Sunmart Invited Runner Pre-Race Profiles Part #4

Mark Lundblad, 38, North Carolina, (50K)
Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon, 2006, 1st
JFK 50-Mile, 2005, 5th
Personal best marathon time of 2:36

Thoughts on ultrarunning: “I didn't start running ultras until 2003 as my background was mostly in road marathons and shorter distances. I enjoy the ultra running atmosphere and comradeship amongst ultra runners that you don't experience as much in other running distances. I like to test myself, set goals and I'm always looking for new challenges so ultra running takes care of that desire. Running for me is a great release from life's daily stresses. The "cake" part of running for me is to maintain my physical well-being while being a competitive runner and racing is the "icing" on that cake.”

Kim Martin, 41, Ohio (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2003, 3rd
Kentucky Ultra Trail Sojourn 50K, 2006, 1st
Umstead 50-Mile, 2006, 1st
Mohican 100-Mile, 2006, 1st

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “I look forward to Sunmart every year. It has always been my favorite race and is a great way to end the year. No matter how well I perform, I always consider it well worth the trip. I truly believe it is the best race around. Running is such an important part of my life for many reasons. The main one is all the great people I have met and friends I have made through running and racing. Sunmart is a great example of that. I am excited to meet old friends, make new ones, and to run a great race.”

Howard Nippert, 41, Virginia, (50-Mile)
IAU 100K World Championship, Seoul, South Korea, 2006, 5th
Myrtle Beach Marathon, 2006, 2nd
IAU 100K World Championship, 2005, 8th
JFK 50-Mile, 2005, 1st

Thoughts on ultrarunning: “I've told young athletes and those just starting out running that "It never gets easier. It just gets faster." This is especially true of ultra marathon running. Running an ultra marathon is the toughest thing most people will ever do. When you get the hook in you and decide you want to run another one, the next one is no easier. But, if you prepare for it right, it will be faster and the feeling of success and confidence it builds makes you train harder for the next one. Whether you're leading the race or in the middle of the pack, an all-out and total effort makes you hurt so bad. But when you improve from a previous performance or achieve a personal goal that you've set for yourself, you realize that it hurts so good. The pain is short lived compared to the pride you feel from such an accomplishment.”

Coming on Friday: Tania Pacev, Roy Pirrung, Bob Pokorny

More Photo Fun

I bought some pictures a couple of evenings ago from Karen Thibodeaux. I have been meaning to for some time, but finally had some time to follow through.

It was then that I was browsing the HMSA Classical 25K pictures.

As I opened up the TXU Energy Trot pictures and was browsing through the "Unidentified" start pictures, I came across this picture of a guy with an Al Lawrence Running Club singlet "checking out" Lisa Tilton-McCarthy.

Lisa's been having a heck of a fall in both road races and triathlons, but I'm sure he wasn't thinking of the place that she came in during the 10-Miler, Half Marathon or the 25K.

Sunmart Invited Runner Pre-Race Profiles Part #3

Oleg Kharitonov, 38, Russia (50-Mile)
IAU 100km World Cup, Misari-Seoul, South Korea, 2006, tied with countryman Denis Zhalybin for second
Comrades 100K, 2006, 1st
IAU World Cup 100K, 2005, 1st
Holder of the World Record in 100 miles set in London in 2002 at 11:28:03

Thoughts about ultrarunning: “Ultrarunning is a state of mind rather than sport, because it has to do with your psychology rather than with your physique. Success in ultrarunning is hardly a matter of talent only, as it takes you a lot of time and effort to achieve good results. Just look at the top ultrarunners, and you will find very few people below 30-years-of-age among them.”

Hal Koerner, 30, Washington, (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2005, 2nd
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2004, 2nd
Angeles Crest 100, 2006, 1st
Whiskeytown 50k, 2006, 1st

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “Once again, "The Sunmart 50 is one of the most runner friendly races around, from the pre-race meal to the goody bag and the finisher prizes it is on a different plane. I thoroughly enjoy seeing old friends from around the country and meeting new faces that otherwise might not make it out to my neck of the woods. The weather is quite perfect for December running and Roger and his volunteers keep everything primed as far as the trail is concerned. I think I'm craving the Start/Finish chuck wagon as we speak."

Anne Riddle Lundblad, 40, North Carolina, (50-Mile)
IAU World Cup 100K Misari, Korea, 2006, 6th
Rattlesnake 50K, 2006, 1st
USATF National Championship 50K, 2006, 1st
Mountain Masochist Trail Run, 2005, 1st
Salem Lakeshore Frosty 50K, 2006, 1st
JFK 50-Mile, 2005, 1st
IAU 100K World Cup, 2005, 2nd

Thoughts on ultrarunning: “I began running 26 years ago and gradually worked my way through the distances until I ended up running ultras. I am probably known best for my accomplishments in road ultras, but I love the beauty and solitude of the trails. I enjoy the simplicity of the sport as well as the opportunity to challenge myself to run faster and farther.”

Coming on Thursday: Mark Lundblad, Kim Martin, Howard Nippert

Funny Race Picture from the HMSA Classical 25K

As I've stated before, I like to scan through race pictures so that I can put faces with names of runners that I don't already know. (I also check out photos of runners that I know too!)

One of the funniest moments of the day is captured in this picture (link) of my good friend and HARRA Footprints writer, Edwin Quarles.

Edwin is rounding the SE corner to begin his last lap of the 25K and HARRA President Anna Sumrall Helm can be seen within striking distance. I remember hollering out something to the effect, "You better get a move on it or the President is going to catch you." (If you click on the "next" button, you'll see that he's got a pretty big smile on his face.)

The other thing that is funny to see in pictures is when a guy is captured checking out the attractive woman that just passed him!

I suppose I'd get in trouble if I canvassed HARRA members for a Footprints story to list their top 10 "most athletic" male and female runners.

Wow! Houston Marathon Now Sold Out!

It is 12:43 a.m. on November 29, 2006 and the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon is now sold out!

Monday night the website was posted at 98%, which meant that there were 300 spots remaining. Sometime during the day today, it went to 99%.

I hope all of you who expected to get in where able to do so!

If you really have to run a marathon that weekend, there are four (4) other ones going on. They are as follows:

1/13 - 11th annual Musuem of Aviation Foundation Marathon, Warner Robins, GA, $40
1/14 - P.F. Chang Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon, Phoenix, $110 (Ouch!)
1/14 - Legg Mason Funds First Light Marathon, Mobile, AL, $50
1/14 - Redding (California) Marathon, $54

I'd be curious to find out your thoughts - posted in comments (with your name please) - on Houston's decision to have a cap when others in the state, such as San Antonio, White Rock, Cowtown and AT&T Austin don't.

Earlier this year, I couldn't make plans to run Austin because of my project situation in Vancouver, BC. But, thank goodness I was able physically to run it and then go over to Austin and register the day before. Granted I'm in the minority (even among 50 staters), but I'm glad that I had that option -- which I was able to turn into my best marathon ever!

Half Yasso 800 Workout Tonight

I went up to Knox Junior High in The Woodlands this evening to run with Bill Dwyer and Kim Hager's marathon and half marathon groups, which is joined by Carol Steele and Dana-Sue Crews' Team Woodlands Team In Training groups.

The e-mail said: "VO2 Max Run - 5 x 800 in 4 minutes with a 3-minute recovery. 1.5 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down."

I didn't let the 4-minute requirement deter me from showing up! The only problem was that I had a little bit of a hard time getting to the Junior High track. (Trust me, it was tough to get to. You could see it from one street, but you couldn't get to it from there.) Therefore, I had one lap of warm-up instead of six (6).

Kim had the right idea in mind when she suggested that maybe I only do four instead of five, but I replied that "I'm kind of stubborn."

The bottom line is this: In a group, I don't want any special treatment.

Granted I should have warmed up a little more just from an injury prevention standpoint (especially given that I'm working on getting my back and hamstrings straightened out), but there's something to be said for being part of a group and doing the same workout (even though I might not do it at the same speed).

I didn't record the separate laps in each 800, but here are how the splits looked like:

First 800 -- 4:28.38
Recovery -- 3:05.55
Second 800 -- 4:27.72
Recovery -- 3:44.92
Third 800 -- 4:39.34
Recovery -- 3:13.06
Fourth 800 -- 4:39.67
Recovery -- 4:08.77
Fifth 800 -- 4:43.02

The recovery times were a little inconsistent because there were two groups running. The slower group would start after the faster group started their second lap. When we started either the third or the fourth 800, I think Bill said something about trying to catch the group in front of us. I replied that "if I catch them, you better call the Chronicle." That solicited a couple of chuckles. :)

I was happy with the workout. Yesterday, I had an hour workout on the elliptical trainer and an additional 33 minutes on the stationery bike (after my visit to the chiropractor).

