noted in my prior emails regarding the Just for Kids Run, the Houston Masters Sports Association agreed to provide some sponsorship for the event, and challenged others to do the same. This led the Runners High Club, Finish Line Sports, and the Chevron Houston Marathon to contribute enough to cover the costs of the event. In this year when traditional corporate sponsorship dollars have gone (appropriately) to aid victims of the hurricanes, it was awesome to see the clubs step up to support this event.

+ The Marathon Kids Program reported that HARRA had collected approximately 80 - 90 volunteers and the number was growing. By the way, the event on 10/22 at Rice University was really spectacular. If you didn't volunteer this time, you ought to consider it next time. All the volunteer tasks were relatively easy, and the sight of seeing the elementary school kids run the track was rejuvenating. Roberta McInnis sent a Houston Chronicle photographer to the event and also volunteered at the event. The Chronicle had a great picture of the event in last Sunday's newspaper.

+ Roger Boak also reported that the Practice for the Tour de Bayou has been well attended. The singlet and shoe awards from the sponsorship this year has been well received.

+ For the River Oaks Water Fountain, the architectural firm listed in the Houston Chronicle article declined to offer any assistance to our effort to get a water fountain placed on the esplanade across from (and separate from) the Rose Garden. However, an architect at Kirksey Architects has volunteered his time to prepare the specs and create a mock drawing / photo depiction of a water fountain on the esplanade so that it can be presented to the River Oaks Home Owners Association for approval. The Bayou City Road Runners have also located several current River Oaks residents who will support the water fountain.

+ The City of Houston and the Memorial Park Conservancy have started planning a new event based upon ideas presented by Chris Rampacek. The event will be a "Resolution Run" starting before midnight on New Year's Eve and finishing after midnight on New Year's Day. The event will be your last workout of the year, and the kickoff of your training / healthy living / resolutions for the new year. The run will be held in Memorial Park. Stay tuned for more details.

+ Memorial Park is considering adding concessions to the buildings at the Tennis Court area. I forwarded the email to this group on the day of the meeting. If you have any thoughts - pro or con, send them to me. I've been forwarding them to the appropriate persons at the City of Houston, and all the ideas and concerns have been well received. Stay tuned for more details on this as well, though I don't have any right now.

On the Marathon Kids program, Tom added the following in a separate e-mail today:

"Marathon Kids was organized very well and was a huge success. I think all of the kids had a blast and I think that they really got a lot out of having a big kickoff event like this for their program. It was also fun to watch them run 200 yards as hard as they can, and then see the realization hit that they had to run another 300 yards or so to the end. (Each wave of kids ran about 500 yards on the track.) Still, they would start chugging along and persevering to the finish just like all of us runners do. Any day you can help put smiles on kids faces is a good day in my book."

Did You Ever Have One Of Those Runs ....

... that you didn't feel positive about too much other than knowing that you got out and did something? :)

After watching the Astros Wednesday night and then being emotionally challenged when I arrived home last night, my body was saying, "Hey, you really need to stay loose for New York City." I took Waverly to school, got home and had some breakfast and then waited for my stomach to settle before trying to get out and run at about 10 a.m. (trying to take advantage of the cool weather).

The work day made 10 a.m. turn into 1 p.m.! So I figured that maybe I'd do the 2.1-mile loop in the subdivision three times and call it a 10K! I started out hard and tried to push as much as I could but I felt like I was running in quicksand. I thought to myself that there was no way that I had ever been able to run under 29 minutes for a 5K! (But I know that I've done it three times.)

I pushed the entire way and hit the line in the pavement in 20:55.32 -- hmmm, just under a 10-minute mile. That's a 31-minute 5K. Where did the 29:22 at Run The Woodlands go from three weeks ago? Maybe I won't be going anywhere in the morning.

After downing a little Powerade, I once again told myself that I just needed to go out and get some miles in. I headed out behind our subdivision, Hannover Forest, to an area that they had been clearing out to hold water runoff and then ran along side the back fence of a newer area that had been built in the last year or so.

You know how it goes. You look at your watch after going what felt like 20 minutes and your watch shows "12:40.74". Yikes! I walked it for less than 45 seconds then just took off slowly.

It was one of those days that I figured the best thing that I could do was just go run for awhile. Not worry about time or distance. Just get out and run. There was no runner's high. I didn't feel super good about the run. But, it was a run.

I ran through a portion of what will be known as Hannover Village that opens to Spring Steubner. So I found out a new way to get into our subdivision, if need be. I actually went out on Spring Steubner. Not the brightest idea, but I got off the road as quick as I could and ducked into a subdivision called Windsor Forest. Huh, never heard of it.

It looked like that I might have to do a loop of it and then retrace my route. But when I went to southernmost part of the subdivision turned right and headed back north, I saw a street that turned to the west. I basically meandered down roads and streets and ran through what I then recognized as Dove Meadows, which goes out to FM 2920.

As I approached FM 2920, I noticed that the costume place was busting at the seams! (Yeah, I know. Bad pun.) I turned left, heading east, and out on to FM 2920. Knowing that I was on a major thoroughfare (boys and girls, this isn't the safest thing to do), I picked up the pace plus I needed to look like a real runner! They had just resurfaced much of the road so it was all new freshly poured asphalt which was nice on the legs. I stayed on it until the turn that comes in just south of the street in which was live on: Hannover Pines.

So I ended up running for 57:49.52 and my guess, given the pace, is that it was probably no more than 5.5 miles.

But if it was, then I logged approximately 7.6 miles between 1 and 2:30 p.m. in hopefully tad bit warmer temperatures than what I will face 9 days from now in NYC.

Therefore, it can't be all bad!

Speaking of Houston in January ...

Here's who's in - so far - from the Houston Running Bloggers:

Chevron Houston Marathon
Steve Bezner, Joe Breda, Holden Choi, Jennifer Kim, Lisa (and Chris) Leese, Edwin Quarles

Aramco Half Marathon
Jessica Alexander, Cassie Cowan, Sarah Graybeal, Jon (and Waverly) Walk

Fees go up November 1st for Houston!

