Fast Times & Finish Lines

FLS at Boston results

2009-04-22T13:28:00.002-05:00

Jeremy Rowe, 36, of Houston was our fastest FLS runner in the 113th running of the Boston Marathon on Patriot's day Monday. Conditions were good: 46 degrees and overcast, but very windy. And as always...hilly! Jeremy was running his first Boston and came in a steady 3:16, a pace of 7:30. He felt good afterwards with little soreness. Next was 62-year-old Lenord Burns in a strong 3:21. Both were in the first heat at 10am.

In the second heat at 10:30am, Rick Reynolds ran a fine 3:41 PR. Dr Alice Jenney of Missouri City, age 52, fought back her Lupas and liver problems with a 4:15 in her first Boston! My wife Jean Leach-Stewart was right behind her with a 4:16 she was very happy with. Nina Janetti of FLS followed with a 4:24.

All six FLS Boston Marathoners had a great time! We brought our 9-year-old Caitlin and she now LOVES Boston. The Red Sox went on a five-game winning streak while we were there. We were in the bleachers for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Americans Hall and Goucher were third overall male and female. Close finish. It was an exciting day to be at the finish on Boylston.

2008 FLS Christmas Party

2008-12-22T12:19:00.002-05:00

A great time was had by all at the annual FLS Christmas Party here at the store last night. The Pot Luck Dinner was delicious, featuring chili, lasagna, chicken enchiladas, cookies, and Starbuck's Coffee, among many other treats.

It was a cold night outside, 45 degrees and windy, but we had a campfire thanks to Wes and over 40 guests showed up. Try Andy's Tri First-Timer Essay Co-Winners Josh Reno and Masumi McLaren read the accounts of their first triathlon. Pastor Kevin Kleinhenz, one of Houston's best triathletes, then gave an inspiring Christmas message concerning life's priorities.

The final part of the evening was FLS 2008 Yearly Award winners. Outstanding Runner Award went to JP Machemehl. JP, age 24, ran a 1:09 in his first half marathon in January. At Impact A Hero 5K in June, he was second overall with a strong 15:24 on a hot day. JP sustained a foot injury late in the year and turned to volunteering at FLS races.

Next were our Most Improved Runners, Greg Witherow and Walt Yarrow. Greg, a former UH pitcher, brought his mile down to 6:39 and five-mile down to 39:22 after losing 80 pounds in the past few years. Walt ran a 25-minute PR marathon of 3:19 in January at Chevron Houston Marathon to qualify for Boston. Walt also dropped his 5K PR to 18:32 at Bellaire Trolly Run.

Michelle Nelson was FLS Outstanding Triathlete. Only in her second year, Michelle was first in her age group at Sugar Land Women's Tri with 58:35 (with cracked ribs) and second ag at Try Andy's Tri with an outstanding 56:46. Michelle is running her first marathon in January and is shooting to qualify for Boston.

Adina Norris won our '08 Remembering Irma Award. At FLS Beginners Speedwork, no one cheers like Adina. Like Irma, she is an encourager to everyone around her. Adina is a member of Fort Bend Fit.

Carlos Franco won FLS Outstanding Service Award for 2008. Carlos works every Saturday at FLS, is my assistant at Beginners Speedwork, and works the FLS races. Whatever is needed, Carlos is there. Carlos has Aggie Spirit.

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy 80th Aunt Jean!!!

2008-03-22T13:12:00.002-05:00

Last night, we had a great party at our house in New Territory for Aunt Jean's 80th birthday. Over 50 friends enjoyed fajitas from Pappasito's, lots of wine, and three fantastic cakes from Maureen's Bakery. Several friends warmly toasted Aunt Jean and her positive can-do nature. Dr. Dave Calvo, Sandy Lord, Terrie Gorney, Sandy Sessions, niece Lyn Stewart, and nephew Steve Stewart all told stories. It was a beautiful evening outside for the occassion.

Anut Jean was touched and said so many times. She briefly addressed the crowd. Generous gifts were showered on her as well. It was a night to remember! Thanks to all who came and honored this sweet lady who heads up refreshments at all FLS races.

We hope to have her around for many more years. My Grandma Ocie, Aunt Jean's Mom, lived to be 100 and was active at FLS races well into her 90's.

Love, Andy

Mardi Gras Marathon

2008-02-25T18:13:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was the 44th Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans. The attendance was the best in many years, 5800 for the marathon, half, and 5k combined. The weather was gorgeous, 50's and clear. Everyone was excited about a new course and the great weather.

Autumn Ray of Galveston and FLS scored her first victory in a big race with a 2:58 marathon win among women. She won by over three minutes, after being in fourth at the halfway point. Autumn is a 28-year-old medical school student at UTMB. She wore her FLS tri top, giving our club some nice publicity. It was "one of the most exciting days" of her life. Ironwoman Karen Nelson of Katy was second in her age group of 45-49 with a strong 3:35.

In the half, Mandy Luna, age 26, ran an 11-minute PR of 1:36, placing 21st female overall. My brother Steve also ran the half, and ran a respectable 1:50, on very limited training, an 8:26 pace. Jay Stabler, 70, ran the 13.1 miles in 2:19, which was second in his age group. Jay is making a comeback!

The brand-new course included the French Quarter's Bourbon Street, up and down St Charles Ave, and a full loop around Audubon Park. It was beautiful. Start/finish is the Louisiana Superdome, as in past years. Generous time limits were four hours for the half and seven hours for the marathon, to be walker-friendly.

New Orleans is always a great place to be a tourist, one of the best. We ate at our favorite restaurant, Tony Angelo's, Saturday night. We also listened to jazz on Sunday afternoon in historic Jackson Square.

Next year's date is Sunday, Feb. 1.

Dandy Don Ruggles completes Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler

2008-02-05T17:15:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, Dandy Don Ruggles, age 63, completed his first 100-miler at Rocky Raccoon in Huntsville. His time was 29 hours and 31 minutes. Wow!

Don overcame foot injuries which prevented his finish the past two years. The third time was the charm!

Congrats to Don on his perseverance. He is a teacher at Hightower High School and long-time FLS member. Audrey Christiansen, Nina Janetti, and Patti Muck of FLS were there to cheer and pace him.