On the fifth 800, the first lap was 2:27 or 2:28 (which I hated hearing). Probably because the very first one of the evening was 2:08 or 2:09. So I was hoping that I could beat that on the last lap without killing myself. I was running with a young lady who was about a foot shorter than I. We were pacing off of each other. We stayed together all of the first lap.

We got down the first straightaway and into the first turn when I tried to make a little bit of a move. She stayed right with me though and edged ahead coming out of the turn into the other straightaway. She got ahead of me on the back side, but as we went into the last turn I thought that it was time to try and finish strong (and see if she would follow.)

This part was good from a mental standpoint because of the races that I ran on Friday and Saturday where I got passed in the last tenth of a mile. My body really felt like slowing down, but I tried to beat the girl that I was running with and did.

I motored, as much as a big guy could, and did the last lap in 2:15.

The star of the day, however, was Waverly. Since she's doing the Jingle Bell Run on the 10th of December (5 miles), we were going to run long on Thursday before I headed back to Vancouver.

She did about 6 5/8 laps on the track at school today in 20 minutes. So after doing a warmup lap with me, she proceeded to do another 11 laps -- for a total of almost 4.5 miles today.

When she passed by Bill during Run The Woodlands 5K #166 on Saturday morning, she said to him, "I really need to keep training." (Bill had shared that at a The Woodlands Running Club meeting Sunday afternoon and they chuckled about it this evening.)

(At about 11:15 p.m., I went back out in the subdivision and logged an additional 4.1 miles in a slow and steady 49:02.91.)

Sunmart Invited Runner Pre-Race Profiles Part #2

Connie Gardner, 43, Ohio (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2005, 2nd
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2004, 1st
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2003, 2nd
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2002, 1st
Rocky Raccoon 100 mile, National Trail Championship, 2006, 1st
Umstead 100-Mile, 2006, 1st
Toronto 100K, 2006, 1st
100K Umstead, N.C., 2005, 1st
100K Silver Comet, Atlanta, Ga., 2005, 1st
Capon Valley 50K, 2005, 1st
Youngstown 50K, 2005, 1st
Punxsutawney 50K, 2005, 1st
Named 2003 Ultra Runner of the Year by USA Track and Field

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “When December comes I look forward to making the trip to Texas for my final race of the year. Everyone is well taken care of from the pre-race dinner, to the race morning breakfast and finally the post race barbecue. We get to attend a weekend long party of ultrarunners with a competitive race in the middle. Sunmart is one of the best organized, probably the best organized, ultra in the country.”

Mark Godale: 36, Ohio, (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2001, 1st
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2002, 2nd
100K World Masters Championship, Argentina, 2005, 1st
USATF 50-Mile Championship, 2005, 2nd
USATF 100-Mile Trail Championship, 2005, 2nd

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “I suffered a broken fibula in 2004, and it’s been really hard getting back into running. But, I feel very fortunate to be running again. I think Sunmart is at the top of the list of big things in Texas. I love running in Texas. Sunmart is the best ultra in the US. I hope I will be able to run it until I can't run anymore. Hopefully that's not any time soon!”

Jim Harrington, 41, Michigan (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50K (2004 and 2005, 3rd, 2001-2003, 2nd, 1998, 2nd, 1999, 3rd, 2000, 4th)
Grand Island Trail Marathon, 2006, 1st
Green Bay Marathon, 2006, 11th
Lake Superior Shore Trail Run Half Marathon, 2006, 3rd

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “There are so many great elements to running Sunmart. The people and volunteers are what make this event so special. They have made the event one of the best in the country. Everything including the event organization, trail and the food are really outstanding! I have run for the past seven years and it keeps getting better. I know I can count on great support on the trail and hope to run the 50 mile this year.”

Coming on Wednesday: Oleg Kharitonov, Hal Koerner, Anne Riddle Lundblad

Sunmart Invited Runner Pre-Race Profiles Part #1

As I lined out on Sunday, thanks to Sunmart race publicist (and Inside Texas Running columnist) John Welch, trail runners this week can get an early glimpse here at "Houston Running" of the backgrounds of some of the top invited runners that will race next Saturday, December 9th in Huntsville State Park.

Eric Bindner, 50, Colorado, (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2005, 7th
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2004, 5th
Turquoise Lake 20-Mile Snowshoe Run, 2006, 4th
Copperman Mountain Marathon, 2006, 1st
Zane Gray 50-Mile Trail Race, 2006, 1st master
Leadville 100, 2006, 1st master

Thoughts on Sunmart: “Some people think of ultra running as obsessive. I disagree! Running ultras requires a unique blend of stretching what we may think of as our physical and mental limits. For me, running trails, especially above timberline, can be almost magical in the way that I can totally lose track of time and distance. Sunmart is the place to be in December! It's a place to compete against top ultra runners from all over the world, yet it's a race that makes runners of all abilities feel very welcome. No one puts on a better race than Sunmart.”

Greg Crowther, 33, Washington (50-Mile)
Vancouver International Marathon, 2006, 3rd
World Cup 100K in Lake Saroma, Japan, 2005, 20th/3rd American
White River 50-Mile, 2005, 3rd

Thoughts on ultrarunning: “To me, one of the remarkable things about ultramarathoners is the extent to which most of them encourage and support each other. It's as if the ordeal of running 30, 50, or 100 miles drains the competitive instincts right out of them, leaving only sympathy and admiration for their fellow athletes. As a relative newcomer to ultras, I have yet to fully understand this altruism. During a race, if I've already run 30+ miles, I become more protective of my ranking and time, not less so; my attitude, childish though it may be, is: "I've worked hard to reach this position, and nobody's going to take it away from me!" After the race, I'm simply too exhausted to cheer for others with genuine enthusiasm. Perhaps someday I'll become less selfish. In the meantime, though, if I have to out kick my mother for the overall win, well, sorry, Mom, but you're going down and that's all there is to it.”

Scott Eppelman, 40, Texas, (50-Mile)
Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50-Mile, 2004, 4th
Sunmart 50K, 2003, 5th
Sunmart 50-Mile, 2002, 4th
IAU 24-Hour World Challenge, Taipei, Taiwan, 2006, 44th place with 117.66-miles
Sulphur Springs 100 Mile, 2006, 1st place

Thoughts on running Sunmart: “Sunmart always feels to me like a blend of the best of old & new in ultrarunning. The "old" part is the homecoming atmosphere, with so many friends from all over to see among the runners. Also, I get to relive memories of my first Sunmart (1996), which was my first big ultra. Back then Texas was a big, faraway place, not my home state. What's new are the improvements in the race each year, and seeing new faces and up-and-coming stars in the ultra world. With its history, Sunmart bridges the past and future of our great sport.”

Coming on Tuesday: Connie Gardner, Mark Godale and Jim Harrington

1st annual Willis Wildkat 5K, December 16

Here's a 5K that even Bonnie Jo Barron might not have heard about yet ....

1st Annual Willis Wildkat 5K
Proceeds go to the Willis High School Cross Country Booster Club
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Anchorage Marina, Anchorage Marina Drive, west of I-45 at the end of F.M. 830

7:00 a.m. - Registration
8:00 a.m. - 5K Road Race
9:00 a.m. - 1-Mile Kids Fun Run / Walk

5K is $15 includes a T-shirt and refreshments.
The Kids Fun Run is $2 and includes refreshments.

Awards for the 5K include the top 3 male and female in each of the following age groups:
13-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70 and up

Awards for the 1 mile Kids Fun Run (12 and Under) go to the top 10 finishers

For more information, please contact coach Dana Fossmo at (936) 859-1299 or e-mail him at dfossmo@willisisd.org or Barbara Nichols at (936) 856-7636.

2.1 Sunday Evening with the Red-Headed Princess

Just a nice and easy 2.1-mile run around the neighborhood this evening with Waverly.

Waverly's Runs To-Date
11/15/06 -- 27:56.02, 2.1 miles (13:18 per mile; 41:19 5K)
11/19/06 -- 26:10.97, 2.1 miles (12:28 per mile; 38:44 5K) - intervals at every 5 minutes
11/21/06 -- 10:54, 1 mile time trial (at Meyer Park)
11/23/06 -- 27:07.68, 2.1 miles (12:54 per mile; 40:01 5K) - 80% extertion
11/25/06 -- 38:35 5K race at RTW #166
11/26/06 -- 26:51.01, 2.1 miles (12:47 per mile; 39:43 5K)

Waverly's next race is going to be the Chevron Jingle Bell Run on Sunday afternoon, December 10th. Then she'll do RTW #168 and #169 on December 23rd and January 6th, respectively, before doing the Houston Press/Smart Financial 5K on Sunday, January 14th.