Want to pay $90 (full) or $70 (half) to run Houston? [Hmmm .. that would make Houston more expensive than the New York City or Marine Corps marathons.]

Well, save $10 off of that and get registered for the Chevron Houston Marathon or the Aramco Half Marathon before Tuesday, November 1, 2005 at http://www.houstonmarathon.com/.

Rocky Raccoon 50K Notes from Saturday

The results have just been posted for the 50K from last Saturday's Rocky Raccoon at Huntsville State Park at Hill Country Trailrunners' web site.

No repeat winners from 2004 as 45-year-old Mark Henderson won it in a time of 3:51:30 beating Robert B. King, 44, by a minute and 38 seconds (3:53:08). Teresa Bartnicki was the first female to cross the line in 4:40:00 while Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen, who turned 40 since last year's race, beat Houston's Yong Collins by 2:50 to win the Masters title. O'Brien-Nolen posted a 4:55:35 to improve on her 5:06:58 effort from 2004. (In fact, none of last year's winners competed in the 50K this year.)

Two runners, Bob Williams and Morgan Lusby, completed the 50K for at least the fourth straight year (2002-2005). During that time, Lusby has dropped his time from 6:24:33 in 2002 to 5:44:19. Three additional runners, Michael Pentland, Michelle Wolpert and Pat Shannon, joined Collins and O'Brien-Nolan in a group of five (5) who have done it the last three years.

20 runners competed in both the 2004 and 2005 Rocky Raccoon 50K trail runs. 12 of the 20 (60%) improved their time. Gainers were Les Ellsworth (+10:07), O'Brien-Nolan (11:23), Collins (+11:00), Lee Topham (+15:48), Wolpert (+13:45), Terrie Gorney (+40:46; appeared to have been pacing both years), Williams (+18:44), Christopher Rampacek (+3:37), Susan Bell (+23:31), Lusby (+1:39), Leo Lavender (+19:02) and Jon Tremont (+9:25).

Other "Faces in the Crowd" included: Tornados' Eddie Espinosa (5:13:58), who was one of the HEB Texas 10K Challenge finishers in 2005, Tom Pash from Humble (5:25:57), who was one of two runners to do both the Huntsville Half Marathon and Koala's/Luke's Locker 20K two weekends ago, and 28-year-old Dalton Pulsipher, one of just five (5) finishers under 30.

Team Woodlands - Team in Training Web Site

If you haven't taken a look at any of the links to the left, you should take a look at the job that the folks with the Team Woodlands Team in Training group does.

Don and Carol Steele just did a refresh of the site that basically incorporates Bill Dwyer's weekly e-mail front and center. And this week, you need to read about Bill Crews and Nancy Long ... if their story and what they accomplished doesn't make you feel just a little bit guilty of not being able to push yourself just a bit further, I'm not sure what will. :)

RRCA National Convention in the News!

From this morning's Houston Chronicle in the "Running Notebook" by Roberta MacInnis, "Striders put Bayou City on national map":
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/run/3419190

Our own Sarah Graybeal is getting some final changes in place to take the Convention web site officially live today at http://www.rrcahouston06.org/.

And to supplement the web site, the official 49th annual RRCA National Convention "blog" can be found, for now, at http://rrcahouston06.blogspot.com/.

Gov. Huckabee to run 30th Marine Corps Marathon

PEOPLE IN THE PACK: A look at runners in the Marine Corps Marathon
Not Much Can Keep Governor From Running
(c) Washington Post, Monday, October 24, 2005; Page E04

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is a dedicated runner. How dedicated? The Republican, in his second term, passed up an invitation from the president to watch the inaugural parade from the presidential box in order to do a training run.

"It's hard to say no to [a presidential invitation], but I also needed to stay on my training schedule," Huckabee said. "I didn't get to run early that morning because of the inauguration. So while my wife went to the White House and sat in the box with the president to watch the parade, I was back at the hotel fitness center on the treadmill running five miles and watching the parade on the TV. As I was about in the third mile, it occurred to me, 'You know, you must really, really want to do this.' "

Huckabee, 50, wasn't always this hard-core about running. Two years ago, he could barely run a block. Then he started a weight-loss program, eventually losing 110 pounds. First he tried walking, but quickly became bored with that. On an impulse, he decided to see how far he could run.

"It was kind of like Forrest Gump coming out of the braces, and one thing led to another," Huckabee said. "I did a second block, then the third. Next thing I know, I'm running half a mile."

The half-mile led to his first 5K race, an impressive accomplishment, or so he thought until a television reporter encouraged him to train for a marathon.

"I told her, 'Alice, I might as well fly the space shuttle,' " Huckabee said. "You don't understand. I really can't run. I've had three knee surgeries. I have the flattest feet in America. It's not physically realistic for me to do that."

Huckabee eventually relented, agreeing to sign up for the Little Rock Marathon.

"I figured I'd get to six, seven miles and I would absolutely burn out," he said. "To my amazement, every weekend when I would add a mile or so in the training program, I could do it."

In March, Huckabee ran the Little Rock Marathon, finishing in 4 hours 38 minutes 31 seconds.

"Honestly, running a marathon was one of the greatest days of my life. It ranks up there with the birth of my children," Huckabee said. "Crossing that finish line is truly one of the most incredible moments I think a human being can have."

The Marine Corps Marathon will be Huckabee's second marathon. His daughter Sarah, who works for the Department of Education, was inspired by her father to sign up for the race and invited him to come run it with her. She won't be running because of a knee problem, but her dad plans to go ahead anyway.

So how did a guy who couldn't run a block two years ago end up running two marathons in eight months?

"I never missed one of the training days," Huckabee said. "I really feel that's the key to being able to do it. I'm not a great athlete. I'm a guy who's never done anything athletic in his life ever, and there's no way I should have been able to do that. But if you train and you just commit to the discipline and focus of the training, I'm convinced even a guy like me can do it."

