Houston Running Bloggers 5K #2 Race Report

With Steve Bezner (and son, Tyler) and Holden Choi, who were resting for tomorrow's Houstonian Lite 30K, cheering everyone else on, Edwin Quarles posted a career best time of 19:52 to defeat the remainder of the Houston Running Bloggers as part of Run The Woodlands 5K #143.

The blogger field, ten (10) strong plus Waverly, finished in the 35-participant field as follows:

6.) 19:52 - Edwin Quarles, BARRA (PR! First time ever under 20 minutes!)
17.) 25:18 - Jessica Alexander, Houston Striders (PR!)
19.) 25:31 - David Smart
24.) 27:52 - Keith Kelleher, Clear Lake Fitness Club
25.) 28:17 - Cassie Cowan, Houston Striders (I had to lead the entire way though! .. lol)
26.) 28:18 - Jon Walk, Houston Striders / Seven Hills Running Club (PR!)
27.) 28:21 - Manuel Mondragon, Houston Striders
28.) 28:56 - Joe Breda
31.) 31:23 - Sarah Graybeal
33.) 33:06 - Jennifer Kim, Houston Striders
35.) 37:12 - Waverly Walk, Houston Striders (Huge PR!)

Houston Running Bloggers 5K #1 (August 27, 2005, Run The Woodlands 5K #136)

1.) 17:49 - Sam Rodriguez, Bay Area Running Club
26.) 27:01 - Holden Choi
32.) 28:44 - Jessica Alexander, Houston Striders
35.) 29:51 - Jon Walk, Houston Striders
43.) 33:00 - Jennifer Kim, Houston Striders
57.) 42:43 - Waverly Walk, Houston Striders

Everybody except Dave was able to come to my house afterwards for a breakfast of burritos and kolaches. A good time was had by all as we made plans for monthly events through May, talked about Houston Running Bloggers running shirts, an HRB banner and shared in our racing and training experiences as well as generally giving every one else a hard time about a whole variety of things. :)

We'll see Lisa Leese and Sam Rodriguez at the Jingle Bell Run tomorrow. Rick Cook is running Sunmart today. Steve, Holden, Jen and myself (and possibly Joe) will be running the 30K tomorrow. Cassie, Jessica and Waverly will be at the Striders water station at the 30K while Cassie, Mannie, Waverly and myself will be running the Jingle Bell Run. Sarah will be shooting pictures for Karen Thibodeaux.

My race? Wow! What can I say? 28:18.62 PR! I passed a whole host of runners in the first mile. (No surprise there!) Debbie Tripp caught up with me about .2 of a mile from the mile 1 marker, but had to back off there. I passed Joe Breda twice. The second time came shortly after the mile 1 marker.

Keith Kelleher caught me just pass the 2.3-mile mark where you make the left hand turn on to Crown Ridge. (And he had run 10.7 miles BEFORE the race!) And then ....

Let me repeat, and then .... she waits until the last 30 yards before I get the same look that Sheriff Buford T. Justice had in the movie, "Smokey in the Bandit", when he realizes the "The Bandit" (Burt Reynolds) was in visual sight after a chase from Texas to Georgia.

Spurred on by the orange shirt that I revealed just before the start of the race, and with some "during the run" prodding by Mannie, Cassie Cowan caught up with me, passed me and beat me by a second! [Great job, Cassie! That, of course, was your best post-injury race to date!]

My time splits were as follows:

Mile 1 -- 8:50.66
Mile 2 -- 9:11.78 (18:02.44)
Mile 3 -- 9:24.71 (27:27.15)
Last .1 -- 51.47 (28:18.62)

Speaking of being spurred on! How about by a raccoon? Well, that is what got Waverly to drop her 5K time to 37:12! A drop of 2:26 from 4 weeks ago and 7:06 from last December!!

At about 32 minutes and change, I synchronized my watch (since I had stopped mine at the finish line) with Susie Schreiber's (which was the official) and walked out to wait for Waverly to come in. I was "very surprised" to see her so soon! She had a very, very close chance to crack 36:59, which would have cost Dad dearly!

I can't tell you how proud I am of her and the job that she has been willing to do to get ready for the Half Marathon in January.

That and having my friends over for a huge get together totally made the day! (Hmmm ... what will I do for an encore?) Thanks to all of you who made the trip north - particularly Mannie and Cassie (since they said that they've never been to The Woodlands before!)