Sunmart Invited Runners Profiles

Over the next week, I'm privileged to be able to share with you daily - thanks to Sunmart race publicist John Welch - the profiles of some of the top invited runners that will be descending upon Huntsville, Texas in less than two (2) weeks.

November 27th - Eric Binder, Greg Crowther, Scott Eppelman (Texan)
November 28th - Connie Gardner, Mark Godale, Jim Harrington
November 29th - Oleg Kharitonov, Hal Koerner, Anne Riddle Lundblad
November 30th - Mark Lundblad, Kim Martin, Howard Nippert
December 1st - Tania Pacev, Roy Pirrung, Bob Pokorny
December 2nd - Wendy Terris (Texan), Denis Zhalybin

In other news, Montrail has designated Sunmart as a Montrail UltraCup race (3rd of 7) that will now be an automatic qualifier for the 2007 Western States 100 (WS 100), the most prestigious ultra-marathon in the world!

The top three male and female finishers gain the opportunity to race at Western States (please read the guidelines below) without going through the standard lottery.

Sunmart Registration - Steve Jones, Pre-Race Speaker

Just one week -- through Sunday, December 3rd -- remains to register online for the 2006 Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50K/50-Mile, to be held on Saturday, December 9th at Huntsville State Park.

The last day to register is December 8th onsite at packet pickup, which is from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton North, 15700 JFK Blvd., Houston, Texas (281-442-5100) near Bush Intercontinental Airport. (Race organizers indicate that your packet can be picked up by someone else, but they must sign for it!) The banquet dinner (time to be announced) is free for all participants (additional dinner tickets can be bought at packet pickup for $10) and a race briefing and guest speaker will follow.

Thanks to information shared by Sunmart race publicist John Welch, the guest speaker at this year's pre-race banquet will be Welshman Steve Jones, a former world marathon record holder.

Jones, who began his career as an aircraft technician in the British Royal Air Force, began training for the marathon in 1983 after a noteworthy career at 10,000 meters. In 1984, he ran his first competitive marathon at Chicago, finishing in a victorious 2 hours, 8 minutes, 5 seconds. Jones’ time broke the World Record previously set by Australian Rob de Castella.

Jones also won the London Marathon a year later in 1985 in a personal best time of 2:07:13, which missed the World Record by 1 second. In 1986, he won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal at 10,000 meters. Jones was the first Welsh athlete to appear on the cover of the prestigious running magazine, "Running Times." He currently lives and trains in Boulder, Colo.

5 Original Montgomery County Triple Winners

From left to right -- Andrew Perry, Bill Dwyer, Scott Sexton, Rick Cook and Jon Walk. (Photo courtesy of Debbie Tripp.)

Sexton, Cook and myself earned the Triple by running all three of the events. Perry ran the middle two -- the Run Thru The Woods 5M and the Run The Woodlands 5K #166 -- and was the RD with his cousin, Scott Perry, and City of Conroe Parks and Recreation Department's Michael Cantu.

Dwyer did Run Thru The Woods on Thursday and went the first mile of the City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K before having his charley horses keep him from going much further. However, he ended up volunteering for the latter two events to also earn the Triple award.

Bill, though, has a signature piece. His middle pine cone has been gnawed down to represent what he finished -- or rather, a DNF. (Bill: Take care of those charley horses so that you can run with your daughter on Marathon Day!)

TWRC Hardware Winners at Run Thru The Woods

While Lou Wilson barely missed out on a third place AG award, president Scott Campbell, Jim Braden and Nora Wilson took home hardware in their respective divisions -- 55-59 Men, 65+ Men and 50-54 Women. (Photo courtesy of Russell Meyer.)

Run Thru The Woods 5M Masters winner Gerardo Mora

Recently-turned Masters runner Gerardo Mora, 40, is not easily amused at me trying to convince him to take up my training methods after he won the Masters division at the Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler on Thanksgiving Day in The Woodlands! (Seriously, Gerardo is really a good guy and I consider it a privilege to be able to have such a positive relationship with many of the top runners in the greater Houston area.)

(Photo courtesy of Russell Meyer)

Run The Woodlands 5K #166 Race Report

Congratulations not only goes out to Gabriel Rodriguez for his win today with a time of 15:56 (and his return to racing after being "pregnant",) but more importantly to his wife, Perla (who really was pregnant,) as she delivered their second daughter two weeks ago!

(I think I'm safe in saying that we'll see Gabriel, store manager at Finish Strong Sports' original store on Memorial Drive, take a shot at Luis Armenteros' course mark of 15:18 sometime in 2007 as he said that today's race was to see "where my fitness is.")

The Houston Striders' Rachel Guenther, who is coached by Bruce Glikin, won for her seventh time at RTW this year with a time of 20:28.

And a winner in another right is my 11-year-old daughter, Waverly, as she did her first 5K since August as she gets ready for the Houston Press/Smart Financial 5K on January 14, 2007. Three months ago when she competed in RTW #159, the competition between the Seven Hills Running Club and the Houston Running Bloggers, she finished in 43:38.

Her recent runs suggested perhaps a 38:44 5K. However, she bettered that target with a time of 38:35 today!

Waverly's Runs To-Date
11/15/06 -- 27:56.02, 2.1 miles (13:18 per mile; 41:19 5K)
11/19/06 -- 26:10.97, 2.1 miles (12:28 per mile; 38:44 5K) - intervals at every 5 minutes
11/21/06 -- 10:54, 1 mile time trial (at Meyer Park)
11/23/06 -- 27:07.68, 2.1 miles (12:54 per mile; 40:01 5K) - 80% extertion
11/25/06 -- 38:35 5K race at RTW #166

I wish my improvement could be as well tracked as hers; however, I ran yet another lackluster race. I felt strong for the first three of the 5 miles on Thursday and I ran the whole way on Friday, but perhaps I just ran out of gas today.

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. It was 31:25.29.

The splits were as follows - 9:39.44, 10:18.13, 10:27.44 and 1:00.28.

I've got to find out where those 8:50-something first miles followed by the 9:20 second miles are. (Maybe I'll get a bead on them Tuesday night. 2:15 quarters to reach a 9-minute mile.)

I was coming in to make the turn into the Barbara Bush Elementary School parking lot and Bill Dwyer was standing there and said, "Debbie's (Tripp) setting you up for a sprint to the finish." I think I said, "She can have it." And honestly, I did. She had a good kick to the end that even if I had tried - instead of running the equivalent of a 10-minute mile the last .1 - I don't believe that I would have gotten her.

The one thing that I like about Run The Woodlands 5K is that it is a great family event too. Evidence the following:

+ Paul (father), Alex (son) and Kyle (son) Brundage
+ Brian (husband) and Ale (wife) Cretul
+ Gary (husband) and Denise (wife) Van Kuiken
+ Joseph (father) and Jacob (son) Mazone - (4th and 5th overall)
+ Troy (husband) and Daniela (wife) Quast
+ David (father) and Ryan (son) Albright
+ Kati (sister) and Erin (sister) Miller
+ Tim (father) and Eric (son) Vibrock
+ Jon (father) and Waverly (daughter) Walk

+ Jim (husband) and Karen (wife) Braden - Jim ran and Karen manned the TWRC table.
+ Brad (husband) and Susie (wife) Schreiber - Susie was the RD and Brad did the clock.

Some other notes from today's race:

+ Bret Ramsey has been running really well of late, especially after top 15 finishes in the Koala/Luke's Houston Half Marathon and the HMSA Classical 25K. He was second to John Hedengren at the Sugar Land Turkey Trot on Thursday and finished second today in 17:36.
+ Holden Choi ran the race today with 16 other miles sandwiched around it. (Rick Cook ran with him the first two before cooking it on in.)
+ Cook's neighbor, Karen Felicidario, ran her third race in two weeks and finished with a nice and steady 29:41 effort after a 51:10 showing yesterday.
+ Carlos Ortegon, John Soul and Jim Braden all got to run with a marathon winner today. The trio finished within three seconds of each other as they also finished with Ann Leoni, who won the women's division of the Louisiana Trails Marathon last Saturday in Shreveport in 5:15:51. (This time last year, Ann qualified for Boston at Memphis' St. Jude's Marathon.)

39 finish The Woodlands 2-fer Turkey Day

Forty-one (41) times since 2000, runners have finished the Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler on Thanksgiving Day and Run The Woodlands 5K two days later.