-- Kathy Orton

818 Texans to run NYC; 11 cities send 10 or more

10-26 Update: There are 11 cities in Texas who have more than 10 runners running. They are as follows: Houston (183), Austin (114), Dallas (113), San Antonio (34), Plano (23), Fort Worth (20), The Woodlands (19), El Paso (17), Coppell (15), Irving (13), Bellaire (10).

I love events like the New York City Marathon that puts entrant data (probably more to cut down on the number of inquiries) out there that can be massaged. (Both the Marine Corps Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon, for example, with their use of Active.com event registration tools dramatically increase the amount of manual time necessary to dissect the data.)

There are 1,179 entries in the NYC Marathon entrant database for Texans. 338 of those potential runners have already cancelled while another 23 are referred to contact the marathon about their entry status. That leaves 818, as of today, that are making plans to run through the five (5) boroughs!

There are only 21 HARRA members out of those 818! They are as follows:

ANDERSON, JP, M41, HOUSTON (BCRR)
ANDERSON, BETSY S, F57, HOUSTON (HF)
BELL, SUSAN L, F42, KEMAH (CLFC)
BLACKBURN, TAMARA, F31, SUGAR LAND (HF)
BRADEN, JIM, M70, THE WOODLANDS (BCRR)
BRUNENI, SUSAN J, F59, HOUSTON (KW)
DAVIES, TOM M, M32, HOUSTON (NONE)
DAVIS, BARRY R, M53, SUGAR LAND (FBF)
FINK, DONNA B, F37, PASADENA (GLWY)
GNOINSKI, SANDRA, F52, HOUSTON (HS)
ISHAM, ARLEN, M61, HOUSTON (ALRC)
JANNETTI, NINA, F49, SUGAR LAND (FLS)
KISHINO, ASHLEY C, M45, HOUSTON (BCRR)
LAUCK, ROBERT, M49, RICHMOND (NONE)
MILLER, MARY BETH, F43, HOUSTON (HF)
PALMER, LYNN, F51, HOUSTON (CLFC)
RODRIGUEZ, RICHARD R, M50, HOUSTON (NONE)
STOTZER, ERIC, M38, HOUSTON (BCRR)
STOTZER, SUSAN, F35, HOUSTON (BCRR)
WALK, JON D, M38, SPRING (HS)
WARD, WESLEY R, M36, HOUSTON (HF)

Lots of Area Races This Weekend

The question is: Where will you be?

Here's a quick run down:

Langham Creek YMCA Monster Mash/Cowbell Stampede 5K, NW Houston, Saturday, 8:00 am (The link provided says that Clemens will make a special pre-race appearance pending World Series play. Let's hope he's in Chicago.)
Monster Dash, Lake Jackson, Saturday (Contact BARRA)
Texas Heart Institute Great Pumpkin Run 5K, Downtown, Saturday, 8:00 a.m.
Goblin Gallop, Deer Park, Saturday (Contact Linda Darby, 281-478-2050)
Seven Hills RC Club Event, Huntsville, Saturday, $5, 9:00 a.m.
Christopher's 1st Annual 5K Fun Run, Downtown, Sunday, 8:00 a.m.

One race that is still on the Runner Triathlete News calendar for Saturday but won't be happening is the Carol Williams 5K in Sugar Land. Fort Bend Kempner cross country coach Jeremy Dye commented on their team's blog back on October 12th that "due to a lack of registrants and a good fund rasing effort through cookie dough sales, the Carol Williams 5K has been canceled the year. We raised more money with cookie dough sales than we have with the race. It has not been decided whether or not the race will resume next year or not."

Dad does 8.85 in Bloomington

After taking yesterday off to rest and recover a little bit, I gave up on the Astros in the 8th inning as they were behind 5-4 to the White Sox in Game 3 of the World Series. It was time to go out and hit the road.

The last two weeks I have carried my running shoes and gear up here not to even put them to use. And as the evening wore on, it appeared as if week three was about to set in. However, I know that I need to take it easy, but still continue to get some good quality runs in before shutting it down next Wednesday.

The game plan was simple: Run as far out as I could while feeling comfortable and have enough to make it back. The verdict ended up being 8.85 miles - according to the HARRA map tool by Geoff Guenter.

I left the hotel at about 10:20 p.m. and ventured east towards downtown and the Indiana University campus. I ran east on 3rd St., which branches off and becomes W. Kirkwood before ending at Indiana Ave. I turned right on Indiana Ave., heading south and then proceeded east again on 3rd St. From here, I ran by a number of campus buildings on the north side of the road for the next half mile or so while large sorority houses where on the south side of the street.

The map measured 4.406 miles out and 4.441 miles back for a total of 8.847 miles. Call it 8.85!

Time going out: 47:46.42 / 4.406 miles / 10:50 per mile
Stop for traffic: 34.87 seconds
Time coming back: 50:34.79 / 4.441 miles / 11:23 per mile

Total: 1:38:21.21 / 8.847 miles / 11:07 per mile

And with the exception of having to yield to traffic, I ran the entire way.

Temperarture getting started was a balmy 39 degrees (feeling like 36) and the run ended with an improvement to 41 degrees, according to weather.com. The course started out at 867 feet above sea level and dipped to 747 feet at mile 2.5 and climbed back to 847 feet at just before the mile 4 point. Bloomington isn't exactly flat!

Good run overall. I'm pretty pleased. Didn't have a cardio problem at all. The cool weather was excellent and I could tell the differences in times coming back was due primarily to my legs, but I ran all the hills/inclines.

I needed a good relaxing run that felt like about a 7-8 on the extertion level.

Waverly goes 6.5 miles at Run The Woodlands!

Sunday afternoon was excellent to get in a "recovery" slow jog for me as Waverly logged 6.5 miles for the first time ever as we did the Run The Woodlands 5K course twice (and added an additional loop and a half around the parking lot to pick up the extra .3 miles).