Way to go!

2008 Chevron Houston Marathon beautiful!

2008-01-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

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!

FLS Christmas Party a blast!

2007-12-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

FLS Annual Christmas Party was a blast last night. Cold and clear weather was brisk out front where we help the party. Wes brought a nice gas fire, and we had plenty of blankets. Hot cider was extremely popular.

Speakers were Dale, President of East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry in Stafford and Darrell from The Rainbow Room in Rosenberg, two excellent local causes our FLS races give to.

Caitlin Leach, age 8, did a Jumprope For The Needy she had been working on for months. A total of $301 was raised from FLSers attending and given to our two race causes.

Peter from Other Brother played Christmas music and provided a p.a.

Pot Luck Dinner was delicious. Chili, spaghetti, meatballs, pizza, lasagna...on and on...it was great! Thanks to all the cooks.

2007 FLS Awards were given out, and the winners were: Outstanding Runner Jana Yowell, Most Improved Runner John Thiem, Outstanding Triathlete Dave Depinet, Outstanding Service Lajuan Ellis-Thayer, and Remembering Irma Award Kevin Kline. Jana ran 3:36 PR at Houston, and John has PR'ed at all distances and has lost 25 pounds. Kevin Kline even surprised me with a philantropist award.

The party was one of our best ever. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-Andy

22nd Annual Sugar Land Surgical Hospital Turkey Trot

2007-11-24T19:22:00.000-05:00

22nd Annual Sugar Land Surgcal Turkey Trot was a HUGE success. We had a record 1,073 entrants, an increase of 31%!!! A cold, clear morning of 47 degrees welcomed the runners and walkers.

At 8am, we had the Sean Scroggins Kids Mile. Victors were Chandler Heikkila, age 11, in 6:23 for the boys and Madeliene Buxton, age 12, in 7:04 for the girls. Runnerups were Parker Smith, age 12, in 6:30 and Elaine Eberhardt, age 11, in 7:20. We had about 150 kids in the race.

At 8:30am, 730 runners took off in the chip-timed, loop 5-miler. JP Machemehl of Sugar Land, A+M-ex, won for the third time in 25:50, winning by over a minute. Peggy Yetman of Beaumont, age 39, an All-American triathlete, won the women's title by over two minutes in a fine 29:03. Each won a $200 FLS certificate. Former Sugar Land Mayor Lee Duggan, age 79, was our oldest finisher.

At 9am, over 200 Family Walk participants took off, many with strollers. The Family Walk is in its third year and has really grown.

Fantastic Trot sponsors included: Sugar Land Surgical Hospital, Fort Bend Toyota in Sugar Land, ASICS, Aramco Services, Texans Insurance, Green Mountain Energy, American Laser Center, and Finish Line Sports.

Checks have been sent to: MD Anderson Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund, East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry in Stafford, Cenikor.org, Snowdrop Foundation, and Cenicle Retreat House in Houston.

As always, thanks to all our volunteers. We had our hands full with such a large increase. Volunteers are the key to any race. I have a great race team.

We hope to have another record-setting year in 2008. Planning is already underway with the race committee.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

FLS team strong at Chevron Houston Marathon Jan 14

2007-01-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

Finish Line Sports had many strong performances at the 35th Chevron Houston Marathon yesterday. Many qualified for Boston. The weather was overcast and humid. Temp was 55 degrees.

Fastest times for the FLS women were: Ironman triathlete and med student Autumn Ray of Galveston in 3:05, masters triathlete Karen Nelson of Katy in 3:26, Cyndy Hetrick of Sugar Land, in training for her first Ironman at Arizona, in 3:28, and Jana Yowell, a personal trainer at Houstonian Lite, with a HUGE PR of 30 minutes, in 3:36! Great job ladies.

FLS men also ran STRONG. Fastest were Big Ed Sturdivant of Mo. City in a fine 2:56 PR, Brett Cole of Sugar Land, running on his 40th birthday, run his first marathon in many years in a fine 3:01, Dave Depinet, age 43, of Sugar Land and Fort Bend Fit, with a five-minute PR of 3:07, and Darwin Williamson, age 48, of Sugar Land and a FBF coach, with a great PR of 3:10. In fact, all are masters.

Many other fine performances by FLS members as well. Please go to Forums and post your time. Tell us about your experience.

I was proud of our runners and also of our volunteers at Mile 23 water station. Special thanks to leaders Brian Watson and Keith Fickel for making the water station happen. In all, we had about 30 volunteers. This number was smaller than usual due to dire weather forecasts. I truly appreciate those who volunteer irregardless of the forecast. Mile 23 FLS water station was great, with bagpiper, sound system, tent, and nine flags.

Sadly, another loss...John Hitzfeld

2006-12-28T19:29:00.000-05:00

Last night, long-time FLS member John Hitzfeld lost his life in a motorcycle accident on Kirkwood, coming home from work. His wife Erin just called me. John was 38 years old.

An avid runner, triathlete, and duathlete, John was talented. He was looking forward to Masters competition. Five years ago, John ran his only marathon, a 3:10, just as we planned, in Austin. He qualified for Boston, but did not run it.

John was from Louisiana, as well as Houston. He had a wife and two small children living in The Meadows. John overcame a difficult childhood to become a GREAT dad and husband. After Katrina, they came back here.

This loss hurts a lot. John always had a smile and a goofy sense of humor I identified with. He was all for Cenikor, just like me. A champion of the underdogs.

Funeral services will be Tuesday Jan. 2 at 2pm at Fishers of Men Lutheran Church, Austin Parkway at Grants Lake, in Sugar Land. I will be reading John's Bible favorite verses, Phil. 3:8-13.

Many have asked how they can help. A fund for John's wife Erin and two children, Natalie, 6, and Harper, 2, has been set up. Checks made out to Hitzfeld Family can be sent to: Brett Ellis, 20619 Shadow Mill Ct., Katy, Tx. 77450. Thanks for any donation you choose.