It's been dubbed as "The Woodlands 2-fer Turkey Day" but may get changed to "The Woodlands Double" (to coincide with the "Montgomery County Triple.")

This morning at Run The Woodlands 5K #166 won by Gabriel Rodriguez (15:56) and Rachel Guenther (20:28), 39 runners -- out of today's 59 finishers -- had completed both races in the previous 48 hours.


The fastest combined time from the two (2) events belonged to 19-year-old Conroe resident Andrew Perry, who covered the 8.1 miles in 49 minutes, 16 seconds.

The complete list can be found here -- http://www.walksports.com/rtw2ferturkeyday.htm

Those individuals who have done the two races in the same year multiple times are listed below:
3 -- Tom Pinney, Stephen Smith, Debbie Tripp, Tim Vibrock, Jeff Westergren
2 -- Vincent Attanucci, Jim Braden, Rick Cook, Tom Hippe, Robert MacLeod, Mike Mendeck, Andrew Perry, Ed Springer
(Photo courtesy of Debbie Tripp)

City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K Pictures

Rick Cook was enriched $25 by his Masters win. Sunmart's next!


I was more enriched by a sweaty race shirt - and getting pipped.
But I look decent ... for once.

(Photos courtesy of Bill Dwyer.)

Montgomery County Triple Award

Courtesy of the creativity of Rick Cook, we will have an "informal" yet fun award for all of those tomorrow who either ran or worked the Montgomery County Triple -- Run Thru The Woods 5M, City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K and Run The Woodlands 5K.

It was created in the same spirit of the Texas Trilogy Award that is given by Bandera and Rocky Raccoon 50/100M RD Joe Prusaitis to finishers of the Sunmart 50M, Bandera 100K and the Rocky Raccoon 100M.

However, Rick's design takes into account a few things:

+ We live in or on the outskirts of the piney woods of east Texas. (The pine cone)
+ The official mascot of The Woodlands is - I kid you not - Puffy, the Pine Cone. (See picture here!)
+ Conroe got started in 1881 with the establishment of a sawmill. (The use of 2x4's)

But ... we will not also be giving out computer monitors to with it!

Hager Adds Yet Another Hometown Race to Win Column

Thursday's 17th annual GE Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler certainly was a race that 35-year-old The Woodlands resident Kim Hager could win.

In 2003, Hager finished second to future Houston Marathon winner, Kelly Keane.

It's just that yesterday's win wasn't originally in the game plan.

The mother of two, who ran with her 6-year-old Hannah in the kids 1-mile race just 30 minutes before the start of the 5-mile race, was using Thursday's event as a training run with specific instructions from her coach.

Somewhere on the course, it kicked in that Hager wanted to make sure that somebody from The Woodlands won the event and figured -- it might as well have been her.

Cruising across the finish line in a time of 30:36.5, Hager easily defeated 26-year-old Andrea Kaylor (2nd, 31:28.6) and 36-year-old Krista Blevins (3rd, 32;33.8).

The girls cross country coach at College Park High School, Kaylor, in May, ran the Congress Avenue Mile in Austin in 5:09.05 -- good for second among all women. The former Andrea Bookout, Kaylor is a The Woodlands HS graduate who ran for Texas A&M and was the 1998 UIL 5A state champion in the 800 meters (2:12).

Blevins, at 31, ran the 2002 Las Vegas International Marathon in 3:05:46 followed by a 3:01:27 showing that fall at the Chicago Marathon.

Last month, Hager - with Ironman Florida in between - also won the return to The Woodlands of the Ten For Texas 10-Miler. (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

2nd annual City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K; Cook takes Masters Male

The day after Thanksgiving, Rick Cook, Bill Dwyer and myself met at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands at 6:45 a.m. to take part in the second race of the Montgomery County Thanksgiving Triple -- the 2nd annual City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K!

I don't even remember where I originally saw the event listed before going to find it on the City of Conroe's website. We got there a little after 7 a.m. and met up with our good friend, Andrew Perry, who is a Caney Creek HS graduate and works at Luke's Locker.

As we made our way back in to Joe Barton Park, we saw that Andrew already had the Luke's start and finish scaffolding that was up for the Koala/Luke's Houston Half Marathon (and two weekends ago at Run The Woodlands 5K #165.)

All three of us registered and then spoke at length to Andrew's cousin, Scott Perry, who works for the City of Conroe and ran the event last year. (They had 9 runners.)

This year, they got Luke's involved as well as Chick-fil-A in Conroe (1321 W. Davis St.) and a couple of other local business including Willis Spine & Rehab as well as the Trophy House in Conroe. They did the really nice awards for the event.

The race was a cross country course that included two loops around the park's softball, baseball and soccer fields. It was pretty flat - much on par to the cross country race that I did back in September at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands - and had some concrete trails and sand on the course.

Since the scaffolding structures were set far apart in a clearing between these two tree lines, I had the chance to toe the starting line without interfering with any faster runners. (And did I pay after a couple of tenths of a mile for the too quick of a start.)

I passed the first mile marker in 9:58.49. I thought to myself that maybe I shouldn't have done those 2 miles last night, but it was more that Waverly needed the work and I hadn't run on the grass surface that far in awhile.

I eventually made it through the first loop in 16:12.19 - knowing that it wasn't going to be a promising overall time.

Just after starting the second loop and before I reached the mile 2 marker, I saw Bill walking back with his camera. He said that he had a charley horse in his right leg and that he couldn't continue.

I made it to the mile 2 marker at 20:41.89 -- a second mile of 10:43.40. However, I now had company! There were three runners -- two young ladies (in their 20's) and their dad. They were having a nice little conversation going on and me -- well, I could have talked but I was a little bent that they were drafting off of me.

I stayed to the white chalking in the grass almost at all times, which put me in the middle of the route. However, once when I thought they were going to pass me, I went to the closest tangent (to also avoid running in some sand.) But it was to be short-lived.

At what I would estimate to be about 2.9 miles, one of the daughters went past me. In the last .05 mile, I got pipped by the other daughter and the father.

Mile three came in at 11:20.74 while the last tenth a mile went down in 1:09.37 for a total time of 33:12.00.

We stayed around and chatted for quite a bit. Andrew made sure that we got T-shirts. (They gave one to everybody that pre-registered, which is completely fair.) However, what was funny is that they made an announcement that they were going to sell any that they had left for $8.

I understand all about ordering to make sure that you have enough, etc. I told Bill that if they didn't have enough to go around for everyone that pre-registered to do a "have to be present to win" drawing. About 10 minutes later, Andrew (who we hadn't talked to) gave us each one as it is what they had leftover.

The sponsor - Trophy House - had some very well done age-group medals and engraved them on the back with "City of Conroe 5K Turkey Trot". They had them in gold, silver and bronze. My bronze one looks pretty nice!

Yes, that's right. I took third in my age group -- out of three! (I know as we help get the word out for them next year that it will change.)

Rick though not only took first in his age group, but he also won Masters Male! This earned him a trophy and a $25 gift certificate to Luke's Locker. (I think Rick's time was 24:09.) He'll race tomorrow and then begin his buildup for his third attempt at a 100-miler in February for Rocky Raccoon.

(It's 6:38 p.m. I get an e-mail. Cook wins a trophy with a gobbling turkey on top of it and he wants me to record his splits! 7:39, 7:28, 8:04 and 51 seconds for the 24:09.)

We had a great time and it is something that we'd love to get more people into doing with us next year!

Brief Turkey Day Recap

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, especially those that have become my friend during the time that I have become involved in this sport!

I ran the 17th annual Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler this morning in The Woodlands before visits to my parents and my in-laws. I'm slowly getting my endurance back. Ran the entire five miles without even making a water stop. My watch time was 51:36.25, but the course was rumored to be anywhere from 5.18 to 5.2 miles (and these were runners with Garmins that know how to run a certified course.) If it was really that, then I was under 10 minutes a mile.

Steve Magness and Kim Hager were the overall winners at Run Thru The Woods. Sean Wade and Heidy Lozano won the TXU Energy Turkey Trot 10K in Uptown Park. John Hedengren and Brazoswood HS runner Lauren Smith won the Sugar Land Turkey Trot 5-Miler.

Waverly and I did our 2.1 mile course this evening in the subdivision. She'll do Run The Woodlands 5K #166 on Saturday.