The first 5K, I tried to get her slow jog as much of it as possible and she made the first mile without any problem. She walked a little bit of the first parts of miles 2 and 3, but I tried to used the idea of possibly hitting 40 minutes in a 5K for the first time ever.

Mile 1 -- 13:01.20
Mile 2 -- 13:50.91 (26:52.11)
Mile 3 -- 13:36.30 (40:28.41)
Last .1 -- 1:14.21 (41:42.62)

So the first 5K was 41:42, which is 12 seconds off her time from the Klein HS Bearkat Bash 5K. I explained to her that she's fairly close to doing that if she can bring those last 2 miles in line with the first one.

.3 mile connector -- 4:05.17 (Since just beyond the start line to the finish line is .1 of a mile, we walked from the finish line to the start line on the other side and then added one full loop of the parking lot. At this point, we were doing a quick brisk walk.)

Mile 1 -- 14:33.06
Mile 2 -- 14:23.02 (28:56.08)
Mile 3 -- 13:59.95 (42:56.03)
Last .1 -- 1:06.31 (44:02.34)

I let her brisk walk most of the next mile, but I challenged her to run a little bit to the "blue dot" that signified the end of the first mile of the 5K. Then I told her to brisk walk 3 minutes and then we'd run 2 minutes. But Dad ran for 3 minutes! She'll catch on sooner or later, but she improved each miles and for the first time ever, she was running in miles 4, 5 and 6.

Total time - 1:29:50 - a pretty good (for her) 13:49/mile

My first half marathon? November 1, 2003, I did the White Rock Half Marathon in 2:50:52.0, 13:02/mile. (I'll be tickled pink if she finishes, but the closer she can get to my first effort ... the more I'll be estatic!)

Cassie and Manny make the Chronicle on Sunday!

And, no, they are not in the Metropolitan section in the crime blotter!

Section G (the one with the tribute to Astroworld), page 5 and there they are (bib #'s 6315 and 6314) in a picture that is part of the "Thank you, friends" ad for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Miscellaneous Odds and Ends

As my feet are propped up, there are a couple of items that I noticed and wanted to note:

1.) There were four (4) runners at the Huntsville Half Marathon that truly deserve a "shout out." Led by a gentleman named Glenn Remmert, they are from a group known as the El Rey Track Club that frequents the Run The Woodlands 5K Series quite a bit.

Glenn paced youngster Adam Goerlich (15-19) to a 2:37:20 finish while he crossed 19 seconds later. Two other adults that are associated with the group, Fernando Anduze and Ines Perez, came across the line about 10 minutes later in times of 2:47:53 and 2:47:54, respectively.

(What I forgot to mention when I originally posted this on Saturday night is that Glenn and other adults are helping a number of youngsters improve their running skills on a regular basis at Run The Woodlands 5K and many of them have made great improvements thanks to their efforts. Adults do that because it is the right thing to do, but they deserve a little recognition for the effort -- and that goes also to all of those HARRA volunteers this weekend who worked the Marathon Kids kickoff today.)

2.) In today's Jameson 5K on the campus of Southwestern University in Georgetown, the Schrader family, who were semi-regulars at Run The Woodlands 5K from 2000-2002, took home a lot of hardware. Everyone except Dad!

Lea, 40, was the overall Female Master's winner in a time of 21:25.2. Older daughter, Maddee, 14, was 2nd in the 14-19 age group in 21:33.6 while younger daughter, Bree, 12, won her 13-and-under age group in a time of 20:33.7.

Chris, 47, was 6th in the 40-49 age group while pacing Bree with a time of 20:35.4.

Their Run The Woodlands 5K PRs were as follows: Chris (19:50), Lea (19:51), Bree (21:47) and Maddee (23:00).

Rocky Raccoon 25K Race Report, Part 1

It's Saturday evening. I'm watching Game 1 of the World Series and I'm beat! Facetiously, I'm not sure if doing the Rocky Raccoon 25K was such a great idea.

Somebody who has run trails a lot will have to confirm this for me, but I think you use a few leg muscles that you don't on the road. There are times, especially when trying to dodge tree roots, that you are both running forward but also kind of side-to-side. Surprisingly, I hurt more in the joints around my knees now than I do with road races. However, I ran pretty hard, including the inclines, for the first 10 miles. After that I started to tire, basically, I think, because I didn't have enough getting to my legs. Cardio-wise, I was fine, but I wasn't hydrated enough as my calves cramped up after that last aid station.

So was the timing of this run/race good? I'm not sure. A case could be made for both. But I'm in no way upset about the effort and the outcome.

My "splits", however you want to define them, are as follows:

Gun to cross the start line - 19.97
Start line to first aid station - 44:34.14
At first aid station - 49.96
..... (had gatorade, water and ran off with two pieces of bagel)
First aid station to second aid station - 38:41.33
At second aid station - 1:01.83
..... (had a small cup of gatorade and flat coke and something to eat that I don't quite remember)
Second aid station to third aid station - 58:29.09
At third aid station - 2:19.58
..... (took three cups of gatorade and one of water, small cookies and 4-5 banana pieces)
Third aid station to the finish line - 37:32.95

Approximate gun time - 3:03:48.85
Approximate net time - 3:03:28.88 -- 11:50/mile

The race material says that the following distances are approximate: Start-to-Aid Station No. 1 (4 miles), Aid Station No. 1 to Aid Station No. 2 (3.5 miles), Aid Station No. 2 to Aid Station No. 3 (5 miles) and Aid Station No. 3 to Finish Line (3 miles).

If that is the case, then my per mile splits were as follows:

Start-to-Aid Station No. 1 (4 miles) -- 45:24.10 -- 11:21/mile
Aid Station No. 1 to Aid Station No. 2 (3.5 miles) -- 39:43.16 -- 11:21/mile
Aid Station No. 2 to Aid Station No. 3 (5 miles) -- 1:00:48.67 -- 12:10/mile
Aid Station No. 3 to Finish Line (3 miles) -- 37:32.95 -- 12:31/mile

However, if the folks at Aid Station No. 3, which was manned by the Houston Trail Runners Extreme, are right, they said that it was 2.6 miles to the finish. However, everybody said that the distance between the last two aid stations was indeed 5 miles.

