Conroe Courier Column for September 30

(This column will be edited - as I thought the meat of the story was the fact that word got out indicating that the race would be postponed and that some entities were still saying that it was NOT going to be postponed - and is being held for publication on Wednesday, October 1. The latter is disingenous and self-serving because they don't know. Only Ed Chance does. The official word should be is that: We don't know for sure.)

Just when the Parks and Recreation Department of the Community Associations of The Woodlands thought all of the damage from Hurricane Ike was over two weeks ago, along came a virtual storm that threatened its own bit of damage.

Word broke online on Friday through a pair of websites – the Market Street in The Woodlands’ official website and woodlandsonline.com – that the third annual Ten For Texas 10-mile race, scheduled for Saturday, October 18, had been postponed.

The woodlandsonline.com entry, which was removed late Monday morning by its editor Chris Elmi, had Mary Connell, the Director of Community Relations for the Community Associations, stating the “Ten For Texas race on October 18 has been postponed and no make up date has been assigned yet. We will update as soon as we find out any further information.”
Connell, the Community Associations’ Director of Community Relations, said Monday morning via e-mail that it was news to her.

“This is the first that I’ve heard about a postponement,” she said.

It also came as quite a shock to race director Willie Fowlkes.

Elmi said his site received information about the event’s postponement from an e-mail address associated to Market Street’s Concierge at 1:47 p.m. Friday afternoon, but said that they should have confirmed with race officials of the postponement.

And while the Community Associations reported Thursday in a press release on its website that there had been no change in the event, Fowlkes was learning that changes would have to be made to the course.

He said Saturday that the race’s original course, which has been used the past two years, was likely not to have been approved by the Montgomery County Commissioner’s Office on Thursday due to traffic management and safety issues resulting from Hurricane Ike. (The assistant sports editor was going to confirm with Chance on Tuesday if this is the case.)

The existing current course has runners, after circling Market Street and leaving the area via Grogan’s Mill, heading west on Lake Woodlands Parkway to Cochran’s Crossing before returning via Lake Woodlands Drive.

“I had expressed concern about the route and highly recommended that they postpone the race,” said Precinct 3 County Commissioner Ed Chance, who yesterday confirmed meeting with Fowlkes last week. “There are definitely safety issues with debris around The Woodlands area.”

Chance, who says he’ll work with the event any way he can, reports that half of his precinct had been cleared to date of debris.

“John Powers, Mike Lucas of Luke’s Locker, Chris Nunes and myself met on Friday and came up with an alternative route,” said Fowlkes.

Luke’s Locker is a co-producer of the event with the Community Associations’ Parks and Recreation Department, which is directed by Nunes. Powers is the assistant general manager for Community Services with the Community Associations.

Fowlkes, though, was hoping for quick approval of the alternate course by the Commissioner’s Office -- and for good reason.

With its return to the racing scene two years ago, a large portion of last year’s record 1,112 finishers incorporated the event into their mileage buildup for January’s Chevron Houston Marathon or Aramco Half Marathon.

A postponement of the race to a November date would likely decrease participation because runners would already be testing themselves both in training – and in other races - at longer distances.

One of those races being the Koala Health and Wellness Centers / Luke’s Locker Houston Half Marathon in downtown Houston on Sunday, October 26.

The most expedient decision, though, regarding potential postponement greatly serves the running community as a whole as it gives runners an opportunity to register for alternative events the preceding weekend.

The Seven Hills Running Club in Huntsville hosts the 30th annual Huntsville Half Marathon on Saturday, October 11 while the University of Houston-Clear Lake is the starting and finishing location for the United Space Alliance 10-Miler on Sunday, October 12.

That 10-Miler is part of the Houston Area Road Runners Association’s Fall Series.

NIKE SOUTH – One event that will definitely go on as planned is Friday evening’s Open 5K cross country race during the Nike South Invitational at Bear Branch Sports Park.

The event, which will benefit The Woodlands Running Club Scholarship Fund, costs $10 will begin at 7:00 p.m. with registration getting underway at 5:30 p.m.

The Woodlands Running Club is inviting all greater Houston area clubs to a “Running Club Team Challenge” with awards being given to the top 25 individual performances in addition to the top men’s and women’s team as well as the club with the most participants.

Jon Walk covers running locally and throughout Texas and the Southwest. He can be reached at walksports@aol.com.

Couldn't They Have Just Come Prepared ....

http://www.ohio.com/news/29855054.html

Too few GUs fray nerves at pit stops
On Wilbeth, water runs out . . .

By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Sunday, Sep 28, 2008

Runners guzzled water, soda, sports drinks, smoothies, lattes and beer in Canal Park stadium downtown Saturday morning at the finish line of the sixth annual Road Runner Akron Marathon.

Wearing shiny mylar warm-down capes and finishers' medallions, they munched muffins, sandwiches, chips, apples, oranges and bananas.

The race was the largest one yet, with nearly 10,000 runners, 3,000 volunteers and an estimated 120,000 spectators cheering along the 26.2-mile route and inside the stadium.

But the large turnout did cause a few logistical problems. Although there were plenty of refreshments at the end, a pack of runners overwhelmed the pit stops on Wilbeth Avenue, where runners fueled up with water and GU.

GU?

GU is a sweet goop in a palm-size foil pouch called GU Energy Gel. It provides a quick carbohydrate boost in several flavors. The race had chocolate and vanilla.

After the main group of marathon and half-marathon runners had been passing for about 40 minutes, volunteer Abbie Dilullo, 17, found herself with the last of the GU.

''Vanilla! Chocolate! Vanilla!'' Dilullo yelled as she handed out the packets.

Well, not so much handed out as offered tentatively on her open palms — 10 or so at a time — like one might feed a ravenous squirrel.

