Houston Running: Sustala fastest; Stilwell most consistent at 10 Milers

Houston Running

One of the leading sources for the discussion of Houston-area (and Texas as well) road racing. Focus and attention will be given to Houston-area runners, specifically HARRA members, that compete in outside-of-the-area events as well as those who do interesting things that aren't captured in the various media outlets, such as Inside Texas Running, Runner Triathlete News and Roberta MacInnis' Running Notebook in the Houston Chronicle (all fine publications and columns but with limitations too).

About Me

Name: WalkSports.com

Location: Spring, Texas, United States

I'm a mid-to-the back of the pack runner who probably enjoys promoting runners more than I do running myself ... I've completed 21 marathons (with a 4:47:32 PR! in Austin) and 52 half marathons (with a 2:09:58 PR! in Oregon) since November 2003 ... I've done a marathon in 12 states, half marathon in 23 and an event in 30 states and one Canadian province ... I have a 13-year-old daughter, Waverly Nicole, who completed her first half marathon in January 2006, made only two B's each of the last two years, was the only sixth grader to sing a solo (Carrie Underwood's Don't Forget To Remember Me) in their choir program (adding Taylor Swift's Tim McGraw in '08) and scored a 19 on the ACT in December 2007 as a seventh grader ... Waverly and I are members of the following clubs -- the Seven Hills Running Club, HARRA and The Woodlands Running Club ... I'm Marathon Maniac #308 ... I edit HARRA's Footprints in Inside Texas Running and write a column for Runner Triathlete News called, "Talking the Talk" ... I'm also the running columnist for the Courier of Montgomery County ... I'm a three-time winner of TAPPS' Sportswriter of the Year Award as well as TABC's Golden Hoops Award.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Sustala fastest; Stilwell most consistent at 10 Milers

Twelve (12) area runners decided to do both Ten For Texas and United Space Alliance 10-Miler this weekend.

35-year-old Christopher Sustala had the fastest combined time and I, thank goodness, wasn't the slowest. However, I need to reinvent myself like Sustala did. His incredible story, which I knew about, is here.

Sustala was 18th at Ten For Texas with a time of 1:05:54 and 77th at the USA 10 Miler in 1:10:23.

HARRA past president Tom Stilwell had the least amount of slip in times of the dozen runners. Stilwell was 30th in The Woodlands with a 1:08:28 showing while finishing two spots ahead of Sustala in 75th with a time of 1:10:04 -- a slip of just 1:36 over the entire 10 miles.

Here's the complete listing (ranked by overall time for 20 miles):

2:16:17 - Christopher Sustala, 35, male, 1:05:54 and 1:10:23
2:18:32 - Tom Stilwell, 37, male, 1:08:28 and 1:10:04
2:33:26 - Lent Rhodes, 38, male, 1:11:09 and 1:22:17
2:36:13 - German Collazos, 48, male, 1:15:32 and 1:20:41
2:36:34 - Yong Collins, 51, female, 1:17:46 and 1:19:48
3:06:43 - Leona Guy, 43, female, 1:30:40 and 1:36:03
3:08:01 - Devin Brown, 14, male, 1:19:06 and 1:48:55
3:11:36 - Kimberly Pilcher, 43, female, 1:22:19 and 1:49:17
3:15:46 - Ken Harris, 55, male, 1:33:36 and 1:42:10
3:23:38 - Felix Lugo, 50, male, 1:37:10 and 1:46:28
3:37:26 - Jon Walk, 39, male, 1:43:06 and 1:54:20
3:48:05 - Steven Stinemetz, 48, male, 1:52:11 and 1:55:54

Runners ranked by time difference between the two races:

1:36 - Stilwell
2:02 - Collins
3:33 - Stinemetz
4:29 - Sustala
5:09 - Collazos
5:23 - Guy
8:34 - Harris
9:18 - Lugo
11:08 - Rhodes
12:14 - Walk
26:58 - Pilcher
29:49 - Brown

Why did I do both? To prove that I could (as I did half marathons on back-to-back days last April 30 and May 1, 2005) and to support both races - and friends.