Nothing Official Yet, But 5:03:05 Here in Little Rock!

I'll post splits later on tonight once I make it to Vancouver and get settled. It's 4:40 a.m. here in Houston, we drove back last night (getting in at 10:30 p.m.) and I'm getting ready to head to the airport.

I'm not disappointed one bit, but I gave away an Austin-like finish in the last 10K. (At mile 20, where I really started to slow down, I was still on target for a 4:48 finish -- on a tough course!) My feet and ankles were taking a beating (trying to figure out if it was all the inclines, being on my feet too much on Saturday or the steep downhill in miles 17-18) and I finished in 5:03:05, which is still my third best of eight (8) marathons.

Briefly, the volunteer and crowd support were awesome! The weather was great - in the 50s all morning - even though it threatened rain during mile 15. (And, yes, the medal is huge!)

The way the course weaved through downtown I was able to see Gena and Waverly four times between miles 4 and 12 -- a big help -- even though I ran 2:17 through the first half (a minute off what I did two weekends ago). Miles 13 through 16 were an uphill, but I didn't lose my time there at all.

The two of them drove out to mile 23, which is where Waverly met me and ran the last three in with me. (She did super and I can't tell you how awesome it is to share in that finish line experience -- now for the fifth time -- Houston Half, two 30Ks, Mardi Gras and Little Rock -- with your child!)

When we got to the Capitol grounds (where the race was staged from), I see Houston's Dr. Jeffrey Ross stretching on the stairs. I recognized him (and he actually had seen me before but just didn't quite know my name), said "Hello!" and we chatted for awhile. I found out that he was running with Governor Huckabee, as he did at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. in October.

I told Dr. Ross that I had read that the Governor had wanted to PR on Sunday and he said that they were planning on running a 4:30 pace. (Talk about a scoop!) We chit-chatted awhile and walked toward the start until he found the Governor. I told him that I knew two of his clients -- Ken Johnson of Huntsville and Lisa Leese. Dr. Ross told me that he ran with Governor Rick Perry in Houston (I believe the two work together on the state's Texas Roundup) and that he and his wife stayed at the Governor's Mansion Saturday night.

We saw Karen Thibodeaux (she was the official race photographer) and Lou Wilson of The Woodlands, who promptly asked me, "Why didn't you run Cowtown last Saturday?"

As it turns out, Governor Huckabee, with Dr. Ross' help (I saw them as I was approaching 20 and they were just past 22), met his goal:

Wearing No. 2008, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 50, running his third marathon after losing 105 pounds two years ago, crossed the finish line in 4:27:17 beating last year’s time by 11 minutes. As Huckabee crossed the finish line with arms high in the air, his wife Janet Huckabee, who walked the half marathon, hung the finisher’s medal around his neck. “I earned that son-of-a-gun,” stated Gov. Huckabee about the medal. “I was on fire today. It was a great run, and I had a great team out there cheering me on and giving me water.”

One of those who gave him high five's about three or four times was Waverly!

It really was a great weekend and I still have lots to share from Saturday -- some comments from Bart Yasso's presentation and some things we learned from his wife, Laura -- and a little more from Sunday!