''You've just got to let them grab it,'' Dilullo explained. ''If you do it one at a time, they won't get it.''

Then she handed out the last one. Fellow volunteers Elisa DiMeo, 13, and Margaret Melhus, 12, searched the empty boxes.

They'd started with about 1,100 packets, but the runners were still coming, reaching for GU, asking for GU, being told there was no more GU and that water was at the next station.

The girls apologized profusely. This was the first GU station — located at the 6.2-mile marker on the southern end of the course.

''Do you have any GU?'' one woman panted. ''This sucks.'' [If I were the reporter, I would have written her bib number down and published her name ... lol Maybe Phil Gramm talked about her.]

Further up Wilbeth, in front of the Firestone Park YMCA, the Bridgestone/Firestone volunteers manning the water station ran into the same problem. They emptied their supply of 5-gallon plastic water jugs and volunteers had to dash into the YMCA and fill coolers with tap water.

''We took these coolers into the Y and improvised,'' said Bob Weber, who was among 22 Bridgestone/Firestone volunteers working at the station. ''It was the peak of the traffic. We thought there was going to be a problem. People were furious.''

Their team leader, Mary Ann Roach, said they had volunteered at every marathon and had never run out of water before.

She thanked the YMCA for helping them out in a pinch and runners still got a cup of water.

''You just stand there and yell out what you've got and try to stand out of the way,'' she said. ''No science. Just supply and demand. Demand and supply.''

So what happened?

First, the GU. It's a glucose replenisher that is really meant for the half-marathon and full marathon runners.

Most marathons have two GU stations, if any, Jones said. Akron had six and stocked most of the 7,000 GU packets at stations where runners were likely to hit the infamous ''wall'' of exhaustion.

''Ultimately, the GU is much more necessary on the back half of the course,'' said spokeswoman Julie Jones.

However, relay participants who are running much shorter distances think they need it, too, said the marathon's executive director, Anne Bitong.

Water shortages affected the station in front of the Firestone Park YMCA and another station because last-minute registration, especially for the half-marathon, threw off the water projections, Bitong said.

''It was a 20-minute window out of six hours that stations 4 and 6 were without water,'' Jones said, although the Firestone station kept up with tap water from the YMCA.

But glitches aside, runners thrive on more than GU.

In between the GU station and the water station on Wilbeth Road, four relatives of runner Matt Overstreet sat in lawn chairs and cheered for every single runner who passed them.

They waved American flags and shook rattles and blew party horns with tassels like it was New Year's Eve, even for the stragglers.

''That's what it's all about — not just the ones you love,'' said Overstreet's mother, Pam Vaughn. His aunt, Patty Mothersbaugh, and aunt and uncle Rose and Jake Ukrainiec also cheered.

Runner Beth Sterrett — who snagged a GU ''vanilla something or other'' — remembers getting a lift from Overstreet's cheering section before she reached the water station.

''You don't want to let them down,'' said Sterrett, who ran the half-marathon.

That means not walking in front of the cheering crowds. And certainly not downtown, where the crowd packed in against the barricades to cheer the runners.

''I felt like a celebrity,'' she said.

Alex Jovanovic of Cleveland, who ran the half-marathon in his debut Akron race, was impressed by the overall organization.

''This is really well run,'' he said.

As for GU, he said, no thanks. He'd rather have water.

''It doesn't agree with me,'' he said. ''It's too dense.''

---

John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.

Runners guzzled water, soda, sports drinks, smoothies, lattes and beer in Canal Park stadium downtown Saturday morning at the finish line of the sixth annual Road Runner Akron Marathon.

Wearing shiny mylar warm-down capes and finishers' medallions, they munched muffins, sandwiches, chips, apples, oranges and bananas.

The race was the largest one yet, with nearly 10,000 runners, 3,000 volunteers and an estimated 120,000 spectators cheering along the 26.2-mile route and inside the stadium.

But the large turnout did cause a few logistical problems. Although there were plenty of refreshments at the end, a pack of runners overwhelmed the pit stops on Wilbeth Avenue, where runners fueled up with water Please see Mishaps, B5

Continued from Page B1
and GU.

GU?

GU is a sweet goop in a palm-size foil pouch called GU Energy Gel. It provides a quick carbohydrate boost in several flavors. The race had chocolate and vanilla.

After the main group of marathon and half-marathon runners had been passing for about 40 minutes, volunteer Abbie Dilullo, 17, found herself with the last of the GU.

''Vanilla! Chocolate! Vanilla!'' Dilullo yelled as she handed out the packets.

Well, not so much handed out as offered tentatively on her open palms — 10 or so at a time — like one might feed a ravenous squirrel.

''You've just got to let them grab it,'' Dilullo explained. ''If you do it one at a time, they won't get it.''

Then she handed out the last one. Fellow volunteers Elisa DiMeo, 13, and Margaret Melhus, 12, searched the empty boxes.

They'd started with about 1,100 packets, but the runners were still coming, reaching for GU, asking for GU, being told there was no more GU and that water was at the next station.

The girls apologized profusely. This was the first GU station — located at the 6.2-mile marker on the southern end of the course.

''Do you have any GU?'' one woman panted. ''This sucks.''

Jonesy at Harrisburg Half Marathon

My good friend and former co-worker, Rob Jones, 40, during the Harrisburg Half Marathon on Saturday, September 7. He finished 7th overall and was the first masters in 1:17:53.

My Friends Are Good: Part 2,451

I sent my cultured Battling Blogger teammate, Mr. Carey, a note last evening:

"When I told Waverly this evening at the Astros game that the BARC Mile 4 water station was going to be a POD, she very quickly said that is could also be a "Point of Dehydration" too! That's why I'm not as smart as my 8th grader!"