Jeff Breinig passes away

2006-12-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

On Dec. 26, one of our Tuesday night tracksters, Jeff Breinig, age 58, passed away. He had just eaten lunch with friends and died suddenly at home, possibly from a blood clot. Jeff was wanting to run his first marathon at Chevron Houston Jan. 14 and had been diligently training. He was raising money for Snowdrop Foundation to fight cancer.

Jeff was a friendly, great guy. He had run the Turkey Trot with his 11-year-old grandson. Now the grandson wants to run the Boston Marathon in Jeff's memory.

We will miss Jeff Breinig as a member of Finish Line Sports. He passed away too soon and too suddenly. Funeral services are next week in Kansas City, where his family is from.

FLS Christmas Party

2006-12-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

FLS' 21st Annual Christmas Party was last night and about 70 attended, our most ever. Pete Manry supplied Christmas music. A FANTASTIC pot-luck dinner was enjoyed by all. DJ/Marathoner Kevin Kline gave a great talk on www.snowdropfoundation.org. He is fighting cancer among kids. Check out his new non-profit website.

Seven prize drawings were passed out, including a one-hour massage from Wes Speights. Weather was mild, but we still had a campfire out front. Many from Fort Bend Fit attended also.

Six 2006 FLS Awards were passed out in the form of a beautiful plaque.

Outstanding Runner Award...our fastest at Tuesday night track, Brett Cole turns 40 on the day of Chevron Houston Marathon, where he is shooting for 2:49PR. He ran a negative-split 1:59 at the 30K and 29 minutes at the Trot.

Co-Most Improved Runners...1) Adina Norris went from walker to runner this year. At age 57, she PR'ed by three minutes in the mile with a 9:57 at Beginner Speedwork. 2) Jeremy Rowe, age 33, of Sugar Land. At the windy cold Chicago Marathon, he ran 3:40, a PR by 52 minutes! His mile time is down to 5:52.

Outstanding Triathlete Award....Chris Dull, age 34, is a former linebacker for Baylor U. In the past years, he has lost over 100 pounds! Chris had a FANTASTIC 4:38 Half-Ironman in Florida at the national championships with his girlfriend Christie. His first IM is this April in Arizona. Ten hours flat perhaps? This guy can race.

Outstanding Service Award...Mike Hefner. USAT official, sets up FLS races at 2am. This guy is there whenever needed, ready to go early. A key cog to FLS, he is as important as Aunt Jean.

Remembering Irma Award...a tribute to the late Irma Bondy-Gill of FBF coaches. Anne Fickel, FLS asst manager, was a popular choice because of her continual willingness to help others and the way she gives 100% of her ability, like Irma. This was our most emotional and final award.

Merry Christmas! Next year's date will be Sunday, Dec 16th, same weekend. Thanks to all those who attended and made the night very special. I know there are many conflicts this time of year, and we appreciate you clearing your calendar.

Christmas gift? FLS gift certificates!

2006-12-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

Gift certificates from Finish Line Sports are available for Christmas gifts in any amount. No expiration date either. Always appreciated by any runner, swimmer, or triathlete!

Just a reminder... :)

06 Methodist Sugar Land Hospital 30K

2006-12-15T16:42:00.000-05:00

2006 Methodist Sugar Land Hospital 30K is in the books. We had 996 entrants and 820 finishers. Weather was nice for running...53 degrees, overcast, a little drizzle.

The start/finish at Sugar Land Town Sqaure is beautiful. Times were fast, led by Brett Riley in 1:44 (pace 5:38) and Heidi Lozano in 1:59 (pace 6:27). Both are past winners and earned a $250 FLS certificate for their efforts. Heidi ran a marathon in 2:51 the week prior!

Volunteers were plentiful. Finish Line Sports, Houston Striders, Dulles High, U of H, Bolivian Consulate, Fort Bend Fit, Houston Masters, HARRA, Aramco Services, and BVARC were all well-represented. We had over 250 in all! Wow.

Title and Gold sponsors were Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, Goheen Financial Group, Fort Bend Toyota, Dew Point Control, and The Offices at Sugar Land Town Square. The community was behind us! In turn, funds were donated to Cenikor, Dulles/Habitat, Child Advocates-Ft. Bend, HARRA, and Houston-Athens Marathon Exchange.

Thanks to everyone who supported the 30K, our 19th annual. It is hard work, but worth it. Next year's date is Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007, five weeks before Chevron Houston Marathon, as usual.

21st Annual Sugar Land Surgical Hospital Turkey Trot

2006-11-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

21st Annual Sugar Land Surgical Hospital Turkey Trot was a great morning! A record 832 entered the holiday event. Perfect weather greeted the runners, 52 degrees, clear skies.

Sean Scroggins Kids Mile, ages 12 and under, was first at 8am. Ryan Teel, age 12, was a repeat winner in 5:45 for the boys. The girls were led by Sheray Reese, also age 12, in a time of 6:40. Both won turkey trophies and Finish Line Sports gift certificates.

Next was the chip-timed five-mile run at 8:30am through Sugar Creek. Top three males were John Hedengren, 25:20; Brett Ramsey, 28:42; and Tuan Nguyen, 28:47. For the ladies, top three were Lauren Smith, a Brazoswood soph, 28:54; Joy Smith, Sugar Land, 32:47; and Jana Yowell, Sugar Land, 35:24. The course was a beautiful loop.

Finally at 8:50am was the 2.8-Mile Family Walk. This was a shorter loop on the same course, with strollers allowed. Our eldest participant was a kind 86-year-old gentleman. In 2007, this walk moves to 9am due to growing popularity.

Afterwards in front of FLS, Aunt Jean supplies plentiful refreshments, while great door prizes and turkey trophy awards were handed out. Music from Vince Ramos and Peter Manry filled the air, as well as bagpiper E.J.

Sponsors included: Sugar Land Surgical Hospital, Ft. Bend Toyota, ASICS, Aramco Services, Finish Line Sports, and Texans Insurnace. Charities benefitting were: Cenikor, MD Anderson, East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry, and Cenicle Retreat House.

A Happy Thanksgiving was had by all. We hope to see you back in 2007.

