Thursday, January 17, 2008

2008 Chevron Houston Marathon beautiful!

Weather could not have been better for the 2008 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half on Jan 13. Times reflected the 45 degrees with little humidity on a clear, glorious day. The winning Kenyan female broke her course record by over two minutes in the marathon. She won $25,000 with a $10,000 bonus.

In the Aramco Half, JP Machemehl, age 23, led the way for FLS with a 1:09 in his first attempt at the distance, a pace of 5:19 per mile. Those of us who run with him at Tuesday night track at Clements knew he would do great. I am trying to talk him into the marathon next January with a shot at 2:25. Ino Cantu, age 74, set another national age record with a fine 1:38. Ino is an amazing man.

Our fastest female in the Chevron Marathon was 2007 FLS Outstanding Runner Jana Yowell, a personal trainer, with a two-minute PR of 3:34. She will run Boston again. My wife Jean ran with heart and also qualified for Boston with a near-PR of 3:49. Her tough training podna Wanda Buxton of Pecan Grove was right there also with a 3:50.

For the FLS men, two broke three hours...Ed Sturdivant of Missouri City, age 41, ran a FANTASTIC ten-minute PR of 2:46!! Wow. Way to go Ed!!! Brett Cole, Sugar Land, another Masters runner, ran a fine 2:58, his best in many years. Congrats!

One of the most amazing performances for FLS was by newbie Walt Yarrow. He had struggled mightily in the Marathon Warmup Series. At 195 pounds, hot weather really slows him down. However, on Sunday he ran the race of his life. Walt, age 40, qualified for the Boston Marathon by one minute with a 24-minute PR of 3:19! Great to see.

Finish Line Sports manned the Mile 23 water station for the 18th time. Thanks to my sidekicks bro Steve, Brian Stud Watson, and Woody McAndrew. Twelve students from Dulles High were there. We had over 50 volunteers out there and had fun with Peter's sound system. BBQ Dinner for volunteers is in The Heights Jan 25.

It was an inspiring day. Perfect weather. Exciting event.

Congrats to all!

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