Mr. Carey wrote back this morning:

"That's clever! We will use it. One can never be as smart as one's 8th grader .... didn't you study Walk's Laws of Intelligence Relativity in physics?"

Physics? What's physics? :)

My Dad had been given tickets to Friday night's Astros game with the Braves and the plan was for me, my Dad, Waverly and my grandfather to go to the game together. My grandfather's 85 and I just never know when it will be their last trip down.

Neither one of them ended up going and I didn't find this out until I checked my voice mail on my cell phone at 5:15 p.m. Friday. Before a 7:05 p.m. first pitch! I talked to Cassie and Sarah (knowing that they both enjoyed baseball) but both of them had obligations. (I even tried Bill, but he wasn't answering his phone around about that time.)

Cars, Eggs and RACES Cheaper In The Country

If you're not running the first individual HARRA Fall Series race on Sunday, October 12, then the 30th annual Huntsville Half Marathon is the race and the place for you.

The Huntsville Half Marathon - like the United Space Alliance 10-Miler - is one of the best race bargains in Texas. (And I'll be running neither of them, unfortunately! But I should be in attendance for both.)

Right now, it is $25 until October 5 to run the Huntsville Half Marathon! It is one of the cheapest half marathons in Texas. You can wait until the day before, the 10th, and still only pay $30 (in addition to the online fee), and it is only $35 - no online fee - on race day.

Compare this to Ten For Texas, being held on Saturday, October 18, a week later.

Ten For Texas is $45 until September 30th. After that, it becomes THE most expensive 10-miler in the country at $50! Wait until race day and it is a strong $6 per mile - $60. (A marathon at that rate would be $157.20, which is understandable for a place like the ING New York City Marathon. It is one of the greatest spectacles in racing, I believe.)

All of the other huge 10-milers across the country, including Philadelphia's Broad Street Run and the Washington, D.C.'s Army 10-Miler - are cheaper than that.

Moi? I'll be in Alpine, Texas that morning to run Marathon 2 Marathon.

Country Roads 10K Finish from HillCountryRambling.com

I've had worse finish line pictures and I've had better too.

Country Roads 10K Picture from HillCountryRambling.com

Why is that one girl behind me smiling? This isn't supposed to be easy.

Moi? A Maverick?

Ms. Presidente, Anna Sumrall Helm (she gets purple for BCRR) and I had an interesting e-mail exchange last evening. It was revealed that I - not in her words, of course - might be a maverick? Nah.

In October's Footprints, I wrote a story about the upcoming unveiling of a website that will make available to the public all of the Chevron Houston Marathon finisher's results. I talked to Jack Lippincott - the number one Chevron Houston Marathon veteran - and he mentioned what it takes for him to "vet" somebody's claim of being a veteran (which is 10 CHM finishes or more).

When I write, I typically aim for a chuckle or two. In this piece, I'm going to push the envelope just a little. Anna's reply was: "Eh, not funny enough to ruffle feathers, IMHO."

But I pointed out that I thought she misunderstood my use of the words "vet marathon runner".

Here is a paragraph or two of the article:

But the work to determine if somebody is a veteran is not only time well spent, it is getting easier and easier.
“The process has gotten less labor intensive in recent years, because of (the) electronic results on the Houston Marathon web site and MarathonGuide.com,” he explained. “So, only the oldest results now have to be looked up by hand.
“Of course, this is somewhat balanced out by the larger numbers of proposed Veterans each year. It probably takes 15-20 minutes to vet out each new name.”
Reportedly just a few minutes less than what was needed to vet marathoner and Republican Party vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

I don't hide the fact that I lean to the conservative side of the political spectrum - so the kicker is that I'm poking fun at the side that I'll probably vote for!

Heck, in the first month after I started my Footprints assignment almost three years ago, I took HARRA to task for the HEB Texas 10K Challenge in one of my RTN columns. I fully disclosed it to Anna right off the bat. She either didn't hear anything because nobody read my column in Runner Triathlete News nor cared -- or both.

So I chuckled when Anna responded, "Bah, do what you want. It's your neck. No one thinks I have "control" over you, anyway, so it sorta clears us both!"

In my mind, you have to push the envelope a little or you never get anywhere or accomplish anything. The thing is: I know who my naysayers are and I, quite frankly, don't give a damn. When they want to do my job: they can try it. And then we'll judge it all by the results. [Some of the problems may come from the fact that I don't write about them, that I just don't fall in line with the status quo or that they have to see my name on something every month in print.]

And why should I tend to the status quo? It's boring.

If I didn't work hard at what I do and if I constantly and obsessively bragged about what I did, it would be a different story. I'm very fortunate to do the things that I do and to have earned the respect of all of the people that I have. Luis Armenteros didn't send me the story of his workout with Galen Rupp and Kara Goucher for me to print it in last month's Footprints. He sent it because he thought I would enjoy it as a fan - even though he's twice as fast as I am.

I got Lisa Foronda to allow for me to use one of her pictures from that workout.

I asked Dr. Bob Hoekman to write for us in Footprints because I thought he needed to be in there, and his columns are very well-received.

Jack Lippincott has very willing to help me out.

I asked for and received some advice from Jon Warren on a couple of columns for Runner Triathlete News that I'm doing on Texas' top 30-and-under marathoners.

And I get comments like this from Lance Phegley, my editor, periodically: "I’m always amazed at the length of the news and notes that you can pull out when you need them. I know that sort of thing is not easy, especially when you have a lot of space to fill and that finding good info to even be able to put together the news and notes can be a pain in the ass."

My world's good - even if I can be a pain in the ass periodically.

TIR's Jay Hilscher; 2nd Place Silicon Labs Marathon Relay

There's no question that Round Rock's Jay Hilscher knows a few things about a relay as the race director of the Texas Independence Relay. (Check out the website for the event's new race poster!)