Favorite Houston Marathon Memory . . . 1999

2006-11-03T15:58:00.000-05:00

My favorite Houston Marathon memory was my last marathon in 1999. It was a warm, humid day, so we adjusted our starting pace accordingly. We, my friend Doug Johnson and I, ran negative splits and drank a little at each water station. Vanilla PowerGel helped too. The last six miles, I picked up the pace while others slowed.

The water stations are always a highlight for me. Since 1991, Finish Line Sports has manned Mile 23 water station at Allen Parkway, just past the Shepherd bridge. We get a great turnout of 70-plus and have a bagpiper each year. In 1999, I was a marathoner rather than a volunteer. The 23rd mile was my fastest of the day in anticipation of our station, a 7:03. It was great to see familiar faces, especially of my family. I held on after that for a time of 3:25, not close to a PR, but a favorite memory just the same. Hanging in there on a tough day is very satisying.

Come January 14th, our Finish Line Sports group will again be manning Mile 23 water station, along with Fort Bend Fit. It will be our 17th consecutive year at that post.

Try Andy's Tri Essay Winners...Eli and Lesley

2006-10-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

About twenty first-timers wrote an essay on their experience at Try Andy's Tri Oct 1. It was great going through all of them. Anne, Jonathon, Jean, Jane, Aunt Jean, and others helped me decide.

We came up with two fine co-winners.

Eli Janik, age 11, wrote an honest, humorous tale of his exploits. We smiled and laughed as we read it. But what a great tale. Several elementary school-age kids tackled a full triathlon of 300-10-3 that day. Way to go Eli!

Lesley Crawford showed grit and determination in her story. The tale is sure to inspire others. Thanks for not giving up when it was easy to. She represents several first-timers overcoming serious injuries to do the tri. Congrats on your finish Lesley!

Read Eli and Lesley's stories in our Forums section of this website.

We appreciate each first-timer story. You are a big reason why Try Andy's is a special race. Hope to see everyone Oct 14th of next year racing again.

Houstonian Lite LIVES

2006-10-11T15:09:00.000-05:00

Rumors have abounded that Houstonian Lite was closing in Sugar Land at the end of the year, Dec 31. Competition from Lifetime and LA Fitness on Hwy 6 has admittedly been tough. However, Steve Halligan will run Houstonian Lite and there are long-term plans in Sugar Land Town Square. This is the nicest, cleanest club anywhere. FLS patrons of Houstonian Lite, Steve Long, Dianne Calvo, and myself among others, need not fear. Steve H, Margie Connolly, and the Houstonian Lite crew are here to stay!

Thanks to Houstonian Lite for the support of our 30K run on Dec. 10th. While not the title sponsor in 2006, they remain a gold sponsor. Call Steve Halligan for a great deal.

Dandy Don Tames Durango

2006-10-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, Dandy Don Ruggles, age 62 and a 16-year member of FLS, travelled to Durango, Colorado for the tough DURANGO DOUBLE. Ultra-runners were competing from all over the country.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, he ran a 50K race at altitude in 7:29, one minute under his goal time, this despite the fact he has been battling plantar faciitis and other injuries for months. Sunday morning Don was extremely sore, but ran a mountainous marathon in 5:06, 14 minutes under his goal time. Wow! While getting a much-needed massage afterwards, Don was called up off the table for a second-place award in his age group for his combined time in the two races.

Don teaches engineering at Hightower High School in Missouri City, after a long career in the private sector. Don had always wanted to teach, to honor his father, who was a teacher.

Congrats to a great guy, and FLS is proud to have him as a long-time member. He is one tough hombre.

Shape Up Sugar Land meeting on Nov. 13

2006-09-26T09:39:00.000-05:00

Shape Up Sugar Land will have a meeting on Monday, November 13th, at 7pm at Sugar Land City Hall in Town Square. Pizza will be served. Karl Miller, Sugar Land Rec Dept, will talk about the new city park, with running trails and mountain biking, at the Brazos River. Time to ask questions and offer input on this exciting project. Your tax dollars at work in a positive way.

Our new Shape Up Sugar Land logo will be unveiled as well, in an art contest among area students ages 12-18. Five finalists will be invited that night. A $100 FLS gift certificate will be presented to the winner.

Shape Up Sugar Land is open to everyone locally interested in fitness. Please mark your calendars. We are currently seeking new members. President is physical therapist Nicole Volek and Honorary Chairman is Mayor David Wallace, a runner. Let's work to promote fitness.

Spencer Da Man

2006-09-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

Spencer Buxton, age 14, of Richmond ran in his first cross country race two weeks ago at Lamar Consolidated. He is a freshman at the new Travis High in FBISD. His mom Wanda, a two-time Boston Marathoner said, "Spencer is SO nervous!" He looked pretty calm to me on the startline with his four teammates, just enough for a team. The brand-new red and white uniforms looked like UH. The team looked sharp, at least.

They were running in the JV division, a two-mile course on grass. This was also Spencer's first two-mile. Last spring he set the Garcia Middle School mile record with a 4:59 in 8th grade. That was his first year of running. Instead of being nervous, Spencer looked over the field. I told him, "Remember the field is JV, not varsity. Be ready, you might win." He quietly told his teammates, "I think I might win this thing." He then proceeded to run an even race, going out in 5:38, and won by 10 ten seconds in a PR of 11:35. Second was his teammate and training partner Michael.

Tomorrow morning at Seabourne Park in Rosenberg, Spencer and his Travis teammates run again at 10am. This time the distance is three miles for JV. Several FLS members, including myself, are going to go and watch our young FLS runner. At least once this year, the Travis coach will run the team in varsity. That will be interesting for the freshman. Spencer never backs down.

Parents Celebrate 50th Anniversary Aug 30th!!!

2006-08-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

Our parents, Tom and Patricia Stewart, celebrate 50 years of marriage next week, Wed, August 30th, my Dad's birthday. Three kids, many moves, but the last 27 years here in great Sugar Land.

Dad's career with Shell took us many places. We lived in South Houston in the 50's and 60's, then New York for one year, then back to southwest Houston for two years, back to New York for one year again, back to Houston in Memorial for a year-and-a-half, to New Orleans, then finally to Sugar Land in 1979. It has been an adventure with many new friends. Watching a couple figure out 50 years of marriage has been the best part.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, nine of us are taking an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle, Aug 26-Sept 3. Side trips include Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Victoria. Adventures include dog-sledding, hiking, train, and wine/chocolate tour. It will be a trip of a lifetime, according to those who have previously gone. My sister Lyn put it all together on Norwegian.