Waverly's Runs To-Date

11/15/06 -- 27:56.02, 2.1 miles (13:18 per mile; 41:19 5K)
11/19/06 -- 26:10.97, 2.1 miles (12:28 per mile; 38:44 5K) - intervals at every 5 minutes
11/21/06 -- 10:54, 1 mile time trial (at Meyer Park)
11/23/06 -- 27:07.68, 2.1 miles (12:54 per mile; 40:01 5K) - 80% extertion

Rick Cook, Bill Dwyer and I are headed to Conroe in the morning to run the 2nd annual City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K. It is a double loop cross country course at Joe Barton Park. If you're interested in running it, we'll be meeting at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands at 6:45 a.m.

Then we'll all do Run The Woodlands 5K #166 to complete the Montgomery County Triple!

More on Thursday's activities on Friday and Saturday!

HARRA Fall Series 80% Age Graded Scores

Listed below are the 80% or greater age-graded performances by HARRA members in the first three (3) HARRA Fall Series races:

86.11% - Jon Butler, 44, 1:28:21.6 in HMSA Classical 25K
84.74% - Sabra Harvey, 57, HS, 1:37:17.6 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
83.78% - Ben Harvie, 60, TTC, 1:26:34.5 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
83.57% - Ted Traynor, 57, HS, 1:25:11.9 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
83.25% - Ben Harvie, 60, TTC, 1:45:12.6 in HMSA Classical 25K

83.24% - Francisco Perez, 41, TOR, 1:14:42.4 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
83.22% - Rich Fredrich, 49, TTC, 1:19:45.9 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
83.05% - Rich Siemens, 66, ALRC, 1:10:03.5 in USA 10-Miler
82.97% - Rich Siemens, 66, ALRC, 1:33:27.0 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
82.72% - Terry Garrett, 43, BCRR, 57:33.9 in USA 10-Miler

82.63% - Richard Fredrich, 49, TTC, 1:36:00.9 in HMSA Classical 25K
82.36% - Kenneth Ruane, 65, 1:33:14.0 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
82.31% - Ino Cantu, 72, TTC, 1:40:23.9 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
82.24% - Terry Garrett, 43, BCRR, 1:31:45.7 in HMSA Classical 25K
82.18% - Ted Traynor, 57, HS, 1:43:39.3 in HMSA Classical 25K

81.89% - Kenneth Ruane, 65, 1:52:16.9 in HMSA Classical 25K
81.48% - Steven King, 43, 1:32:37.2 in HMSA Classical 25K
81.45% - Francisco Perez, 41, TOR, 58:27.6 in USA 10-Miler
81.40% - Richard Peoples, Jr., 47, ALRC, 1:20:12.0 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
81.40% - Ben Harvie, 60, TTC, 1:06:57.2 in USA 10-Miler

81.32% - Ramiro Alvarado, 34, ALRC, 1:27:17.6 in HMSA Classical 25K
81.28% - Gerardo Mora, 40, HMSA, 1:30:37.8 in HMSA Classical 25K
81.14% - Steven King, 43, 1:17:52.1 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
81.13% - Kenneth Ruane, 65, 1:11:02.2 in USA 10-Miler
80.89% - Todd Gilbreath, 41, BCRR, 1:31:47.2 in HMSA Classical 25K

80.71% - Susan Walters, 42, TOR, 1:25:43.1 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
80.60% - Gerardo Mora, 40, HMSA, 1:16:31.7 in Koala/Luke's Half Marathon
80.21% - Drew Prisner, 34, ALRC, 55:20.0 in USA 10-Miler
80.03% - Ted Traynor, 57, HS, 1:06:53.3 in USA 10-Miler
80.02% - Richard Peoples, Jr., 47, ALRC, 1:01:26.4 in USA 10-Miler

Just three (3) runners -- Ben Harvie, Ted Traynor and Kenneth Ruane -- have run all three races so far with an age-graded performance of 80% or better.

No runner since 2002 has run all five Fall Series individual races with an age-graded performance of 80% or better. That year, Sean Wade, Gannon White and Ann Ferguson all accomplished the feat.

In 2001, Joe Melanson and Loyd Carey were the only two runners to do so.

HARRA Runner of the Season Standings

HARRA Vice President of Clubs, Roger Boak, released to club contacts Tuesday afternoon the first pass of the Fall Runner of the Season standings.

Invariably, there will be some corrections made - for example, moving the Tornados' Michelle Friedman from the 40-and-under Men to the Women's side of the ledger - but it does provide some insight on the Runner of the Season "Dash for Cash"!

A runner's final standing is determined by adding his or her top three (3) races together from the following five (5) Fall Series events -- the USA 10-Miler, the Koala/Luke's Locker Houston Half Marathon, the HMSA Classical 25K, the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital 30K and the Chevron Houston Marathon.

While there are many runners who have either run a.) just one (1) Series race and will run the 30K and the Houston Marathon or b.) two of the three Series races thus far and may run one of the remaining two, there are many who have run all three (3) so far.

Please note that the analysis offered below is based on information that is likely to find a few adjustments. Where I can identify those and make note of them, I will. However, the analysis is presented to stoke some excitement and discussion from the serious, competitive types and fans of the local road racing scene.

When you look at those runners, these are what the Runner of the Season standings look like:

Women under 40
1. Lisa Tilton-McCarthy, 39, ALRC, 226.56% ($125)
2. Olya Perevalova, 29, 224.90% ($90)
3. Debbie Rudisill, 37, BARC, 224.17% ($70)
4. Sara Collazos, 17, 201.19% ($60; would most likely decline to retain UIL eligibility)
5. Jennie Minken, 28, HS, 200.19% ($50)
6. Vera Balic, 35, BARC, 194.22% ($40)
7. Heather Thompson, 31, HS, 190.52% ($30)

Michelle Friedman, 23, of the Tornados Running Club, will likely vault into the top seven once she is moved over from the Men under 40 listing. In fact, she should move into the fourth position behind Tilton-McCarthy, Perevalova and Rudisill.

There are two (2) runners in this division who have run two races thus far that are likely to jump into one of the seven money positions -- Bayou City Road Runners' Allison Nadolski, 29, and the Houston Striders' Denise McFann, 29. Whitney Spannuth, 30, and Jennifer Brown (TOR), 31, could be factors if either one of them runs both the 30K and the Marathon.

Tilton-McCarthy's performance thus far is already the 7th best in the division since 2000. Perevalova and Rudisill both land in the top 20.

Women 40-49
1. Susan Walters, 42, TOR, 237.76% ($125)
2. Helen Grant, 43, HS, 231.79% ($90)
3. Jody Berry, 46, HS, 226.31% ($70)
4. Bonnie Jo Barron, 44, BCRR, 226.26% ($60)
5. Elizabeth Schwandt, 44, BARC, 225.55% ($50)
6. Melissa Hurta, 43, ALRC, 217.05% ($40)
7. Miriam Terc, 48, HS, 212.85% ($30)

This will be a really interesting and fun to watch through the remainder of the year. Why? There are eight (8) women - including Joy Smith, Caroline Burum, Heide Mairs and Suzy Seeley - who have run just one of the first three races and scored 70% or higher.

If Heidy Lozano were a HARRA member, it is very likely that Suzanne Day's division-best (since 2000) of 242.59% may have been in jeopardy. The top five (5) money positions above would land spots in the top 20 performances since 2000.

Women 50 and over
1. Sadie Greenman, 75, ALRC, 187.87% ($125)
2. Kathleen Mahon, 52, BCRR, 186.40% ($90)
3. Kathryn Vidal, 55, BCRR, 175.13% ($70)
4. Margaret Montgomery, 65, BARC, 170.75% ($50)
5. Donna Whitney, 52, BCRR, 169.79% ($30)

While it would be nice to cut the HARRA check now and give it to Ms. Greenman, it's likely not to happen.

Any one of 10 runners -- which includes Carole Uttecht (ALRC), Ursula Spilger (BCRR), Julie Rutledge (HS), Yong Collins (HS), Cindy Sosa (HH), Rosi Benitez (HF) and Gail Sabanosh (TTC) -- with an equivalent performance in one of the two final races will adjust the prize money standings.

An additional six runners - including Sabra Harvey (HS), Donna Sterns (HH), Billie Kay Melanson (HH), Eva Luckey (HMSA) and Nora Wilson (TWRC) - have run just one race with a 70% age grade performance or better.

Men under 40
1. Joe Oviedo, 30, TOR, 222.60% ($125)
2. Andrew Keller, 31, HS, 213.26% ($90)
3. David Minken, 28, HS, 210.79% ($70)
4. Jeff Eisele, 36, TOR, 206.41% ($60)
5. Chip Maxa, 26, HS, 205.05% ($50)
6. Simon Brabo, 30, BCRR, 191.69% ($40)
7. Justo Medrano, 24, TOR, 186.94% ($30)

Two names that traditionally are in this list -- Luis Armenteros and Brett Riley -- will not be factors as Armenteros would have to run both the 30K and the Marathon (not likely) and Riley, who posted a 2:37:02 in Chicago, hasn't run a Fall Series race in his ramp up to it and recovery from it.