However the former Dell employee-turned-event promoter still does his fair share of running.

Sunday at the Silicon Laboratories Marathon Relay in Austin, Hilscher teamed Andrew Yeager, Richard Mendez, A.J. Lee and Justin Gabriel to finish second overall in a time of 2:28:53.9.

Their team was running in no man's land as the winning team finished in 2:21:15.7 while the third place team broke the tape in 2:36:54.

Country Roads 10K Race Report

After being at home all of last weekend, I needed to roam a little bit this weekend. So what better way was there to be able to do that then to combine some good country music and a race!

My good friend, Rodney Hayden, was playing at Lucy's on the Square in San Marcos (a place that I'm told doesn't have a lot of country acts) on Friday night and the San Marcos Runners Club-produced Country Roads 10K was on Saturday morning. And that's where the truck ended up heading Friday night.

The Country Roads 10K has been going on since 2004 and I was there for its first running. I didn't realize it until just a few minutes ago that I set a PR there with a time of 1:04:02. (The following weekend on a business trip to the Philadelphia area, I set PR's in New Jersey at the 10K distance on a Saturday morning and in Ohio at the half marathon distance on Sunday morning.)

I made a return trip the following year (2005) and posted the following splits on a hot, humid day:

Mile 1 - 9:25.80
Mile 2 - 10:09.43 (19:35.23)
Mile 3 - 10:22.00 (29:57.23)
Mile 4 - 10:18.16 (40:15.39) ... I'm thinking, "To be holding at 10 minutes a mile on a humid morning is OK."
Mile 5 - 11:31.44 (51:46.83) ... Yeah, right! Spoke to soon.
Mile 6 - 11:01.59 (1:02:48.42)
Last .2 - 1:52.63 (1:04:41.05)

After seeing Rodney perform last night, I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 a.m. at the Super 8 (no Marriotts in San Marcos ... yet, I'm sure). Since I was staying not more than a couple of miles from the race site - just off Highway 12 outside of town, I didn't leave the hotel until about 7:10 a.m. (That is until I had to twist and turn the pickup truck since I was almost blocked in by a late-night arriving hotel guest. I was a bit perturbed.)

When I got to the race location, who did I see? Karen and Tim Bowler from Houston. It is always good to see familiar faces at an out-of-town race. They're long time friends (from back to the RTW days of 2003 even) and just great overall people. Karen has been working her way back from some health issues.

I've always liked this race. It is a little challenging. Especially the first three miles where you do two small loops of some hilly terrain. There are some slight inclines in miles 5 and 6 and they cause some issues when the day is getting a little warm.

It was fairly cool this morning, but I don't believe that it was the low 60s that the guy on the public address system was surmising that it was. [I stand corrected. Weatherunderground.com said that it was 62.4 degrees at the start. By the time I finished though, it had risen to between 71.4 and 72.6, and I could tell.]

The end result? I posted a time of 1:02:51. I'm pleased. I still would prefer to be posting times of 58, 59, 60 or 61, but the decent half marathon two weeks ago and this effort are two that I'm pretty much OK with.

Mile 1 -- 9:31.85
Mile 2 -- 9:58.47 (19:30.32)
Mile 3 -- 10:10.87 (29:41.19)
Mile 4 -- 9:50.82 (39:32.01)
Mile 5 -- 10:44.91 (50:16.92)
Mile 6 -- 10:45.40 (1:01:02.32)
Last .2 -- 1:52.84 (1:02:55.16)

When I crossed the finish line and hit my watch, it didn't stop. It took another couple of seconds to get it stopped. I checked what the individual working the finish line wrote down and she had "62:51". That's what I'm going with. So that make the final two tenths of a mile as 1:48.84 - which means I was clipping the slighly downhill section in a 9-minute per mile pace.

After visiting at length with San Marcos Daily Record running columnist Moe Johnson (and who is also the race director of the ARA-Moe's Better Half Marathon), I got back to the hotel, showered and headed north to Austin to have lunch with a friend of mine.

I had won a door prize even -- two tacos from one of the race sponsors in San Marcos. I gave it to Moe. :)

Just A General Update

I'll see if I can get everyone caught up-to-date. I really apologize for not posting more frequently. Life, besides Hurricane Ike, has been a little busy.

1.) I ran for an hour at Bally's on Friday afternoon on the treadmill. (Waverly went with me and split time between the stationary bike and the elliptical machine.) I hadn't done anything during the week, but felt pretty good. Enough to drive on Saturday (well Friday night) to San Marcos to run a 10K.

2.) Spring ISD was out all of last week and Waverly will go back to school on Wednesday. It will be interesting to where they take the seven (7) days from out of the schedule. Thanksgiving week? Easter week? Who knows?

3.) I'm still on my regular routine to and from Jackson, Mississippi. I didn't make it to the office in Jackson on Monday until about 4:30 p.m., but still got a lot done. It was a good, productive week. The team ended up collecting just over $40 million last month - a new all-time record. It is amazing what gets done when you do things right and on-time.

4.) Wrote my Tuesday column for the Courier about my two runs last weekend - and the human spirit. I rarely write about my running, but I thought it might inspire a few people. I'll try to post it here later when I have my flash card in the computer.

5.) Bill was still without power as late as mid-day Saturday. However, he said that Nora and Lou Wilson ran Run The Woodlands 5K on Saturday morning. It was only the two of them -- and that is all you need for a race. Nora beat Lou, Bill said.

6.) I bought my airplane ticket for Midland/Odessa to fly out there Friday, October 3 and return on Sunday, October 5 for the first West Texas CrossRoads Marathon. I may not be completely (and traditionally) ready, but if I'm able to finish it will be marathon no. 20 for me.

