Digging Into The Past: The Woodlands Marathon
I think one of the reasons that Bill Dwyer and I get along so well is that we're both information freaks regarding this sport of running (even though I'll claim a few more sports in my past though too).
I e-mailed Bill on Tuesday asking that when he saw Coach Danny Green of The Woodlands (the first winner of the Houston Marathon in 1972) next to find out if he still had all of the results from any of the 14 The Woodlands Marathons that took place between 1978 and 1992. (Coach Green was the co-race director of the event before it was cancelled.)
I get an e-mail back from Bill - other than saying that he'd check with Coach Green - that said, "I think my first marathon was on February 14 in 1980 - The Woodlands Marathon. I'm a pack rat and I still have the cancelled check for the entry fee - $7.00 - and my race number."
Bill later wrote back and said that The Woodlands Inn Marathon took place on Feburary 16, 1980 and that his finish time was 3:44:38. He also added that, "It was cold ... a few snow flurries at the start."
Can you imagine? $7 for a marathon entry fee!
The cheapest that I know of is Steve and Paula Boone's New Year's Day Texas Marathon in Kingwood - at $35! In our immediate area, we now have four (4) marathons including Kingwood, Houston, Surfside Beach and Seabrook Lucky Trails. And they are part of twelve (12) in Texas and there may be a 13th one coming soon.
But The Woodlands Marathon and the Galveston Marathon, which was reported to be the first marathon in Texas and held from the 1960s up until about the same time, are two obviously that have long gone by the wayside; however, one of my many projects is to eventually build an all-time list of winners from those events.
I e-mailed Bill on Tuesday asking that when he saw Coach Danny Green of The Woodlands (the first winner of the Houston Marathon in 1972) next to find out if he still had all of the results from any of the 14 The Woodlands Marathons that took place between 1978 and 1992. (Coach Green was the co-race director of the event before it was cancelled.)
I get an e-mail back from Bill - other than saying that he'd check with Coach Green - that said, "I think my first marathon was on February 14 in 1980 - The Woodlands Marathon. I'm a pack rat and I still have the cancelled check for the entry fee - $7.00 - and my race number."
Bill later wrote back and said that The Woodlands Inn Marathon took place on Feburary 16, 1980 and that his finish time was 3:44:38. He also added that, "It was cold ... a few snow flurries at the start."
Can you imagine? $7 for a marathon entry fee!
The cheapest that I know of is Steve and Paula Boone's New Year's Day Texas Marathon in Kingwood - at $35! In our immediate area, we now have four (4) marathons including Kingwood, Houston, Surfside Beach and Seabrook Lucky Trails. And they are part of twelve (12) in Texas and there may be a 13th one coming soon.
But The Woodlands Marathon and the Galveston Marathon, which was reported to be the first marathon in Texas and held from the 1960s up until about the same time, are two obviously that have long gone by the wayside; however, one of my many projects is to eventually build an all-time list of winners from those events.
posted by WalkSports.com | 10:19 AM
5 Comments:
Ok you got my curiosity peaked. What might be the 13th?
check your email, maybe I should po the woodlands and rd an underground 26.2.
wow, very cool. The historian still hiding out in me somewhere loves this kind of stuff.
Steve, it is where an existing half in the state that may decide to bite off a full!
maybe just north of conroe?
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