I want to thank Anne Fickel, my manager, and Jonathon Hay, my college student assistant, for keeping the store going while we are gone. The nine days is the longest I have ever been away from FLS since we opened in 1985. I am looking very forward to this trip and the memories it will hold.

Mom and Dad, we love you! Congratulations on your Golden Anniversary!

Autumn Ray finishes Vineman in 10:57!!

2006-08-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday in Sonoma, Ca., Autumn Ray, age 26, finished her first ironman distance race in a fantastic time of 10:57. Distances were 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run through the beautiful wine country of Sonoma and Napa. She was second female overall. Out of 600 finishers including men, she was 21st. What a debut! Her coach is Tad Molloy, and he very proudly emailed me the results. Autumn will next race on October 1st in Sugar Land at the STERLING BANK Try Andy's Tri and must be considered the female favorite after this performance. FLS is proud to be one of her sponsors. She lives and trains down in Galveston, where she works at the Med Center.

Way to go, Autumn!!!

Shape Up Sugar Land

2006-08-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

Shape Up Sugar Land is changing from a committee which has promoted Texas Roundup to a group promoting fitness here in Sugar Land. Nicole Volek is in charge. We hope to provide volunteers and entrants for races, provide fitness info through a website, educate, and network with others interested in all types of fitness. We want YOU to join. :)

Next meeting is Tuesday, August 29, at 7am at LaMadeline on S. Town Center.

Fired Up 5K Sept 4 in SL

2006-08-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Fired Up 5K will be Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4, in Avondale in Sugar Land. Chip-timing, certified. Register online at www.firstcolony.org. About 700 are expected from all over Houston. Finish Line Sports will be OPEN after the race with regular hours of 10am till 6pm. Race benefits MDA. FLS will host packet pickup on Thursday, August 31, from 2pm till 6pm.

River Cities Tri/Ironfish

2006-08-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

River Cities Tri near Shreveport in August always fills up quickly online. 1,300 limit is met in only 3 hours on June 1st every year. Great race packet is the reason usually given. Six from FLS travelled this year from Sugar Land and competed. An 8am first wave swim start made for a very hot run two hours later, though shaded. Competition was fierce, with our best coming in 10th age group-wise, Karen Nelson. Distances were 800-meter lake swim, 18.2-mile bike, 5K run.

Results for our FLS tri club...
Karen Nelson 1:39
Darwin Williamson 1:42
Jan Broyles 1:43
Patty Godfrey 1:53
Pam Fourie 1:55
Tessy Phillips 1:58

Location was Cypress Lake Park. Many carpooled from FLS, including Fort Bend Fitters.

In the kids' tri, Ironfish the day prior, Catherine Godfrey, Patty's daughter, age 10, placed highest among FLSers. She was an outstanding 7th out of 55 in girls 10-and-under. Her time was 28:24 for 100-yard swim, 5K bike, 1K run. Way to go! She is registered for Try Andy's Tri.

Congrats to all FLS finishers.

No-Tax Weekend sets FLS sales record

2006-08-06T15:49:00.000-05:00

August 4-6, No-Tax Weekend in Texas, set sales records at Finish Line Sports in Sugar Creek. Saving 8.25% tax, in addition to FLS, FBF, HRTC, and HARRA discounts, ASICS running shoes were flying out the door. Over 400 Fort Bend Fitters ran from the shop on Saturday morning at 6am. Afterwards at 7am, many shopped for the correct shoe, making it the biggest sales day in 21+ years of FLS. Jonathon, Jeremy, Brian, Emily, Anne, Nicole, and myself hustled to keep up. Best-sellers were 2110 and Kayano. Kayano coolmax socks are always a hit too.

Thanks for the support! All three days were busy, even Sunday when we are normally closed. In 2007, there is talk about making no-tax one full week long. It sure does bring out the shoppers.

MARCIA'S LAKE PLACID IRONMAN REPORT

2006-07-31T16:23:00.000-05:00

Passion, Patience, Perseverance ~ Victor Plata

-----Original Message-----
From: Marcia Holmes [mailto:marcia.holmes@gurecky.com]
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 4:25 PM
To: 'Debbie Rathburn'
Cc: 'Tad Molloy'
Subject: race report-long!

Hey Debbie,

Thanks so much for writing and the kind words. I've been wanting to call
Tad but my phone wouldn't work in the mountains and it has been crazy since we got back (at 1:00am yesterday morning). Paul (my 6yr old) had his tonsils & adenoids out this morning and I just got into the office (btw I
think doing the IM was easier than going through my baby's surgery this
morning but he's fine)

Oh my...i'm exhausted but still elated! So many emotions as I think it is
still sinking in. So many stories. We will have to get together so I can
tell you what all mistakes I made so you won't make those same ones ha-ha:) I'm so excited for you as you begin your Ironman journey. It was everything I'd dreamed and more. It is an overwhelming experience that I don't think you can totally prepare for until you actually experience it firsthand. Tad has an innate ability to know what we are capable of and I felt confident that he had trained me as best he could. Even with all that happened to me during the day (more later), I was shocked to realize that I had finished right on one of his goals for me even though I had quit looking at my watch!!

I can say that of all the things that went wrong during the day, I was able
to do 2 things right which work wonders, stay focused and keep a positive
attitude. I think I managed to smile most of the race:) Lake Placid was a
very tough challenging course but I do not regret one bit choosing it for my first IM. It is beautiful there and the volunteers & crowd support were unbelievable! I even enjoyed the bike course and the beauty and the
downhills:) made it all worth it!

Some of the highs/lows:
Pre-race: I went to get my tires pumped and left my bags at my bike
transition spot. When I returned, my swim gear bag was gone (with my
wetsuit, cap, goggles etc! I somehow managed not to panic too bad and went over to where we had hung our swim to bike and bike to run gear bags the day before and soon realized a girl had mistakenly picked it up with her things.