I really slept well and I had last Friday night/Saturday morning as well. I was up at 4:30 a.m. and out the door by 5:30 a.m. I got to Huntsville State Park and was back at what is known as "The Lodge" probably at around 6:30 a.m., if not a little sooner.

I got my bearings straight and went inside to pick my packet and T-shirt up. They had my name spelled "Joe Walk". Just to make sure that that was "me", I checked with race director Paul Stone, the associate editor of the Palestine Herald-Press, and he said that it was probably more his bad handwriting than anything. (Paul worked with a good friend of mine, Kevin Taylor, a sportswriter who now works for the Fort Smith (Ark.) Southwest Times-Record.)

After chatting with Robert Duncan of the Seven Hills Running Club (SHRC) and seeing a number of Houston Striders (namely Carole Flad, Sam Ogundele, Lynlee Linke, president Sandy Wollangk and Chris Murphy), I back outside and went to my truck to get some more to drink and go to the rest room. The one thing I didn't do while I was there was to check and see what my hydration level was.

I saw SHRC member Melissa Broussard (who piqued my interest last Saturday about definitely doing the event today) sometime after she had picked up her packet and we walked over to the start line to see the 50K runners take off at 7 a.m. (Last year, the 50K had 91 starters and 85 finishers, but I believe Stone indicated that there was between 100 and 125 50K runners today.)

Melissa and I chatted quite a bit during the next hour as well as seeing SHRC president Ken Johnson, SHRC members Jan Parks, Hans Jaegar, John Cook and Chris Wilson as well as fellow Striders Pam Paling, Lisa Ruthven and Frank Halter. I also spoke quite a bit to a gentleman who I believe his name is Fred Dwyer. (I saw him first at the Webster Bicycle Duathlon last year as well as at this year's USA Space City 10-Miler.)

(Part 2 later ... lots to report and remember!)

Holy Holden, Batman!

Houston Running Bloggers' Holden Choi belted out yet another PR in the 5K with an impressive 25:19 effort this morning at Run The Woodlands 5K #140.

Next up for Choi? Lisa Leese's 25:03 5K PR in the Huntington Disease's 5K last month!

Pre-Rocky Raccoon 25K This Morning

It's 4:45 a.m. and I'm a few minutes away from getting a quick shower and off in the truck to head to Huntsville State Park for the Rocky Raccoon 25K. This will be the first big trail event that I've ever done. (I guess the ones in Flagstaff and Albuquerque were OK, but this will have over 300 runners either doing the 25K or 50K. I think from the results last year about 70% did the 25K. That's me!)

When I've run the trails up there with Ken Johnson, Jan Parks, Robert Duncan, J.C. Guzman, Len Hill and Chris Wilson from the Seven Hills Running Club, one of them likened running the trails there to almost doubling the mileage in effort. Not sure if that was a little bit of exaggeration, but they've been running them for a lot longer than me so I'm sure that they know that pretty well.

I had some things to take care of yesterday around the house and with work, but I got off to the gym late in the afternoon and kicked in an hour on the elliptical machine (5.79 miles ... a bit more than Tuesday night). As I was getting a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter this morning and staying hydrated, I thought back this morning to last week's effort at the Huntsville Half Marathon.

I felt like I ran pretty well. What I recalled compared to all of the other half marathons that I've done is that my cardio seemed to be better the entire way through, unlike all of the others in the past. And even those the splits with the hills make it hard to gauge a consistent effort, I felt like I ran consistent the entire time. Therefore, a 2:20 where two weeks before I was at 2:31! Who knows? I think this is often an ongoing continuous lab experiment.

All right. Enough rambling. Time to run! More to report later on Saturday - plus Run The Woodlands 5K #140 results!

NYC Marathon Registration Card

There it is! Almost important as my driver's license right now!

Athlete Alert at NYC Marathon In Place!

Thanks to Steve Bezner's suggestion (and Keith Kelleher's follow-up), I have performed a test of the e-mail address that allows direct posts to this blog and have signed it up for the "Athlete Alert" service from the New York City Marathon site!

First Hill at Huntsville Half Marathon

This is an awesome picture at the start of the Huntsville Half Marathon last Saturday that was sent to Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson by the husband of Michelle Heacock.

Huntsville Half Marathon Pictures Online

Here are pictures by Karen Thibodeaux of yours truly and back, by popular demand, Edwin Quarles.

I needed that "pick me up" and got it at the gym this afternoon before the start of the Astros and Cardinals game. (I listened to the first two innings on KMOX AM 1120 right out of St. Louis after leaving the gym until I made it back to the hotel.)

--

The "pick me up" came in the form of 5.71 miles on the elliptical machine in an hour (Random setting; Level 15; no sticks; "just like I was running") and a good solid hour on the stationery bicycle. Excellent workout! I feel very refreshed.

--

And I feel really good about doing the Rocky Raccoon 25K on Saturday morning in Huntsville as a good solid tuneup for the New York City Marathon. Waverly got in an easy 2.1 mile brisk walk Tuesday night. I'll try to get in another 2.1 with her tomorrow evening and then 6.5 on Sunday.

Turkey Trots

Yes, Thanksgiving is still more than a month away!

However, there was a good poll question on Active.com today when I went to register for the Rocky Raccoon 25K this Saturday in Huntsville.

To find out what the question was and to discuss it, go to http://www.houstonrunningbloggers.com/ and go to the Miscellaneous section.

Loop Snobs Speak Up!

Word on the street is that the City of Houston is considering the possibility of adding a couple of concessionaires at the Memorial Park Loop that may interest runners.

Obviously there's not much space to be had, but reports indicate that a courtyard area could be created near the Tennis Center.

