Invited Runner Status from the Houstonian Lite 30K

Six (6) more runners punched their ticket to the Chevron Houston Marathon two (2) Sunday mornings ago at the Houstonian Lite 30K in Sugar Land to finalize the number of "Local Invited Runners" to 42!

In winning her first overall Warm-Up Series race, 42-year-old Heidy Lozano also met the Open qualifying standard of 2:11:19 by crossing the tape in 2:04:48.3. With 30K winner Luis Armenteros having already qualified and running to ensure his piece of HARRA's Runner of the Season monies, Houston Strider Brett Riley secured his status by meeting the Male open qualifying standard of 1:54:48 with a second-place 30K finish of 1:46:46.9. Riley won the 30K last fall for his first-ever Warm-Up Series win.

Male and female runners in both of the 40-49 and 50-59 age groupings also won spots while nobody else qualified in the 60-69 and 70-Over divisions (although Kenneth Ruane of Orange met the qualifying standard despite qualifying during the 20K).

Terlingua Track Club's Rich Fredrich and Patti Kroger secured the Invited Runner bids in the 40-49 age group with respective times of 1:54:29.8 and 2:14:29.1. Tornados' Steve Brammer and Houston Striders' Karen Bowler earned their stripes in the 50-59 age group with respective times of 1:59:07.9 and 2:20:19.6. All but Bowler, while meeting the qualifying standards, benefitted as a runner in front of them had already qualified for the Invited Runner designation.

[It was brought to my attention that the delay in seeing the lists updated on the HARRA web site as well as the Marathon's web site (under Elite Runners) "may be" because a runner that was 40 and older - Heidy Lozano - was the top female finisher instead of a runner under the age of 40. The scenario that I painted above would give the Open slot to Lozano and the 40-49 slot to Kroger; however, if Lozano is the 40-49 age group designee then the only other Open runner to meet the standard was 31-year-old Alex Gajewski. My opinion, for what it is worth, is that Lozano and Kroger should get the spots because "Open" isn't defined as 39 and under -- even though HARRA uses the term "Open" to designate 39-and-under in Runner of the Season competition.]

Below is the complete list and how they qualified:

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

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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

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

Kelly Keane, The Woodlands, 2:32:27

Caroline Burum, Houston, 2:58:09

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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

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2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Open Male

Sean Wade, Houston, 1:07:03

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2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Masters Male

Bart Rainey, Houston, 1:17:23

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2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Open Female

Maureen Sweeney, Houston, 1:21:47

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2005 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Top Masters Female

Christie Lammers, Houston, 1:27:14

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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)

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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)

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HMSA Classical 25K

Ramiro Alvarado, 1:27:16.3

(Top Male Open under 1:34:13)

Bernie Weber, Houston, 1:35:21.6

(Top Male 40-49 under 1:36:27)

Autumn Ray, Galveston, 1:45:43.4

(Top Female Open under 1:47:59; Stull already qualified)

Helen Grant, Houston, 1:48:38.1

(Top Female 40-49 under 1:51:36; Burum already qualified)

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Houstonian Lite 30K

Brett Riley, 1:46:46.9

(Top Male Open under 1:54:48; Armenteros already qualified)

Rich Fredrich, 1:54:29.8

(Top Male 40-49 under 1:57:16; Perez already qualified)

Steve Brammer, 1:59:07.9

(Top Male 50-59 under 2:06:20; Melanson already qualified)

Heidy Lozano, 2:04:48.3

(Top Female Open under 2:11:19)

Patti Kroger, 2:14:29.1

(Top Female 40-49 under 2:15:25; Walters, Chamness and Day already qualified)

Karen Bowler, 2:20:19.6

(Top Female 50-59 under 2:27:31)