Swim: Had my first real near-drowning experience. Thought I was seeded far right and back enough but soon after the cannon went off, I guess I was swept up in a draft and was pretty darn near the buoy line, and it was line being in a traffic jam... and I did panic here. People were all around me with no where to go and I just started looking for a canoe but it was too far off so I somehow managed to settle down and start swimming. Funny that after that, I managed to go on and have what I thought was one of the best open water swims that I've ever had.

Bike: Was raining when we exited the water and started the bike and I was very cold the first 30 miles and my stomach was bothering me. I had read that drinking water is supposed to help if your stomach is cramping. I rode very conservatively (maybe too much so) but it felt better to sit up than to get on the bars at this point. I should have realized that something was wrong because I had to get off and pee at least 6 times during the bike but I just thought I was doing a fine job staying hydrated. (also I didn't take any endurolytes as they were buried at the bottom of my Bento box and I didn't think I needed them since it was cooler). My left knee started hurting during the bike and I had to keep telling myself to slide back and use my glutes and hamstrings (as Tad tells us in class!) When I would do this, it really helped! After the first loop, I started getting in a bit of a rush and I think that caused me to drop my chain but I got it back on okay. I really didn't have a problem spinning up any of the hills and again was probably a little on the conservative side. There is one big descent about miles 10-14 that I actually rode the day before and I'm glad I did because I knew what to expect during the race and I loved that part of it...it felt like downhill skiing on the bike:) Anyway, finished the bike, stomach felt better and NO FLATS:)

Run: started out easy and walking the uphills. Thank goodness I took my
pouch with my endurolytes and I took about 16 of them during the run but I think I was already low on sodium. Had I not done that though, I probably wouldn't have finished. Just before the half, I had a lull and felt like I couldn't go on. Then I got back into town and saw David and the boys and the crowds. Soon, it was weird but I felt stronger than I had all day and my pace really picked up and I was even running up the hills (still keeping my HR in check though). At this point, I realized I could easily break 14 hours and that is the first time I had even given much thought to my time. However, just before mile 20, I noticed my heart rate dropping and around mile 20 I started feeling light headed and I saw visions of Paula and others who had bonked out just before the end and I sure didn't want that to
happen. Most of the final 10k, I was reduced to walking. I wanted to run
so bad but when I would try I would start feeling woozy so I just walked as
fast as I could. As I entered the oval, my legs just started turning over.
I remember high-5ing several kids, then I saw David and as I made the final turn, Hunter & Paul ran out to join me and ran across the finish line with me:) As Tad had told me, it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

As with some of my other "first-time" events, my knees buckled just after
crossing and luckily 2 big guys were right there to take me into the medic
tent. You won't believe it, but I gained about 5lbs during the race so they
knew not to give me IVs. They did blood work and my sodium was very low (despite the 16 endurolytes). I refused to go to the hospital so they said I had to take in lots of sodium right there and be able to stand up and walk to pee before I could leave. Unfortunately, that took about 3 hrs. They were so great in there though. I hated for the boys to see all that but they said it reminded them of MASH so they were cool with that too! Finally, I could stand without getting dizzy and they said my color was better and blood pressure had come up and I was able to leave. I'm still having to watch it for a few more days and not drink too much water and get in a lot of sodium.

It is all so worth it! It sounds silly but I still have my ID bracelet on
as if I cut it off some of the magic will go away. I think I could have
signed up on the spot for LP 07 but probably it is a good thing that it
filled so quickly!

Did you sign up for Cour'd lene? I met a girl that lives there and she said
it is the perfect bike and run courses. Sorry this got long but David gets
tired of me talking about it so it's nice to share with someone who can
relate:)

Have a great weekend and hope to see you soon!

marcia

Methodist Sugar Land Hospital new title sponsor for 30K

2006-07-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Methodist Sugar Land Hospital agreed today to become the title sponsor of our 30K on Sunday Dec.10 at Sugar Land Town Square. Hospital is located near the race start, at Hwy 59 and Sweetwater Blvd. We thank Methodist for supporting the largest road race in Fort Bend County. Over 1,100 runners and walkers will be competing in this 18.6-mile race.

New name...Methodist Sugar Land Hospital 30K.

Many are already registering online at www.signmeup.com.

FLS 21-Year Party a hit!

2006-06-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

Finish Line Sports celebrated 21 years last night at the Sugar Land Community Center on Matlage Way in old Sugar Land.

Tom and Mary Anne McBrayer were honored for 40 years of service to the Houston running community. Tales of friendship were shared by Wild Bill Hadley, Joann Luco, Paul Cooley, and myself. The crowd of 100 reacted with an extended standing ovation for the First Couple of Houston Running. Course measurement, equipment storage and rental, race directing, marathoning...the McBrayers have done it all! My bro Steve Stewart did a fine job of MCing the event.

Runners came from all over...Houston Masters, Houston Striders, Finish Line Sports, and Fort Bend Fit.

Child Advocate-Fort Bend received all proceeds from the evening. With a silent auction from Jean Leach and Patty Godfrey, the total donation was $4,800 to help local children.

Hinze's BBQ, St. Arnold's beer, and wine was served after a donation of $20 at the door.

Thanks to all who supported the celebration. It was fun evening for all.

Pizza at FLS this Thursday night

2006-06-24T09:36:00.000-05:00

Finish Line Sports will serve FREE Sicily's Pizza and soda this Thursday June 29th at 6pm in front of the shop. Freedom 5K and Fort Bend Fit will be registering. FLS will stay open until 8pm. We will offer 25% OFF non-sale items that night. SAVE.

Come on out! It will be another fun evening. Get to know your fellow local runners.

Freedom 5K on July 4th

2006-06-23T12:10:00.000-05:00

July 4th at 7am will be the Freedom 5K at Lost Creek Park in Sugar Land. Shaded, certified course. Raceday registration is available at 6am. Online registration at www.firstcolony.org. Benefits Fort Bend Corps, home repair for low-income and elderly. This race is put on by First Colony. Past winners include Rod Koborsi and John Rainbolt. JP may lead the way this year.

Finish Line Sports will be OPEN July 4th from 10am til 2pm with Nicole and Andy. No track speedwork at Clements that Tuesday night. Fireworks instead!