Early thoughts invoked images of Starbucks and Subway, but some have suggested local vendors such as Hot Bagels (Shepherd and Welch) and Bright and Early Coffee (Shepherd and Washington).

Any thoughts? (And, oh, I'm not calling them snobs ... one of our own called themselves that!)

19 Days Until NYC Marathon!

Ok, I think I'm finally starting to get a little excited! My registration card came in the mail last week while I was here in Bloomington, Indiana. My race number is 42679!

It says that I have an "Orange Start!" (Cassie, you've got to love it!) The guidebook says that there are "blue, orange or green" starts.

The preparation for the New York City Marathon hasn't been textbook, but it was better than last year's readiness for the Marine Corps Marathon.

I just completed my hotel reservations for East Rutherford, New Jersey for Friday through Sunday nights. [I'm staying there because I chose to take the bus from the Meadowlands over to Staten Island Sunday morning. The property is right at the Meadowlands.]

I'll be flying into LaGuardia (LGA) Monday morning, October 31st, going to visit some folks that I worked on a project with on Long Island that afternoon before I drive to see my grandparents in central Pennsylvania from Tuesday through Friday morning.

I plan on having dinner Friday evening, November 4th with a former co-worker from my last employer in the Philadelphia area before going to the Expo on Saturday in the city to pickup my bib number and chip! [I may be able to run with my Luke's Locker chip!]

Then, I'll fly back to Houston on Monday afternoon, November 7th!

10-Miler / 20K Stats/Notes

746 finishers - United Space Alliance 10 Miler
2,195 finishers - Koala's/Luke's Locker 20K

365 did both - 163 women and 202 men!
including Houston Running Bloggers' Holden Choi and Steve Bezner.

+ Every age from 21 to 66 is represented (in doing both races.)
+ The youngsters? Michael Hackney (12), Christopher Garcia (13), Joshua Rake (15), Andrew Pineda (15) and Sara Collazos (16).
+ Over 70-runners? Sure! Jim Braden (70), Ino Cantu (71), Orville Kremmer (73) and Robert Ellis (75).

+ Did anybody do the 20K faster than they did the 10 Miler? Yes, Mark Fraser, Jose Antonio Alvarez, Bruce Mansur, Paul Kennedy, Christopher Garcia, Ron Dunbar and Jack Lippincott.

Fastest Combined Chip Times by Age Group

Female
Overall (Laura Bennett, 2:26:21)

19-Under (Sara Collazos, 2:48:34, 1oth overall)

20-24 (Kristi Foh, 3:12:13)

25-29 (Melissa Arnold, 2:59:44, 18th overall)

30-34 (Melissa Henderson, 2:37:44, 4th overall)

35-39 (Anna Helm, 2:47:52, 9th overall)

40-44 (Caroline Burum, 2:36:12, 3rd overall)

45-49 (Suzanne Day, 2:34:49, 2nd overall)

50-54 (Eva Luckey, 2:53:54, 13th overall)

55-59 (Angela Oltean, 3:24:16)

60-64 (Linda Tyler, 4:13:24)

---

Male
Overall (Luis Armenteros, 2:01:48)

19-Under (Joshua Rake, 3:20:35)

20-24 (Jason Moreno, 2:16:00, 8th overall)

25-29 (Abel Zavala, 2:13:35, 7th overall)

30-34 (Brett Riley, 2:07:22, 3rd overall)

35-39 (Rudy Rocha, 2:02:40, 2nd overall)

40-44 (Francisco Perez, 2:11:27, 6th overall)

45-49 (Larry Tidwell, 2:22:58, 11th overall)

50-54 (Jay Hendrickson, 2:28:24, 19th overall)

55-59 (Ty Schmalz, 2:34:30)

60-64 (Ignacio Ybarra, Jr., 2:49:49)

65-69 (Rich Siemens, 2:42:41)

70-74 (Ino Cantu, 2:47:50)

75-79 (Robert Ellis, 3:12:41)

HARRA Runner of the Season Standings - After Race 1

HARRA's Runner of the Season standings were just released - sort of like the BCS - at 5 p.m. this afternoon, Monday, October 17th by HARRA President Tom Stilwell and Vice President of Clubs Roger Boak.

The full standings should be posted by HARRA Webmaster Geoff Guenther shortly. Here are the top 10 in each category:

Open Male

1. Sean Wade (Kenyan Way)

2. Gabriel Rodriguez (Bay Area Running Club)

3. Luis Armenteros (Houston Harriers)

4. Raul Villarreal (Tornados Running Club)

5. Brett Riley (Houston Striders)

6. Gerardo Mora (Houston Masters Sports Association)

7. John Yoder (Houston Striders)

8. Abel Zavala (Tornados Running Club)

9. Matt McCurdy (Bay Area Running Club)

10. Thomas King, Jr. (Houston Striders)

Men 40-49

1. Francisco Perez (Tornados Running Club)

2. Larry Tidwell (Houston Masters Sports Association)

3. Bill Crich (Bayou City Road Runners)

4. Jack McClintic (Tornados Running Club)

5. B.J. Almond (Houston Masters Sports Association)

6. Matthew Nicol (Bayou City Road Runners)

7. Raymond Cruz

8. Paul Danilewicz (Bayou City Road Runners)

9. Robert Walters (Bayou City Road Runners)

10. Robert Brown (Bayou City Road Runners)

Men 50+

1. Ino Cantu (Terlingua Track Club)

2. Steve Brammer (Tornados Running Club)

3. Rich Siemens (Al Lawrence Running Club)

4. Ben Harvie (Terlingua Track Club)

5. Robert Ellis (Terlingua Track Club)

6. Ty Schmalz (Al Lawrence Running Club)

7. Jay Hendrickson (Bayou City Road Runners)

8. Richard Vega (Terlingua Track Club)

9. Alfred Denbleyker (Houston Masters Sports Association)

10. Scott Bounds (Bayou City Road Runners)

Women Open

1. Laura Bennett (Bay Area Running Club)

2. Zoey Beckner (Tornadoes Running Club)

3. Alexandra Gajewski (Tornados Running Club)

4. Melissa Henderson (Al Lawrence Running Club)

5. Rebecca Whitney (Bay Area Running Club)

6. Anna Sumrall Helm (Bayou City Road Runners)

7. Allison Nadolski (Bayou City Road Runners)

8. Kathy Roldan

9. Kimberly Johnston

10. Kelly Carrington

Women 40-49

1. Suzanne Day (Houston Harriers)

2. Bonnie Jo Barron (Bayou City Road Runners)

3. Caroline Burum (Al Lawrence Running Club)

4. Melissa Hurta (Al Lawrence Running Club)

5. Elizabeth Schwandt (Bay Area Running Club)

6. Jackie Connelly (Houston Striders)

7. Audrey Christensen (Finish Line Sports)

8. Annie Hadow (Al Lawrence Running Club)

9. Monica Montes (Houston Harriers)

10. Deb Clifford (Terlingua Track Club)

Women 50+

1. Karen Bowler (Houston Striders)

2. Ann Ferguson (Terlingua Track Club)

3. Eva Luckey (Houston Masters Sports Association)

4. Alice Keelin (Terlingua Track Club)

5. Yong Collins (Houston Striders)

6. Donna Sterns (Houston Harriers)

7. Cindy Sosa (Houston Harriers)

8. Gail Sabanosh (Terlingua Track Club)

9. Susan Middleton (Al Lawrence Running Club)

10. Lynn Trafton (Al Lawrence Running Club)

Houston Running Bloggers Racing Results

Huntsville Half Marathon (Saturday, October 15th)
Edwin Quarles 1:40:02 4th in 35-39 age group
Jon Walk 2:20:50

Beat the Heat 5K, Jersey Village (Saturday, October 15th)
Sam Rodriguez 17:21 1st Overall

Koala's Health and Wellness Centers/Luke's Locker 20K (Sunday, October 16th)

RELAY
The Blogstas - Cassie Cowan and Sarah Graybeal - 2:12:48.3 - 10th in Women's Open
S&J Inc. - Jessica Alexander and Stacie Pyle - 2:17:19.5 - 14th in Women's Open
(Special note: Jessica's 58:13.4 10K was the 4th best women's open 10K on the back half)

OPEN
Steve Bezner 1:50:54.2 (Negative splits - 56:58.6 then 53:55.6)
Holden Choi 2:09:20.3
Jennifer Kim 2:22:36.6 (Negative splits - 1:12:16.0 then 1:10:20.6)

SUPPORT
Vic Kaiser - Signholder (<---Finish Line/2nd Loop--->)
Lisa Leese - Water Stop
Vic's son and daughter/Waverly Walk - Water/Pepsi Station Support
(Special note: I know their names and got to meet them today. Vic keeps their names off of his blog, which I initially goofed and changed here. Seemed like Waverly and her hit it off quite a bit!)

Me? -- Moral support to runners at the finish and on the course. I also watched Luis Armenteros and Rudy Rocha the entire race from the back of an HPD cruiser. Never got to use my pipes all morning long. (And no, Sarah, I didn't get into trouble! Plus it was NOT comfortable back there!)

(By the way, Ms. Cassie, is this more like it?)

Updated Running Blogs Links Page

http://www.walksports.com/houstonrunningblogs.htm

Waverly Goes 6 at Memorial Park!

After Waverly and I left the 20K downtown, we went over to Memorial Park to get in her 6 miles for the week. If you'll remember two weeks ago, we did 5.3 miles instead of 5. However, she wasn't feeling real well last weekend so we didn't get in the 5.5 miles.

With that in mind, I really didn't expect her to do too much slow jogging at all today and she didn't disappoint! :) There was a lot of sun out, though, up until we left the Park at 12:30 p.m.

We started out at the Mile 0 marker in front of the Tennis Center, went to the Mile 3 marker and then went back the other way so the first loop would be 3.1 miles and the second one would be the standard 2.9-mile fare.

Waverly slow jogged some in the first mile, but the heat got to her a little bit (even though there was a cool breeze) so she kept a pretty good pace with a brisk walk. On the first loop, I kept going to the Mile 3 marker to make the first loop 3.2 miles. (I did this so when we reversed it, we would be closer to the truck! More for her than me!)

We covered the first 3.2 miles in 45:48.39 - a pretty good clip of 14:19/mile.

The back 2.8 miles was a little slower. We did it in 44:40.41, a pace of 15:57/mile. However, that was to be expected a little bit. While we were there, we saw Mike and Sophie Rydin and talked with them some, especially about Sophie's great effort at Race for the Cure.

So .... 6 miles in 1:30:28.80, a 15:05/mile pace. Very good for her very first time at this distance. She did good! 13 weeks to go!

Pash and Robinson both do Huntsville Half and Houston 20K!

As I was riding in the HPD cruiser in front of the lead pack (well, the duo of Armenteros and Rocha for much of the race) during today's Koala's Health and Wellness Centers/Luke's Locker 20K, I noticed a couple of runners with yesterday's blue Huntsville Half Marathon T-shirts.

Kingwood's Bill Schroeder ran the 5K in Huntsville yesterday and then the 20K today.

However, Tom Pash and Alton Robinson not only did the Half Marathon yesterday, but they also did the 20K today! (Something crazy like I would do! My kind of runners!)

Humble's Pash, 37, covered the half marathon in 1:45:32 yesterday (8:03/M), but trailed off a little bit in the 20K today with a chip time of 1:50:21.4 (8:54/M). Robinson, 59, who regularly runs the Huntsville Half Marathon, ran the 2005 edition in 2:15:24 (10:20/M) before posting a 2:38:47.5 chip time (12:48/M) earlier this morning.

