Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

The course really is beautiful for the first 18 miles, and I recommend those who run with iPods leave them off until then and really enjoy the sights and sounds.  You run in forests and past rivers and it is gorgeous (okay, I am prejudiced because I grew up here).  At mile 13, the route almost goes vertical, so training on the Hartman Bridge is really the way to prepare.  My heart rate went way up after that and it caused me to slow down for most of the rest of the race, but still made a respectable time (5:20).  A word of warning, the course is not closed.  You run along two lane country roads, so you must always be prepared for cars passing.  The race was well organized despite the fact that the marathon had tripled in size (from 500 runners to 1500 running the full) after the Runner's World vote it as the best marathon.  The city is very friendly, with sprinklers on for the runners (yes, it was warm) and my hotel was great with rides to the course and a late checkout (3 pm).   This is a higher altitude than we are accustomed to.  The recommendation is come in the day before and run it or come in a week in advance and to get acclimated.  I did the former and it worked fairly well.

Going into the swim was quite a show....it was obvious that many people reported some bogus times. As I entered the water it was more like bumper boats than a 300 meter swim. There were actually people in front of me who could not swim a stroke....their arms and legs were moving, but they were not going anywhere. I managed to pass a few of them with only one head on collision and trotted off to my bike. My T1 was about 5 minutes. After I mounted my bike and got out onto the course, it became very apparent that those folks in front of me not only could not swim, but I doubt they even trained for the sprint. The first three miles I must have passed about 30 riders and I was only doing 18mph!! Unfortunately, some of those folks went off in ambulances due to either heat exhaustion or turning too sharply at the u-turn on the course. After 42 minutes on the bike, I pulled in to put on my running shoes and head out for the three mile run. The course was great and the folks in the neighborhood put their sprinklers on the streets for us to run thru....it was great!! I got my 3 miles in about 32 minutes and came in a happy camper!! All-in-all, it was a very satisfying event and it reinforced something very important....always train properly for your races.

Bev and Reina finished their first marathon!

click on "Read more" to see the rest of pictures

As I approached the date of the race, I was getting pretty nervous. The prior year at RR100, I stopped at mile 83.1 and couldn’t get myself mentally to move another step. Another 17 miles felt overwhelming and bleak. Unlike a shorter race, a 100 mile race is as much about mental toughness as it is about physical ability. So, here I am a year later, to test my body and mind again. Do I still have it? Can I push myself to my limit after last year?

* Thank you to all our coaches and assistant coaches who helped to get us to the finish line!
Head Coaches – Rick Burris, Serina McEntire, Lori Alvarez, Diana Armstrong;
Assistant Coaches - Maxine Aguilar, Jim Alvarez, Barbara Blair, Nelva Cary; David Conklin, Beverly Dement, Terry Frank, Jersey Girls (Cheryl & Cindy), David Kaplan, Brenda Kunkel, Liane Latham, Hung Nguyen, Christina Shaw, Reina Sher-Kraft, David Stockton

Houston 5K Finishers

***click on Read More for more pictures****