Happy FOURTH OF JULY!

McBrayers featured in Chronicle

2006-06-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

Tom and Mary Anne McBrayer, to be honored this Sunday night at FLS 21-Year Party, were featured in The Houston Chronicle sports section today. Roberta McGinnis wrote of their 40 years of dedication to Houston area running. Great article in Running Notebook, included each Thursday.

At 6pm June 25th at the Sugar Land Community Center on Matlage Way, FLS will have a tribute dinner for this unique couple. The event will benefit Fort Bend Child Advocates. Jean Leach has put together a GREAT silent auction.

Speakers will be Wild Bill Hadley, Joann Luco, Paul Cooley, and myself. We have known the McBrayers for over 20 years and want to tell about their dedication. Please try to be there. I have ordered Hinze's BBQ for 101 and the evening will be special.

Sugar Land Community Center is located just off Hwy 90 at Brooks in old Sugar Land, near Imperial Sugar. Volunteers for setup are needed at 5pm. Dress is business attire.

Tejas Tri PP at Finish Line Sports June 10

2006-06-05T15:58:00.002-05:00

This Saturday, June 10, from 11am till 6pm, Finish Line Sports will host packet pickup for Tejas Tri. The race is at 7am the next morning with wave starts in New Territory at Pecan Park. Distances are 800-meter lake swim/11-mile bike/3-mile shaded run. A full field of 700 are registered for this USAT-sanctioned event, a record crowd. Many FBF and FLS triathletes will be there. Since it is an open water swim, I will be spectating.

The race is full, however, unclaimed race packets will be sold for $70 at 6pm at FLS on Saturday night. Line up at 5pm.

Good luck!

FLS is OPEN Memorial Day

2006-05-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

Finish Line Sports will be OPEN with regular hours of 10am until 6pm on Monday, May 29, this Memorial Day. Dulles Dash 5K planned that morning has been postponed until September. At SL Town Square, there will be patriotic band and Memorial Day celebration at 10am in front of City Hall.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! Come on by if you get a chance. Good luck to triathletes racing CapTexTri in Austin, our state's largest triathlon.

STERLING BANK new Try Andy's Tri title sponsor

2006-05-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

STERLING BANK has agreed to be our new 2006 title sponsor for Try Andy's Tri. Their logo will exclusively grace the back of 650 race t-shirts. The race is now called STERLING BANK Try Andy's Tri. I would like to thank Sterling and our other race sponsors. These companies, such gold sponsors Aramco, Housewright Insurance, TYR, and BicycleWorld and Fitness, make Try Andy's possible. Please support them as they support us.

We appreciate you.

Online registration is available at www.signmeup.com. Field limit is 500.

Member Spotlight...Jeremy Rowe

2006-04-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

Jeremy Rowe of Sugar Land, age 32.

Married, three years, to Whitney.
Job: Banker at Prosperity Bank
Running for... 22 years, since age 10 at First Annual Sugar Land Turkey Trot.
Favorite Distance: Marathon
Favorite Place To Run: Memorial Park 3-Mile Loop
Current Weekly Mileage: 22
Favorite Restaurant: Lupe Tortilla
Getting ready for...2nd triathlon, COMBAT Tri, in Texas City on May 27.
Favorite Race: Sugar Land Turkey Trot (good choice)
Best Running Experience: 2005 Chicago Marathon because of perfect weather, great crowds, beautiful scenery, and CHICAGO PIZZA afterwards.
Worst Running Experience: Turkey Trot in 2001 due to bad calamari the night before, along with hot, humid weather.
PR's: 5:59 Mile in 2006, Kempner track
46:47 Capitol 10,000 in 2006, Austin
4:29 Houston Marathon in 2004

Kurt Pepper 3rd is Spring HARRA Series

2006-04-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

Kurt Pepper of FLS, age 46, a 5th grade teacher in Sienna, finished third among 40-49 Men in HARRA's Spring race series just concluded. (There are over 1,500 runners in HARRA.) Kurt won prize money as a result, but not enough to retire. His best race points-wise was Bellaire Trolley 5K April 8 in 18:02. Scoring is best 3 out of 6 races.

The other top scorer for FLS was Audrey Christiansen, 12th among women 40-49. Her fastest race was also the Trolley Run, a quick straight-loop course, in 22:30.

Audrey's husband, Terry Johnson, a hockey stud, was our only other FLS runner in the top 25 in their category, finishing 21st in 40-49 Men.

Congrats on a strong spring season!

Sugar Land is Fittest again!

2006-04-25T10:51:00.000-05:00

Sugar Land won the "Fittest City in Texas" in its category, 100,000-500,000, for the third straight year in 2006. Shape Up Sugar Land committee was headed by Nicole Volek. Houstonian Lite-Sugar Land, our 30K sponsor, won first in Service Organizations.

CONGRATS!

Trophies will be presented in Austin this Saturday morning by Governor Rick Perry. Mayor David Wallace will accept at the Capitol. Over 300 Sugar Landers completed the six-week program of fitness to earn the honor.

Local celebration will be at SL Town Square on Saturday, May 13, in the evening.

Our committee meets each month for one hour at LaMadeline, the last Tuesday morning of the month at 7am. Next meeting will be May 30, and we want new members. The committee tries to promote local fitness in any way possible. My brother Steve and I both serve. Join us!

Allison Thummel takes Overall Win at Sienna!!!

2006-04-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Allison Thummel of FLS, age 30, took First Overall Female today at the Sienna 5K. Her time was a PR of 21:47, a pace of 7:00 per mile. She lives in Sienna also, making her first victory that much sweeter. She came from behind in the last mile to take the win.

Congrats on her hard work. Her son Andrew, age 2, was there to cheer, along with husband Matt.

There were 350 runners in the 5K, a second annual event. The course ran along the golf course. Other FLS PR's were Jorge Quinones, age 51, in 21:33, 3rd in his age group, and Dave Calvo, age 55, 22:20, 4th in his age group. FLS made a strong showing. Kurt Pepper was 3rd overall male in 18:30.

Congrats to all FLS runners. Please post your times on our Forum. FLS was glad to be a silver sponsor.