Like Heidy Lozano above, one name that is missing from the list is Chevron Houston Marathon local invited runner, Ray Caesar Martinez, who finished 2nd in both the Half Marathon and the 25K.

There are six runners who have run two of the Series races thus far that are likely to run at least one more with an equivalent performance that would push them into the money picture. They are as follows: Ramiro Alvarado (ALRC, 160.30%), Fred Miller III (HS, 156.55%), John Yoder (HS, 153.96%), Scott Grischow (150.18%), Christopher Bittinger (BARC, 148.38%) and Leno Rios (TOR, 141.98%). (So, Joe, don't invest that money in IHOP stock just yet.)

I'd bet money on Alvarado, Miller, Yoder and Rios. I don't know anything about Grischow and Bittinger, Riley and Tommy King didn't run the 25K, but were mistaken by spectators as the front runners as they were out for a training run near the course on Sunday.

Men 40-49
1. Richard Fredrich, 49, TTC, 243.30% ($125)
2. Francisco Perez, 41, TOR, 242.44% ($100)
3. Gerardo Mora, 40, HMSA, 241.65% ($90)
4. Richard Peoples, Jr., 47, ALRC, 241.35% ($80)
5. Kevin Regis, 47, TOR, 229.01% ($70)
6. Mike Crowley, 42, BCRR, 215.45% ($60)
7. Martin Pesek, 46, BCRR, 212.20% ($50)
8. Jose Reyes, 40, TOR, 208.19% ($40)
9. Steve Schroeder, 40, HS, 205.67% ($30)

This division is far from settled.

The top performers from those that have run just two of the Series races thus far -- Terry Garrett (BCRR, 164.96%), Steven King (162.62%), Jack McClintic (TOR, 158.25%), Todd Gilbreath (BCRR, 157.26%) and Elias Deetlefs (HS, 155.64%).

Men 50 and over
1. Ben Harvie, 60, TTC, 248.43% ($125)
2. Ted Traynor, 57, HS, 245.78% ($100)
3. Kenneth Ruane, 65, 245.38% ($90)
4. Scott Bounds, 54, BCRR, 236.77% ($80)
5. Mark Anderson, 54, HMSA, 230.80% ($70)
6. Richard Vega, 60, TTC, 229.85% ($60)
7. Rich Siemens, 66, ALRC, 227.77% ($50)
8. Thomas Pasquini, 53, 224.29% ($40)
9. Dale Lee, 50, TTC, 223.14% ($30)

Expect the following two-race guys thus far to also be in the mix -- Ty Schmalz (ALRC, 157.66%), Ignacio Ybarra, Jr., (BARC, 156.64%) and Jim Braden (TWRC, 155.96%).

Time Trial Tuesday

Waverly's former school, Abercrombie Academy, was holding its "practice" 1-mile run for all grades today at Meyer Park on Cypresswood Drive.

After my 7:30 a.m. visit with the chiropractor (where it looks like things are holding in place with the adjustments that are being made to my hip and back), I took Waverly there so that she could see a couple of her former teachers, Mrs. White and Mrs. Slaughter (who is training to run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon) -- and run with the fifth graders.

We jogged a little bit to warm up and before we got started, I asked her if she wanted to try and hit an 11-minute mile. (I thought for sure that her 10:19 PR from March 24 was out of the question.) She agreed and I told her that she was going to need to hit 2:45 per quarter mile to meet the goal.

Nothing real spectactular about the run. She didn't like it. It hurt, but I give her a lot of credit. She hit the target -- 10 minutes and 54 seconds!

Her splits looked like this -- 2:34.62, 2:48.62, 2:53.61 and 2:37.65 (estimate) to get to 10:54.50.

I continued on the finish the 1.33-mile loop as I had plans to get in three (3) loops this morning.

When I got to the start of the second loop, I didn't have designs of doing a time trial of my own. However, when I hit the first quarter mile in 2:28, I thought I'd give it a try.

Although I'm not pleased with the times of the two (2) 1-mile time trials, I was pleased with the pacing of each mile. I negative-split each quarter mile in each mile.

TT #1 -- 2:28.54, 2:28.21, 2:23.56 and 2:16.82 - 9:37.13 (followed by 3:14.41 for next .33)
TT #2 -- 2:36.82, 2:34.77, 2:31.64 and 2:25.32 - 10:08.55 (followed by 3:04.64 for next .33)

Last year at this point, I was at about 8:50 and 9:20 in back-to-back miles.

4 miles all together today was 40:34.14. Not happy about it, but I'll give it my best shot on Thursday morning at Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler.

My 5-mile PR is 47:06.7 at the 2nd annual Hermann Park Conservancy Park to Park Run on February 19, 2005.

My times at Run Thru The Woods have gotten progressively better, but it will be a major push to improve this year. My times are as follows:

2003 -- 1:00:08.8
2004 -- 49:45.1
2005 -- 48:21.3

Speaking of the event on Thursday morning, stop by and see The Woodlands Running Club in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion before and after the race. Many thanks to TWHS cross country coach Dan Green for buying it for the club. Don Cole and Chevron Houston Marathon local invited runner Jim Braden will be manning the tent.

By the 2007-2008 HARRA Series, the TWRC tent will regularly be seen among the likes of Bayou City, the Striders, the Tornados, Al Lawrence, Bay Area and Terlingua.

The north side of the greater Houston area - notwithstanding the Seven Hills Running Club in Walker County in Huntsville - has long been underserved since the departure of the FM 1960 Roadrunners and the Texas Running Club.

208 Still In Houston Distance Challenge

After the first two individual races of the HARRA Fall Series, there were 405 runners -- including 143 HARRA members (as of 10/13/06) -- that had finished the United Space Alliance (USA) 10-Miler and Koala/Luke's Locker Houston Half Marathon.

At Sunday's HMSA Classical 25K, only 208 of the 405 runners finished to stay alive in the "Houston Distance Challenge". 131 are male and 77 are female.

98 of the 208 distance enthusiasts - or masochists - are HARRA members. 63 are male and 35 are female. The club-by-club breakdown is as follows:

25 - Bayou City Road Runners
20 - Houston Striders
11 - No racing affiliation
9 - Bay Area Runners Club, Tornados Running Club
6 - Terlingua Track Club
5 - Al Lawrence Running Club
4 - Houston Masters Sports Association
3 - Fort Bend Fit
2 - Brazosport Area Road Runners Association
1 - Houston Fit, Houston Harriers, PTI, Runner's High

The top cumulative times of each of the Open, Masters and Veterans divisions are as follows:

Open Male (35)
1. Ray Caesar Martinez, 3:38:25
2. Joe Oveido, 3:55:08 (TOR)
3. Andrew Keller, 4:04:43 (HS)
4. David Minken, 4:07:27 (HS)
5. Manuel Laynes, 4:13:17
6. Jeff Eisele, 4:13:21 (TOR)
7. Chip Maxa, 4:15:33 (HS)
8. Francisco Gonzalez, 4:15:43
9. Hector Perez, 4:17:03
10. Rodrigo Mallard, 4:29:29

Open Female (33)
1. Lisa Tilton-McCarthy, 4:16:38
2. Olya Perevalova, 4:18:26
3. Debbie Rudisill, 4:19:04 (BARC)
4. Michelle Friedman, 4:26:42 (TOR)
5. Stacy Holden, 4:46:08
6. Sara Collazos, 4:49:27 (NONE)
7. Jennie Minken, 4:50:36 (HS)
8. Melissa Murray, 4:50:41
9. Rebecca Foster, 4:58:34
10. Vera Balic, 5:02:03 (BARC)

Masters Male (53)
1. Gerardo Mora, 3:45:28 (HMSA)
2. Francisco Perez, 3:48:40 (TOR)
3. Richard Peoples, 3:59:15 (ALRC)
4. Rich Fredrich, 4:00:19 (TTC)
5. Kevin Regis, 4:10:59
6. David Depinet, 4:16:50
7. Mike Crowley, 4:16:52 (BCRR)
8. Scott Wonderly, 4:18:56 (BCRR)
9. Jose Reyes, 4:21:46 (TOR)
10. Martin Pesek, 4:29:51 (BCRR)