7.) For those of you that are TWRC members, I did not produce an eDeerTracks on Friday.

8.) Part of the reason for no. 7 was a.) much of The Woodlands was still without power and b.) I was finishing up my Runner Triathlete News column and putting the finishing touches on Footprints.

I think this should do it until I think of some more things. :)

Hope that everyone has come through the storm relatively unscathed.

My Aunt's Obituary Notice

June 3, 1950 - Sept. 11, 2008

Joy K. (Smith) Peters, 58, 62 Duff Drive, Altoona, died Thursday at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Hospital Campus, after a brief illness.

She was born in Northwood, Snyder Township, daughter of the late Joseph M. and Jessie Anna (Estright) Smith.

Surviving are two daughters: Misti Pighetti (Tony) of Tyrone and Lisa Kensinger (Larry) of Altoona; grandchildren: Kirk and Kyle Kensinger; two brothers: Daniel "Fisher" Smith of Tyrone and Jack M. Smith of Sandy Ridge; a sister, Nancy A. Walk of Spring, Texas; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by sisters: Helen Dunkel and Mary Lou "Toni" Smith; and brothers: William Smith and Donald R. Smith.

Mrs. Peters was a 1968 graduate of Tyrone Area High School. She enjoyed crafts, playing cards, was an avid collector of angels and enjoyed time with her family and grandchildren.

She was employed for the past 29 years in environmental services at the Bon Secours Campus of Altoona Regional Health System.

A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at Derman Funeral Home Inc., Tyrone, with the Rev. Patricia Gable officiating. Interment will be at Bald Eagle Cemetery.

Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday and 2 to the 3 p.m. service Monday at the funeral home.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the Blair County Unit, American Cancer Society, 1004 N. Juniata St., Hollidaysburg, PA 16648.

Safe and Sound on Monday; At IAH to Jackson, MS

We were very fortunate. My parents lost the entire fence between one of their neighbors and a piece of another with the other (which is a rental property that has nobody living in it currently).

I slept through most of the storm, and after about 9 a.m., I didn't have cell service through T-Mobile. My place went through Hurricane Ike unscathed and, of course, I'm very thankful.

I'm at Intercontinental Airport right now (at 11 a.m.) and have been here since a little after 9 a.m. (for a 12:30 p.m. flight to Jackson, Mississippi). Our house, just west of Interstate 45 at FM 2920, still didn't have power when I left this morning, but there was power about 2 miles down FM 2920. It will be there soon. Maybe.

Saturday morning, at about 10 a.m., I went out for a 3-mile run in my parent's subdivision, Birnam Woods. I stopped up at my aunt and uncle's house and then finished my 2.5-mile loop. (The jaunt to their place added the distance.) I didn't time the run because I stopped a number of times -- probably 8 to 10 -- to clear out storm drains of debris.

I'm putting it down as "community organizing" experience. (I have ant bites to show for it, but it stemmed the amount of localized street flooding in their neighborhood too.)

Sunday, at about 10:45 a.m., I went out for a 6.53-mile run into Old Town Spring. (Yes, that's right ... all the way across Interstate 45.) Old Town Spring took on a little bit of water and some damage from wind and trees, but as I went down Hardy and came back across Louetta (to where the Gunny Shack used to be) I really didn't see anything too horrific.

Ever since my parents moved us to Houston in November 1976, I've always been a "northsider" -- and Allen, Alicia, Allison and Ike have made a convincing argument to stay that way.

SciGuy Good; Dr. Masters' Better

Eric Berger, who hosts a reader blog on the Houston Chronicle web site is pretty good at providing non-hyped information. The link is here.

However, Dr. Jeff Masters' Wunderblog at weatherunderground.com is even better. The link is here.

Urine Test: Agree With This!

(Whoever wrote this one deserves a HUGE pat on the back!)

THE JOB - URINE TEST
I HAVE TO PASS A URINE TEST FOR MY JOB... SO I AGREE 100%

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their A--, doing drugs, while I work.

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though. . Some thing has to change in this country -- and soon!!!!!!!

I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'.

Just a thought.

Water Worse Than Alicia! Wow!

I flew back in from Jackson, Mississippi last night and things obviously were so calm around here on the north side of Houston that I was able to go to the gym last night and hit the stationery bike with Waverly.

A touch of bad news though. My parents flew back to Pennsylvania yesterday to drive my grandparents down to Texas to visit everyone, starting today. However, when they got there, my Mom's youngest sister, Joy Peters, had gone into the hospital on Wednesday in her battle with leukemia. They had started to give her morphine soon after she went in to manage the pain.

My Mom went straight to the hospital and was with her when she passed away last night at about 9:40 p.m. Eastern time. My Mom is one of 10 brothers and sisters. It is the fifth one that she has lost and two brothers (Bobby and Junior) they don't know where they're at or even if they're still alive. She has two surviving brothers, Jack and Fisher.

Their departure to come back to Houston is dependent upon what transpires tomorrow.

I'm going to my parents' house in the Birnam Woods subdivision in Spring (77373) to ride the storm out here. Gena will be staying here with Waverly at my place (77388).

That's the latest. I'll try to update with any change in plans.

I traded text messages with Cassie last evening. She, Manny and Max are in New Orleans. I told her that I expected to see a picture of her with Mayor Nagin. She told me that she'd "work on that!"

South Dakota. Check.

This may be the second time that I've written this race report (and possibly the first time that you've seen it.)

This morning, I was able to check off my 24th "state" (23 and British Columbia) in the half2run.com with a 2:20:13.89 finish at the 11th annual Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Half Marathon.

Normally, I'm not a big fan of trail systems. The biggest, of which, is because it can be as monotonous as can be. However, Sioux Falls, especially with the weather being favorable (50 at the start and 55 at the finish with a little breeze throughout and slightly stronger at the end), had a very nice trail system where the scenery was absolutely beautiful.