Warm-Up Series Winners Notes

The data comes from information that I researched and compiled that appears on pages 34-35 of the February 2005 of Inside Texas Running and is at the following link:
http://www.walksports.com/warmupseries_alltimewinners.htm

---

+ Luis Armenteros' win today in the Koala's Health and Wellness Centers/Luke's Locker 20K allowed him to become just the fourth male to win all three (3) Warm-Up Series races. The others? Joe Flores, David Washburn and Jon Warren.

+ The Armenteros family has 5 wins overall as Luis' sister, Jessica, won the 30K in 1999 and the 20K in 2003.

+ With her overall win today and his Masters win, Laura Bennett and Francisco Perez became the 75th and 76th runners to win a Warm-Up Series race (Overall or Masters) since 1989. (Wins from 1986 to 1988 have not been added as research is not yet complete.)

+ 37 runners have won one title only. 16 have won two (2), 9 have won three (3), 3 have won four (4) and five have won six (6).

+ Christie Lammers' Masters win today gave her a second 20K Masters win, a fourth Warm-Up Series Masters win and 6th win altogether (combined with two open wins, including last year's 20K).

+ Lammers is tied with Donna Sterns and Joy Smith from being one win away in completing the "Super Six" - an overall and Masters win in each of the three (3) Warm-Up Series races. Lammers and Sterns both need an overall 25K win while Smith needs a Masters 25K win.

+ Flores and Washburn have completed the "Super Six" on the men's side.

32 Runners Now Have Houston Marathon Invited Runner Status

Eight (8) additional runners had their Chevron Houston Marathon ticket punched today at the Koala's Health and Wellness Centers/Luke's Locker 20K Championship in downtown Houston.

---

Rudy Rocha, Steven King, Miguel Lopez, Kenneth Ruane and Jim Braden each grabbed one of the available five men's spots being awarded in today's race.

---

Caroline Chamness, Eva Luckey and Nancy Prejean garnered three of the five women's spots available. No woman over the age of 70 ran the 20K this morning while the only qualifying time in the Women's Open category was run by winner Laura Bennett, who already qualified. Melissa Henderson missed the 1:25:10 standard by just 31.5 seconds.

The original post of qualifiers was made earlier this week on Tuesday, October 11th. Since that time, HARRA, with the help of president Tom Stilwell and the assistance of invited runner coordinator Camille Yarbrough, has update the press release posted on their site confirming the information that WalkSports.com first reported here.

---

Two corrections on earlier estimates on who was receiving "invited runner" status. I surmised that Desiree Skinner of Bryan/College Station got the Women's Open spot at the USA 10-Miler; however, Skinner lives in Brazos County, which is not one of the qualifying counties. Therefore, the spot fell to Laura Bennett as the top local female open runner who met the qualifying time.

---

Additionally, I indicated that Pearland's Lesa R. Jackson was the top local female finisher in the Houston Half Marathon; however, the HARRA web site reports that Christie Lammers gets the bid. That change allowed Caroline Chamness a spot today as Lammers was the top Masters finisher in the 20K earlier today.

These are the local elite runners who have earned "invited runner" status at the 2006 Chevron Houston Marathon:
---

2005 Houston Marathon Men's Open (Sub 2:35:00)

Gabriel Rodriguez, Webster, 2:31:18

Vaughn Gibbs, Houston, 2:32:01

Michael DeFee, Vidor, 2:32:54

---
2005 Houston Marathon Men's Masters (Sub 2:50:00)

Joe Flores, Houston, 2:35:03

Simon Alvarado, Houston, 2:45:52

Joe Melanson, Orange, 2:47:31

David Washburn, Houston, 2:47:45

Richard Peoples, Jr., Houston, 2:48:47

---
2005 Houston Marathon Women's Open (Sub 3:00:00)

Kelly Keane, The Woodlands, 2:32:27

Caroline Burum, Houston, 2:58:09

---
2005 Houston Marathon Women's Masters (Sub 3:16:00)

Allison Le Compte, Houston, 3:00:13

Barbara Stoll, Houston, 3:06:26

Suzanne Day, Houston, 3:11:26

Marla Burum, Houston, 3:11:39

Susan Walters, Wallis, 3:15:49

---
2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Open Male

Sean Wade, Houston, 1:07:03

---
2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Masters Male

Bart Rainey, Houston, 1:17:23

---
2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Open Female

Maureen Sweeney, Houston, 1:21:47

---
2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Masters Female

Christie Lammers, Houston, 1:27:14

---
United Space Alliance 10-Miler

Laura Bennett, League City, 1:05:54.5

(Top Female Open under 1:07:39)

Luis Armenteros, Houston, 55:07.5

(Top Male Open under 58:46; Wade, Rodriguez had already qualified)

Bonnie Jo Barron, Houston, 1:09:56.8

(Top Female 40-49 under 1:10:15; Day had already qualified)

Francisco Perez, Houston, 59:52.4

(Top Male 40-49 under 1:00:28)

Ino Cantu, Houston, 1:16:54.0

(Top Male 70-79 under 1:18:59)

---

Koala's Health and Wellness Centers/Luke's Locker 20K Championship
Rudy Rocha, Houston, 1:07:10.6
(Top Male Open under 1:07:39; Armenteros had already qualified)

Steven King, Houston, 1:12:28.5

(Top Male 40-49 under 1:16:03)

Miguel Lopez, Houston, 1:18:35.1

(Top Male 50-59 under 1:21:57)

Kenneth Ruane, Orange, 1:27:18.2

(Top Male 60-69 under 1:29:19)

Jim Braden, The Woodlands, 1:37:46.7

(Top Male 70-79 under 1:39:19; Cantu had already qualified)

Caroline Chamness, Kingwood, 1:24:24.3

(Top 40-49 under 1:28:15; Stull, Burum and Walters had already qualified)

Eva Luckey, Houston, 1:34:16.3

(Top 50-59 under 1:36:10)

Nancy Prejean, The Woodlands, 1:32:57.5

(Top 60-69 under 1:46:14)