Masters Female (34)
1. Susan Walters, 4:17:15 (TOR)
2. Helen Grant, 4:25:50 (HS)
3. Bonnie Jo Barron, 4:34:49 (BCRR)
4. Liz Schwandt, 4:35:14
5. Jody Berry, 4:39:55 (HS)
6. Melissa Hurta, 4:43:57 (ALRC)
7. Anna Sumrall Helm, 4:46:29 (BCRR)
8. Phyliss Aswell, 4:54:30 (NONE)
9. Annie Hadow, 5:01:19 (ALRC)
10. Miriam Terc, 5:05:18 (HS)

Veterans Male (43)
1. Ted Traynor, 4:15:49 (HS)
2. Scott Bounds, 4:18:29 (BCRR0
3. Ben Harvie, 4:18:47 (HH)
4. Dale Lee, 4:24:42 (TTC)
5. Mark Anderson, 4:25:45 (HMSA)
6. Mark Girouard, 4:26:25 (TTC)
7. Tom Pasquini, 4:30:48
8. Kenneth Ruane, 4:36:39 (NONE)
9. Rich Vega, 4:42:08 (TTC)
10. Don Padilla, 4:50:09

Veterans Female (10)
1. Alice Keelin, 5:17:20
2. Kathleen Mahon, 6:05:16 (BCRR)
3. Carol Croom, 6:17:56
4. Donna Whitney, 6:40:50 (BCRR)
5. Kathryn Vidal, 6:44:38 (BCRR)
6. Charmaine Bixler, 6:54:53
7. Cindy Burris, 7:47:14
8. Pamela MacKay, 7:50:08
9. Margaret Montgomery, 8:00:12 (BARC)
10. Sadie Greenman, 8:37:13 (ALRC)

Analyze this ...

39 of the 208 runners improved their minute per mile pace in both races.
21 of the 208 runners saw their pace decrease in both races.
117 got faster in the half marathon, but slowed in the 25K.
31 slowed down in the half marathon, but picked up the pace in the 25K.

Here's the breakdown by cumulative per mile pace:

5:30-5:59 per mile -- 3 overall, 2 HARRA members
6:00-6:29 -- 5, 5
6:30-6:59 -- 25, 17
7:00-7:29 -- 18, 11
7:30-7:59 -- 21, 9
8:00-8:29 -- 18, 14
8:30-8:59 -- 19, 8
9:00-9:29 -- 16, 10
9:30-9:59 -- 22, 7
10:00-10:29 -- 13, 3
10:30-10:59 -- 16, 1
11:00-11:29 -- 13, 4
11:30-11:59 -- 4, 1
12:00-12:29 -- 7, 1
12:30-12:59 -- 3, 1
13:00-13:29 -- 3, 2
13:30-13:59 -- 1, 1
14:00-14:29 -- 1, 1

Not real surprising. HARRA membership drops off as the minute per mile pace increases. What was slightly interesting is that the top half of the 6-minute through 9-minute per mile paces had a higher percentage of HARRA members than the lower half.

If the data above is listed in any publication or club newsletter, a source credit of http://houstonrunning.blogspot.com/ is appreciated.

Busy Day -- Sunday

It was a very busy day - yet very productive!

+ Five (5) hours worth of networking at the HMSA Classical 25K
+ Late breakfast with Waverly at IHOP
+ Fifty (50) minutes on the stationery bike at Bally's
+ The Woodlands Running Club meeting with Scott Campbell, Bill Dwyer and Jim Braden
+ 2.1 mile run with Waverly and working on her basketball shooting
+ Dinner followed by a myriad of running PR activites

Waverly's Runs To-Date

11/15/06 -- 27:56.02, 2.1 miles (13:18 per mile; 41:19 5K)
11/19/06 -- 26:10.97, 2.1 miles (12:28 per mile; 38:44 5K)

HMSA Classical 25K Stats

Despite excellent running weather, the HMSA Classical 25K experienced one of its worst attended events on Sunday in the past seven (7) years as there were only 1,602 finishers. WalkSports.com spent a good part of Sunday evening searching the Internet for past year's results - missing only 2002 since 2000 - and came up with the following number of finishers:

2000 - 1,713 finishers
2001 - 1,790 finishers
2002 - unavailable
2003 - 2,022 finishers
2004 - 1,730 finishers
2005 - 1,855 finishers
2006 - 1,602 finishers

How Did Things Go In Bloggerville?

Simon Brabo -- 1:43:58.9 (2005 - 2:16:54.3)
Steve Bezner -- 1:53:48.8 (2005 - 2:25:58.9)
Anna Sumrall Helm -- 1:56:22.3 (2005 - 1:57:42.3)
Edwin Quarles -- 2:00:07.6
Joe Carey -- 2:06:41.6 (2005 -- 2:36:36.6)
Holden Choi -- 2:20:09.4 (2005 -- 3:03:18.2)
Pony Peterson -- 2:16:14.0
Jessica Alexander -- 2:23:39.4
James Dykas -- 2:25:50.9 (2005 -- 2:51:29.3)
William Cox -- 2:26:43.7
Barbara Boone -- 2:28:09.4
Bob Entwhistle -- 2:37:49.4 (2005 -- 2:57:54.5)
Jennifer Kim -- 3:27:30.1 (2005 - 3:21:45.8)
Vic Kaiser -- 3:39:55.7

June Vidrine -- Cheering on GID
Lance Collins, Steve Schroeder, Brian King -- 1:40:47.9 (3rd male open)
Erin Foley, Sarah Graybeal, Erica Smith -- 2:32:29.4 (6th female open)

More on Monday!

HMSA Classical 25K Local Invited Runner Spots

If my information is correct, four (4) men and just two (2) women secured Local Invited Runner status for the 35th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon as a result of today's race. (Of course, this is *unofficial* until posted on the Marathon's web site.) They are as follows:

Male
Ramiro Alvarado (Open, 1:27:17.8, best time under 1:34:13)
Jon Butler (M40, 1:28:22.9, best time under 1:36:27)
Ted Traynor (M50, 1:43:40.9, best time under 1:43:56)
Ben Harvie (M60, 1:45:13.6, best time under 1:53:04)
Female
Whitney Spannuth (Open, 1:43:27.0, best time under 1:47:59)
Caroline Burum (F40, 1:44:13.2, best time under 1:51:36)

Spannuth is a former cross country runner at Vanderbilt University.

Jim Braden met the male 70-79 standard, but he had already earned her spot with her performance in the 2006 Chevron Houston Marathon. Meanwhile, Carole Uttecht met the 50-59 standard for the second HARRA Fall Series race in a row. But like Braden, she qualified in January's Marathon. Sugar Land's Charmaine Van Niekerk, 50, was just 38 seconds off of the 2:01:36 standard today.

Houston Half Marathon Qualifiers
Male
Ray Caeser Martinez (Open, 1:12:51.5, best time under 1:18:29)
Francisco Perez (M40, 1:14:43.5, best time under 1:20:29)
+ Wade was the fastest in this division in 1:12:51.2, but already earned a spot as the 2003 winner
Edward Fry (M50, 1:25:15.1, best time under 1:26:44)
Allan Conley (M60, 1:31:01.2, best time under 1:34:31)
Ino Cantu (M70, 1:40:26.6, best time under 1:45:05)
Female
Autumn Ray (Open, 1:23:39.6, best time under 1:30:08)
Heidy Lozano (F40, 1:24:17.9, best time under 1:133:20)

Carole Uttecht met the female 50-59 standard, but she had already earned her spot with her performance in the 2006 Chevron Houston Marathon.

At the USA 10-Miler, the Houston Striders' Ted Traynor was one minute, 44.3 seconds off of the men's 50-59 standard for that distance. Today, as one of the top veterans runners in town, Traynor met the half marathon standard but watched Edward Fry outsprint him to the finish line by two (2) seconds, 1:25:15.1 to 1:25:17.1.

USA Space City 10-Miler Qualifiers
Male
Vaughn Gibbs (Open, 55:36.3, best time under 58:46)
+ Cole Dailey was the fastest in this division, but has moved from the greater Houston area
Terry Garrett (M40, 57:33.9, best time under 1:00:28)
Rich Siemens (M60, 1:10:03.5, best time under 1:11:02)
Female
Sarah Yoder (Open, 1:04:51.5, best time under 1:07:39)
Susan Walters (F40, 1:06:38.3, best time under 1:10:15)
Donna Sterns (F50, 1:13:52.1, best time under 1:16:33)

Chevron Houston Marathon Qualifiers
Male
Drew Prisner (Open, best time under 2:35:00)
Bernie Weber (40-49, best time under 2:49:42)
Steve Brammer (50-59, best time under 3:02:47)
Kenneth Ruane (60-69, best time under 3:19:02)
Jim Braden (70-over, best time under 3:41:18)
Female
Diana Hirst (Open, best time under 3:00:00)
Christie Lammers (40-49, best time under 3:15:11)
Carole Uttecht (50-59, best time under 3:32:11)
Nancy Prejean (60-69, best time under 3:54:33)

Alvarado, Lozano win HMSA Classical 25K

Ramiro Alvarado and Heidy Lozano won today's HMSA Classic 25K in downtown Houston -- the second race of the Marathon Warm-Up Series and the third race of the HARRA Fall Series -- to post their second and third Warm-Up Series wins, respectively.