It reminded me of running early in the mornings four years ago along the Towpath in Akron, Ohio. It also reminded me to tell you that if you ever decide to run your New Mexico marathon or half marathon (if you're chasing states) in Albuquerque, you should be shot. Not that ABQ isn't a nice town, it is just that they run all three of their marathons along the trail that runs along the Rio Grande. It isn't a pretty sight.

The race? I'll take the 2:20:13. I spoke with Bill Saturday afternoon while I was sitting on the plane waiting to depart Houston Intercontinental. I was really hoping that my recent half marathon times (June in Temple, August in Dallas) were more indicative of the onerous heat and humidity than my current ability level. This was proven to be true, even though my weight - by how a pair of Dockers pants fit Thursday night for Waverly's open house - in the midsection is up just a bit.

We discussed about staying close to the 10:30 minute/mile pace as much as I could. I also wanted to just feel like I was running well.

For the most part, you'll see that I did. And later in the race, I tried to concentrate on my form to take my mind off of some of the pains that I was experiencing. (I forgot to dose up on Advil like I normally do before a marathon or half marathon.)

Mile 1 -- 10:28.22
(This really got clogged as we started on the track at Howard Wood Field. It was about a 2:48 400-meter split. However, it really was a great atmosphere for people to watch the start of the race and really provided a neat spectacle. There were American and state flags that circled the track.)

Mile 2 -- 10:20.19
(I really got concerned that it was going to be a long day because I really didn't feel good at this point. There was a significant incline or two during this mile as well.)

Mile 3 -- 10:17.25
Mile 4 -- 10:02.87
(I was kind of surprised at the second mile of these two, but it did include a downhill into downtown Sioux Falls - a very picturesque city. We sort of made a "C" that opened to the left and came upon the mile 4 marker as we went into a very nice Falls Park.)

Mile 5 -- 10:36.13 (In the park, this had a slight uphill or two. I went through most of the hills and inclines better today after reading this month's Runner's World reminding me to keep my head and eyes up as I went up the hill/incline.)
Mile 6 -- 10:06.12 (Not sure where this came from, but we entered one of the greenways at this point.)

Mile 7 -- 10:45.12
Mile 8 -- 10:42.40
(I don't know that I was worried about things slipping away from me, but I really wanted to try and be strong and work on my form through this stretch.)

Mile 9 -- 10:08.67
Mile 10 -- 11:40.25
(I put these two miles together because I really believe that mile 9 was short and mile 10 was long; however, of course, I don't have any conclusive proof. I had spent a good bit of time passing people because I ran the tangents on the trail while people were following the curvature. I figured that if/when they certified this course that the whole width of the trail would be used and, if so, the tangents then would be fair game. I didn't think that I was starting to fatigue *that* much when I made it to the mile 10 marker, but maybe so.

(During this stretch was the first person that asked me about my Luv' Ya Blue Chevron Houston Marathon finishers shirt. Anna, let Steven know I was recruiting for 2010. He talked about Twin Cities and Chicago Marathons being so hot. I didn't want to tell him the races that I had done last weekend. I think he was out on a training run because he sped up after a little bit and left me like I was sitting still.)

Mile 11 -- 11:50.15
(When I saw this split, I was really worried that a crash and burn was going to come and that a 2:24 would roll up on the watch.)

Mile 12 -- 11:21.56
Last 1.1 -- 11:54.96
(I got a friendly "Hey finisher" shout out as I came upon the mile 12 marker as we were making a left to cross over a bridge. I took some water at a stop at around 12.4 and probably cost myself a 2:19 showing; however, I wanted to make sure that I had something strong to go in with.

(As you can see, I was able to pick the pace up just a little as I finished the last mile and one-tenth. Yes, I went in with my trademark out-of-state "Hook 'Em Horns" sign for a finish. I thought about going in saying "John McCain, John McCain" but I couldn't gage during the run what color state south Dakota was going to play out this fall. I did want to make it home alive.)

During the run, while running behind other runners, I thought I saw Karen Felicidario and June Vidrine. Now, it isn't that I go studying people's back sides. I mean you could, for example, spot Ken Johnson's gait from a half a mile away. It is very distinct.

I thought I saw "Karen" very early and very late in the race. A woman had the same type of very slender build and a hat that was fairly similar. And June (laughing), I thought I saw a couple of different times. And how did I distinguish her from the rest of the runners? There was this little perky, happy-go-lucky bounce in this woman's stride much like I saw running away from me at the Resurrection Run 5K this April. :)

I would recommend this race to anyone. It was a lot like the Fargo Half Marathon that I did last May. The volunteers were really, really good. Spectators were plentiful for the size of the town. There were multiple spots that families could see the runners that they were following.

I'm beat. A two-hour flight, followed by a three-hour drive, short sleep, a 2:20 run and then to repeat it in reverse. I sometimes question my sanity, but the less than $200 I spent is better than therapy.

Total Costs
$55.00 - Continental (Yes, it costs money to use your reward travel without making advance reservations. $5 taxes; $50 reward booking fee)
$43.29 - Registration
$40.44 - Enterprise Rental Car
$8.00 - Parking Cents Lot
$44.95 - Gas
$15.07 - Meals/Food
$206.75

Live from Sioux Falls

Where the temperature is in the low 50s at 11:21 p.m. I'm checked in at the Towne Place Suites, which is less than a mile and a half from where packet pickup is. (Got lucky!)

The flight from Houston to Omaha was uneventful, although getting out of the Eppley Field (the Omaha Airport) area was. I'll have to research the best way into the airport going back because I have a 3-something flight on Sunday afternoon.

