6th Marathon Finish at Surfside Beach Yesterday

It's Sunday morning and I've got Gretchen Wilson's "All Jacked Up" playing in the background as I set down to write. No, I'm not the Orkin Man! (We'll leave the desire to destroy to others!)

I'm Mr. Running Endorphin Writer! (An inside joke known only to my closest friends and fellow Houston Running Bloggers RC members.)

The scenery of Surfside Beach, despite the constant 15-to-20 mile per hour winds, was pretty, but nothing about my time was. 5:39:46 (watch) - 5:39:55 (official)! At least I can say on days with less than favorable weather conditions that I'm consistent. And if it weren't for fellow blogger, Edwin Quarles, 39, of Angleton, who was pulling the "Leave No Blogger Behind" duties for the day, it would have been my worse marathon finish ever.

Speaking of "less than favorable weather conditions", here is how Brazosport Facts sportswriter Bill Shaw (and event registration director) described it in this morning's paper: "The strains of the National Anthem echoed from the trumpet of Terry Jensen across the sands of Surfside just before 8 a.m. Saturday as more than 300 runners steeled themselves behind a line in the sand to face a fierce 30 mph wind and the grueling 26.2 miles and 13.1 miles of the second annual Surfside Beach Marathon/Half-Marathon." Works for me!

The plan was for Edwin, like my daughter, Waverly, last week in New Orleans, to meet me at mile 23. I had cratered in miles 17-21 trying to fight the wind that was supposed to be our backs that had turned into a strong crosswind. Edwin joined me just before the mile 21 marker (for which he logged 14.5 miles in total) and kept me on focus to run the majority of the rest of the way in. (I even dropped a runner, from Fort Bend Fit (nice guy), in mile 23. I couldn't catch anybody else though even though I could see Felix Lugo's flag in the distance.)

As a pacer, Edwin did great. He stayed side-by-side the entire way. I told him after the race that I had tried to communicate with Waverly the Sunday before that I needed her just to stay with me whether or not she said a word at all. It's great to have the friends that I do!

I don't spend a lot of time at the beach so I literally have no idea how weather affects it. However, I figured that the rains from the day before would have softened things up a bit. Was I ever wrong? I went with my most recently retired pair of Brooks Beast, figuring that I didn't want to mess up either of the pair that I had in my current rotation and that proved to be a mistake. Lesson learned.

To me running on the beach sand that was packed was almost no different than running on the concrete to which my left ankle took the biggest beating. There's a muscle just to the left of center in the crease of the foot that when you try to bring your toes back toward your leg that is pretty sore. (I'll probably be doing a lot of non-impact work this week and I may not be racing again for a few weeks. Cassie, our 10K challenge may have to wait awhile. I've scratched the Mardi Gras Beach Run from the schedule next weekend and probably will bypass the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run as well.)

Overall, I had a great time in a great atmosphere. BARRA (the Brazosport Area Road Runners Association - Edwin's home club) did a great job in putting on and hosting the event. Most of the water stations were staffed by students with Brazoswood High School's National Honor Society students. The finishers' medal was nice and shaped like a sea shell, but the stone drink coaster - made by Hope Fellowship Church in Lake Jackson and included when you picked your packet up - was nice and different!

Holden Choi (2:04:37), Barbara Boone (2:12:05) and Keith Kelleher (2:26:48) ran the half and Steve Bezner ran the full in 4:07:11. New Houston Running Bloggers RC members James (4:53:40) and Jacyln Dykas (2:51:46) ran the full and half, respectively. It was a pleasure to finally meet both of them! Tons of Striders there as well too. Ted Traynor, 56, ran the full in 3:26:15 and was 6th overall and 3rd in Masters Male. (I think Ted was surprised to see me running the full!)

Tim Bowler finished 5th in his age group in a time of 4:39:48.

Striders who ran the half included Noah Matthews (1:57:26), Lee Baughman (2:21:43), Andrea Chan (2:30:35), Kathy Schaffer (2:26:30), president Sandy Wollangk and Barb Shepard (2:39:43). Noah was way ahead of everyone. I passed Barb right after the last water station before the mile 9 turnaround while Lee passed me in that same area but we basically hit the turnaround point at the same time.

Steve and Paula Boone of the 50 States Marathon Club, as was The Woodlands' Lou Wilson, were there after running the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans last Sunday. Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson also completed his 18th marathon to go with his 10 Sunmart finishes. (Lou and Ken's wives, Nora and Marilyn, respectively, were in attendance as well.)