Jon Butler and Caroline Burum captured the Masters titles.

Alvarado and Butler both posted times to punch their Local Invited Runner tickets to the 35th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon.

Complete coverage of the 25K will more than likely not be completely online until Monday!

How Many Pins?

Reader participation time!

Go to your vehicle that you drive to races most often and see how many race pins you have in it.

I was cleaning up a certain portion of my pickup truck and found 69 of them in mine!

Getting Straightened Out

There will be no trip to Tulsa this weekend to get in another state in either a half or a full marathon and there won't be any running the HMSA Classical 25K on Sunday.

The visit this afternoon to the Spinal Care Chiropratic Center and Dr. Dawn Schwab was extremely productive. It turns out the my left hip is one (1) centimeter higher than my right hip (and it was very noticeable on the X-ray) and that it was causing an injury to the sacroiliac joint.

Additionally, I need to work on my core muscles. When viewing the X-rays of my back when I would bend to the right and to the left, it showed that my lower back muscles were stronger than my abdominal muscles which caused me to lean back more pronounced. (And with the imbalance left-to-right, there was a bit more of a curvature of the spine to the right as I was compensating for the increased height of my hip on the left side.)

I received some ice and electrical stimulation treatment as well as an adjustment to my back which already has started to correct the imbalance. (When standing comfortably and both feet flat on the ground, my left knee would be bent.)

I have another appointment in the morning at 10:15 a.m., will get the opportunity to work on the elliptical trainer tomorrow afterwards and then run some on Sunday.

The Montgomery County Thanksgiving Triple!

There are three (3) races next weekend in The Woodlands and Conroe - and chances that Sean Wade will only show up at one of them!

On Thursday, November 23rd, the 17th annual GE Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler will start near the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion. The 5-Miler starts at 8:15 a.m. while the 3-mile walk begins at 8:20 a.m. and the kids 1-Mile Children's race will go off at 7:45 a.m.

The next monday, Friday, November 24th in Conroe, the city's Parks and Recreation Department will host its 2nd annual Turkey Trot and 1-Mile Family Walk at Heritage Park, located at 500 Collins Street. The race will start at 8 a.m. and has an $18 entry fee.

And on Saturday, November 25th, Run The Woodlands 5K #166 will get underway, as always, at 8 a.m.

HARRA 2007 Spring Series Races Almost Set

Just doing a little surfing the last six (6) hours has revealed that most of the races that comprised the HARRA Spring Series in 2006 have their dates already set by 2007.

They are as follows:

Saturday, February 3rd -- Houston Harriers Buffalo Wallow 6K Cross Country

Saturday, February 10th -- Park to Park 5-Mile Run

Saturday, March 10th -- Bayou City Classic 10K

Saturday, March 24th -- John J. Eikenburg Law Week Fun Run 8K

Saturday, March 31st -- Bellaire Trolley Run 5K

Saturday, April 28th -- Bayou Bash Relay

The only race that doesn't appear to have a publicly-posted date is the upcoming 40th annual LP Run, hosted at St. Thomas High School by the Terlingua Track Club.

Run Thru The Woods 5 Miler Packet Pickup

If you registered online prior today, Wednesday, November 15, 2006, for the 17th annual Run Thru The Woods 5 Miler on Thanksgiving Day in The Woodlands, please stop in at Luke's Locker from 5 to 7 p.m. as Waverly and I will be working packet pickup!

The event website is -- http://www.runthruthewoods.org/.

Packet pickup at Luke's Locker for pre-November 15th registrations are as follows:

November 17th: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
November 18th: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
November 19th: Noon - 5 p.m.
November 20th: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
November 21st: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
November 22nd: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Best times from 1999-2005? They can be found here on my website!

Back Home, Back to Work

It is good to be home after being gone for almost two whole weeks, including two weekends. Yes, I got to run some neat races but none of it beats running with your daughter. :)

I had reason to be in Memorial Park this evening and I logged two laps.
One was timed. The other I didn't start the watch.

The one that was timed was 30:30.86 for 2.9 miles for a 10:31 per mile pace. I wasn't completely loosened up and felt slow. But I guess after being on an airplane for six hours -- delays leaving Vancouver because of wind and rain and arriving in Houston alsu due to excessive wind, it isn't that bad. (I would estimated the cardio effort at about 85%.)

The second loop was just to take it easy; therefore, the effort was around 70% until I approached the tennis center. A young lady passed me on the right just as I could hear tennis balls pounding against the wood boards on the other side of the chain link fence. She was, of course, much, much slender than I but she wasn't running any faster than probably about a 9:30-9:45 per mile pace.

I was finishing up about a half mile south of the mile 0 marker therefore I set a goal to overtake her by then -- it was a little bit of a challenge but I did with enough to spare that as I turned around to walk to the parking lot she was just then about a few steps from passing me. It was a good finish to the run. So .... 5.8 miles!

When I got home, I had planned a 2.1-mile run with Waverly. The wind had picked up out here in Spring and the temperature had dipped under the 60 degrees mark, making it feel a little cold. We both were bundled up a little - as we're both dealing with some colds and sinus drainage.

She had her first Upward basketball practice Monday night at our church, North Park Baptist Church. So with me being home for all but one week through the remainder of the year and she already being signed up for the Houston Press/Smart Financial 5K on Sunday, January 14th, I told her that it was time that we helped each other out.

About 6-7 weeks ago at school in PE, they started to run the track a bit. The first time that they did it, she almost made it to five (5) times around in 20 minutes. Dad did the math and figured that her fitness level was about where mine was.

But to her credit - and her making straight A's for the second six weeks last Friday, she completed seven (7) laps on Monday in the same amount of time.

We had a good talk -- just Dad and daughter. It is a chance for me to be even more candid with her because it is a fun, relaxed environment and we're aren't officially training for anything like we were last year.

There was no time objective this evening. We just ran with a goal to run the entire time -- and that is what we did. Never stopping to walk at all. I was impressed with her effort.

The 2.1 miles went by in 27:56.02 -- a 13:18 per mile pace or a 41:19 5K.

I bet she can beat her PR -- 35:56.87 -- by January 14, 2007. What do you think?

(Heck, I almost forgot. I went to Bally's afterwards and logged another 40 minutes on the stationary bike.)

Porter's Robert King wins Mother Road 100

When I talked to Porter's Robert King at the Huntsville Half Marathon, you could see in his eyes that he was targeting Saturday's Mother Road 100 between Arcadia and Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

The Mother Road 100 "was" a one time road running event celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the commissioning of Route 66. The race started at the Round Barn in Arcadia, OK, one of the most recognizable landmarks on Route 66, travelled 100 miles along historic Route 66 utilizing the oldest alignment when ever possible; and finished at Carl's Jr. west of Sapulpa, OK.

Behind at every checkpoint, King, 45, covered the last 50 miles in just over 9 hours and 8 minutes to record a 17 hour, 15 minute and 52 second (17:15:52) win.

Sixteen (16) of the 118 finishers, who completed the course in 30 hours or less, were from Texas. They are as follows:

1 Robert King, 45, Porter, TX, 17:15:52
5 Rene Villalobos, 47, Fort Worth, TX, 19:02:45
6 Doug Ryan, 49, Grapevine, TX, 19:20:19
8 Gerardo Ramirez, 34, Fort Worth, TX, 19:59:36
22 Jim Mayo, 57, Coppell, TX, 22:28:28
27 Axel Reissnecker, 53, Austin, TX, 23:00:33
34 David Kim, 46, Frisco, TX, 23:37:00
36 Douglas Ratliff, 37, San Antonio, TX, 23:49:26
56 Eunsup Kim, 53, Dallas, TX, 26:34:44
67 Vincente Ledesma, 55, El Campo, TX, 27:12:12
71 Kevin McCormick, 47, Dallas, TX, 27:27:22
76 Dmitry Rozinsky, 30, Austin, TX, 27:46:13
77 Martin Pascual, 33, Dallas, TX, 27:47:29

11 Yen Nguyen, 44, Houston, TX, 26:00:56
12 Leslie Hale, 54, Houston, TX, 26:22:07
15 Fran Cox, 45, Fort Worth, TX, 28:26:32