Here's a little highlight of the evening headed north from some notes that I took along the way:

7:40-something - We're on the ground.
7:49 - Sent Edwin Quarles a text message. (He didn't return it.)
8:12 - Out of the parking garage at Eppley Air Field. (And I didn't check a bag. Enterprise was slow. Personable, but slow. Well, the lady who was at the counter before me was.)
8:16 - Trying to head to Interstate 29, I come upon a train.
8:17 - The train stopped.
8:18 - I turned around and retraced my path. Followed another vehicle to a bridge that went over the train tracks. Delay averted.
8:29 - Finally made it to Interstate 680 which runs into Interstate 29. Welcome to Iowa!
8:38 - The (Kansas City) Royals win on Hispanic Heritage Night. Who knew?
8:44 - Some McDonald's around the country are scary. The one in Missouri Valley, Iowa is no different.
9:28 - Turn on KOA from Denver where I tune in as the Astros' Roy Oswalt is pitching in the bottom of the ninth against the Colorado Rockies with a 2-0 lead.
9:38 - Oswalt (or 'Roy O' as Milo would say) gets the complete game, 1-hit shutout over the Rockies. (Remember Milo Hamilton is not a Hall of Fame announcer. He just won an award - the Ford Frick Award - that is housed there.)
9:45 - I listen to a post-game interview with Kansas State's Aubrey Quarles. (I don't think he's related to Edwin.)
9:53 - Passed the Lewis & Clark Monument in Sioux City, Iowa. We had stopped there five years ago in 2003 on summer vacation.
9:55 - Called Waverly. She doesn't remember. Explain to her that it is in the shape of an obelisk. Had to explain what that was to her.
9:59 - Cross the Big Sioux River into South Dakota.
10:05 - Found out South Dakota has casinos. (No, I didn't play them. Not that I'm opposed to gambling or anything.)
10:16 - I pick up WSM 650 out of Nashville and hear Patty Loveless - a hottie - sing the George Jones classic, "Why Baby Why?" (I read on her website that Jessica Simpson was on there with her. Darn. Well, maybe not.)
10:46 - I've been listening to the guy on KOA talk about the McCain-Palin rally in Colorado Springs earlier today. The host got to get a picture of McCain shaking his daughter's hand and she signed his placard. The crowd was much more than what they expected. (It's interesting. People have called Barrack Obama, "Obama". They're just calling Sarah Palin, "Sarah". Gotta love it. And Obama being an angry guy today. Hmmm ... thought that was Biden's job or better yet, Howard Dean's.)
11:05 - Come into Sioux Falls to be reminded that Augustana College is here, but it isn't the same college that is the alma mater of former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson. That Augustana College is in Illinois. (I had to double check it to be sure.)
11:08 - Pull into the Towne Place Suites. I took a water bottle for being a Platinum Premier member instead of the 200 points. What's the world coming too? Oh, hydration for in the morning.
11:39 - I'm done with this. Good night.

Nowhere 2 Run 10K Race Report

While my fellow Seven Hills Running Club members (Adrienne Langelier, Robert Duncan and John Slate) and The Woodlands Running Club members (Michael and Vincent Attanucci) went to the Beneezy Purple Monkey 10K in Alvin, I journeyed to the small central Texas town of Milano.

And I almost didn't make it in time for the Nowhere 2 Run 10K!

The alarm was set for 6 a.m. I figured it would take me about two hours to make it there (but I still hadn't determined the route that I was going to take to get there.) It went off (unlike Sarah's didn't use to), but I hit the snooze twice. After checking to see if Waverly was going to go with me or not, I showered and was out the door by 6:30 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. race.

I stopped and got gas in Rosehill (where it was $3.32 a gallon) and got a brownie and orange juice to get something in my stomach.

As I got to Brenham and on the way to Somerville, I was doing the mileage vs. time calculations and I realized that I was going to be cutting it real close. If I was late, well, I would just go on to Austin to register for the Human Race 10K.

To kill some time while driving, I called Bill. During the conversation (I actually typed "convention" as I was downloading Sarah Palin's weekly radio address) , he told me about running in Milano himself as well as a past running story in which he uttered the magic words, "Late start".

It didn't look good as I pulled into Caldwell - the site of next Saturday's Kolache Krunch 5K. I think it said 36 miles with 30 minutes left to go. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I was going to harm the environment a little bit more to get there.

Thank goodness there were signs to the race after turning west on Highway 79 coming off Highway 36 (which I had taken north since leaving Brenham).

Runners were beginning to move towards the starting line as I parked the truck. The time on my watch was 8:32 a.m. I ran in to the fire house and quickly registered. It was $25. A bargain for any 10K, but this race had little or no costs so most of it would go toward the Milano Running Foundation. A good thing! In fact, the lady didn't have change for my $30. I said something about finding her later to get a refund ... but I never did.

I barely had enough time to run my packet, with a nice T-shirt in it, to the truck, put my bib on and get to the starting line. If they had started it on time, I wouldn't have made it.

But it did guarantee one thing - that the temperature was going to soar during the run.

The course, which was described as "mostly flat, hidden hills", was an out-and-back with a lot of slight rolling hills.

Start to the 5K turnaround -- 15:14.60
5k turnaround to the 2-mile -- 4:27.50 (19:42.10)
From the 2-mile to the 10K turnaround -- 11:01.31 (30:43.41)

I thought to myself that the 2-mile time given the heat and the topography wasn't too bad. I continued to think the same at the turnaround with visions of maybe another 1:03 showing like I did in Lampasas ... but the humidity seemed to be much more oppressive than it was west of Austin a month earlier.

From the 10K turnaround to the 4-mile -- 9:51.88 (40:35.29)

Still I'm thinking, "Ok, 10:09 per mile on a hot day isn't that bad." But it started to slip away a bit as mile five finished (time to come) finish on an uphill incline on FM 3242.

