9 Runners Secure 2007 Houston Marathon Invited Runner Status

Nine (9) runners at the 2006 edition of the Chevron Houston Marathon ran well enough to meet qualifying standards that earned them invited runner status for the event's 35th running in 2007.

Two of the female runners - The Woodlands' Nancy Prejean and Houston's Christie Lammers - met their standards by more than 23 and 15 minutes, respectively. Diana Hirst, who ran just over 3 hours last January, met the 2007 qualifying standard by 18 seconds, finishing in 2:59:42.

Six (6) of the nine ran as invited runners in 2006 - all but Drew Prisner, Hirst and Carole Uttecht - while Lammers actually earned her status as 2005's top local finisher in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. The half marathon was not a local elite qualifying event for the 2007 races. The full list is as follows:

Open Male (Lower than 2:35:00)

Drew Prisner, 33, Houston, 2:32:44

Open Female (Lower than 3:00:00)

Diana Hirst, 31, Houston, 2:59:42

40-49 Male (Lower than 2:49:42)

Bernie Weber, 48, Houston, 2:46:22

40-49 Female (Lower than 3:15:11)

Christie Lammers, 49, Houston, 2:59:54

50-59 Male (Lower than 3:02:47)

Steve Brammer, 52, Katy, 2:58:44

50-59 Female (Lower than 3:32:11)

Carole Uttecht, 50, Houston, 3:29:09

60-69 Male (Lower than 3:19:09)

Kenneth Ruane, 64, Orange, 3:18:11

60-69 Female (Lower than 3:54:33)

Nancy Prejean, 60, The Woodlands, 3:30:38

70 & over Male (Lower than 3:41:18)

Jim Braden, 70, The Woodlands, 3:39:39