From the 4-mile to the 5K turnaround spot -- 6:41.44
From the 5K turnaround to the 5-mile mark -- 5:03.54 (52:20.27)
From the 5-mile mark to the finish -- 13:24.33 (1:05:44.60)

Interestingly, when I put the course in at mapmyrun.com to take a look at the elevation, the toughest part - it would seem - is in the first (and last) 1.25 miles. The course starts at just over 501 feet above sea level and goes up by almost 60 feet and still hitting a mark of about 550 feet near the 1.25-mile mark.

All of miles 2 and 3 (and 4 and 5) stay under 500 feet above sea level, but there are rollers. This would explain why the 2-mile time is slower than my "heat" RTW 5K 2-mile (although not by much), but why the finish was difficult was well too.

Oh well. It was a different experience. Good people. Lots of "small town" door prizes. They gave away a heart rate monitor as the main drawing. Plenty of age group medals to go around.

At this race was USATF racewalking official Dave Gwyn (of the Terlingua Track Club), a trio of runners from the Sun City Striders who participated in the Texas Independence Relay, and a woman - 52-year-old Karol Curran - from the D-FW Metroplex that is crazier than I.

I saw Karol at three of the four 5Ks back in April that I did in Fort Worth, Aledo, Pilot Point and Dallas, and I last saw her at the Bat Run 5K in Austin in July.

This past weekend, she did the 5K in Milano, the West Fest 5000 on Sunday morning in West (33:23.84), the Human Race 10K in Austin Sunday night (1:11:39) and I think she was going to do the Fort Worth Runners Club 5K on Labor Day morning. She's a very proficient walker.

At the completion of the race, I was off to Austin to register for the Nike Human Race 10K.

Updated Half2Run.Com Leaderboard

48 - Ira Gardner, New York, NY
47 - Eileen Fannon, Atlanta, GA
37 - Amelia Kushneruk, Schererville, IN
36 - Carol Gosliln, Kansas City, MO
31 - Patrick Morein, The Woodlands, TX
29 - Mike Ligett, Raleigh, NC
27 - Pat Neff, Georgetown, TX
26 - Laura Donnelley, Portland, OR
26 - Chris Harvey, Cartersville, GA
26 - Douglas Bradley, Dearborn, MI
25 - Rob Slocum, Danville, KY
25 - Susan Meehan, Lawrenceville, GA
24 - Mary Beth Fournier, Gurnee, IL
24 - Maggie Mount, Rockwall, TX
23 - Diane Himebaugh, Chandler, AZ
23 - Jon Walk, Spring, TX

Off to South Dakota for Nos. 24 and 52!

What do you do when life has kicked you in the rear end the last week?

Plan a trip to run a race -- and do it at the last minute even! (It's cheaper than therapy!)

Veronica Hoge and Joltin' Joe Carey, who needs to keep his body healed for March's Texas Independence Relay, are in Michigan this weekend running a shorter relay, but I think I read that Joe has just a couple of legs to run.

So I'm heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota this evening to run the 11th annual Sioux Falls Half Marathon tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m.

I have a 5:50 p.m. flight to Omaha, Nebraska (reward travel, of course) and then it is a 181-mile drive to Sioux Falls. Run the race, shower, get back on the road and be home tomorrow afternoon by about 6:30 p.m.

It will be career half marathon no. 52 and "state" no. 24 (23 states and British Columbia) in the half2run.com competition.

And the weather? Showers, but 51 degrees! A glorious change versus the last two weekends!

VP Candidate Palin: Sub 4-Hour Marathoner

This just in from Bill Dwyer ... "Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States, is also a sub-4 hour marathon runner. She ran a 3:59:36 at Humpy's Anchorage Marathon, August 21, 2005, finishing 15th among the women."

Republican Marathoners:
George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Tom Vilsack (Iowa Gov.)
Democratic Marathoners:
Al Gore, John Edwards, John Kerry (maybe; he's says he did)

I stand corrected on the list above.

This link reports Michael Dukakis and Dan Quayle did: "Although no U.S. president has ever run, Michael Dukakis once ran the entire race in a tank commander's helmet. Dan Quayle ran it once after he lost a bet that he couldn't spell potato."

Double. Bigfoot. Thunder.

Yes, Bill Dwyer and I outdid ourselves today.

You may remember a year ago (on Labor Day) that we entered The Woodlands Adventure Race, produced by The Woodlands High School Triathlon Team, as "Double Bigfoot Thunder". As soon as the race was over last year, after winning the "Best Team Name" category, our plan was hatched to this year -- come in costume!

And friends, family and my fellow Americans, we represented well enough - despite finishing dead last - to win the "Best Costume" category this year! (There were a lot of good costume ideas. We thought that we would probably win, but that really wasn't our objective. We were just having fun!)

We even made YouTube.com - thanks to the Crews family (Bill, Dana-Sue, Morgan and Dylan) and Debbie Tripp!

Click here for the first version and here for the second version (just slightly better!)

We donated our prize for winning - a pair of $50 gift certificates - back to TWHS Triathlon team for a team member (or members) that may need a little help.

The Woodlands Adventure Race Pictures

Yes, we actually biked in those outfits. The biking kept us a little cooled off during the event. Fortunately, we had to go back to the Lodge at Rob Fleming Park after completing each challenge.

A pre-race meeting with creatures like you've never ever seen before.

You are seeing straight. That's two Bigfoot running in the Park. (That's Mark Cahill from the winning Texas Independence Relay team, "Road Killers". He and his son had already finished the challenge before as their helmets were off!)

How a Bigfoot hydrates!

That was me jumping over a bike to finish off the event!