Featured April item...TYR transition backpack

2006-04-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

TRI season is here!

TYR has a great new item for triathletes...the transition backpack. Large enough for all your tri needs, it even has a bungee cord to hold your helmet on the outside. Designed by pro triathlete Wendy Ingram, the backpack comes in several colors and retails for only $62. Thick and durable, it has TEN compartments, both wet and dry in all sizes.

We just got in a shipment, and they sold great last year. Ask Anne about them.

Eleven from FLS finish Boston Marathon

2006-04-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Patriot's Day was beautiful in Boston. Noon temp was 55 degrees with clouds and little wind. Eleven from FLS were there to run, including three running their first Boston. One million spectators lined the point-to-point course. This was the 110th version of the premier running event in the US. To be there is to understand, the city LOVES this race!

Our fastest from FLS was Bert Molina with a PR of 3:12. Darwin Williamson was next with a fine 3:21. Our fastest female from FLS was Audrey Christiansen, with a strong 3:45.

In order, our other Boston finishers were...Karen Nelson 3:50, Herb Lipsman of Houstonian Lite in 3:52, Patti Muck with a fine 4:01, Dandy Don Ruggles, age 62, in 4:07, Nina Jannetti 4:10, and Boston first-timers Canadian Debbie Harrison 4:14, Mean Jean Leach 4:18, and Fort Bend Fit Head Coach Terrie Gorney in 4:39.

Bert was the only FLS runner to PR on the tough, hilly course. It was great to be there and cheer them on. Patty Godfrey and Tessy Phillips of FLS flew up to support their friends as well.

Jean Leach and I enjoyed a Red Sox game on Sunday. They won 3-2 in classic Fenway Park.

Nicole new to FLS

2006-04-13T17:15:00.000-05:00

Nicole Jawanmardi, a senior at Kempner High, is the latest FLS employee. Jeremy Dye recommended her.

Nicole was a member of the KHS track team and swim team, of which she was captain. Her fastest mile is 6:10, so she has speed. Nicole is also the president of the new Kempner Tri Club, sponsored by FLS' Jack Hudson.

This summer Nicole will be an assistant coach for the Sugar Land Sharks swim team.

In the fall, Nicole will begin Texas A+M in College Station on an academic scholarship, after finishing in the top ten percent of her Kempner class of 2006. She will major in Biomedical Science.

Welcome Nicole to FLS.

Pamela's Race May 20

2006-04-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

Catherine Kellner of FLS will direct Pamela's Race in memory of her daughter Pamela on Saturday, May 20, in nearby Orchard, Tx, your choice of 5K or 10K races. Beautiful courses on Denton Cooley's ranch, Cool Acres. Race proceeds are used to provide college scholarships to local kids. The race is in its eighth year.

Many FLS runners love this race, including Don Ruggles and Darwin Williamson. Give the fresh air a try. This is a small race with only 100-200 and an excellent chance at hardware. Call Catherine with questions at 979-478-6203. Raceday registration and packet pickup is available at Cool Acres Ranch at 7am. Start time is 8am. Register online at www.signmeup.com.

Orchard is eight miles west of Rosenberg...in the country.

Sienna 5K April 22...mark it down

2006-03-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, April 22, at 8am will be the 2nd Annual Sienna 5K, a certified course through the golf course. Kari Young of Fort Bend Fit is the race director, along with Kurt Pepper of FLS. Call her at 281-778-8408. This is a fun race and attracted 700 in its initial year. Last year Jean, Calvo, and Allison ran it, and all placed. The neighborhood is beautiful. In two months, Kari will be moving out of the country.

Packet pickup is at Finish Line Sports on Friday, April 21, from 10am until 6pm. You can pick up an entry form here anytime. We are proud to be a race sponsor again.

The race benefits the children of Scanlon Oaks Elementary. Primary sponsor is Pisklak Orthodontics. Thanks.

Boston Marathon sendoff party April 9

2006-03-27T15:52:00.000-05:00

We are having a sendoff party for local Boston Marathoners on Sunday, April 9, at 6pm at my house, 4418 Ranger Run, in Lakefield subdivision in First Colony.

I will have pizza for all. Family and friends are welcome. Please RSVP to andystewart@bigplanet.com. Bring an item for a pot luck dinner. It will be an early evening, probably done by 8pm or so on a weeknight. Several FLS runners are running Boston for the first time...Jean Leach, Terrie Gorney, and Debbie Harrison.

It is exciting. I hope for a big turnout.

LSU Tigers to Men's Final Four

2006-03-25T19:05:00.000-05:00

LSU men's basketball is going to the Final Four in Indianapolis next weekend. Wow. An overtime win over a solid Texas team today on CBS. Stars are Big Baby Davis and Tyrus Thomas, a soph and a freshman.

This is the fourth time LSU has ever made the Final Four. This year we will win it all. The team is young, but they play HARD and they are big. Davis is 6'9" and 310 pounds. Can't wait for next Saturday, April 1....against legendary UCLA. Final is Monday, April 3. I bet against SEC nemesus Florida.

Go Tigers!!!

Spencer Buxton excells

2006-03-23T15:37:00.000-05:00

Spencer Buxton, age 13, an 8th-grader at Garcia Middle School in Richmond, is in his first year of running.

In track, he had a PR of 5:10 yesterday to win the 1600 meters (mile), and was second by six inches in 800 meters with a huge PR of 2:19. His goal is 4:59.0 for 1600 to break the school record, and he has one more month to do it.

His Mom is Wanda Buxton, an avid Fort Bend Fitter and Boston Marathon vet. I am helping coach Spencer per her request, and he is tough.

Good luck to him in his quest. Next fall, he will run for the new Travis High on Harlem Road. Coach Jeremy Dye would love to have him.

Volunteers needed this Sat early

2006-03-22T16:17:00.000-05:00

Terrie Gorney of FLS needs volunteers at 5am this Saturday at Travis High for the FB Education Foundation Bike Ride. Parking and setup until 7am is where she needs help. Travis is just off Hwy 90 on Harlem Road in Richmond. Thanks!

Try Andy's Tri to have wave starts, no 300 swim times needed

2006-03-21T17:17:00.000-05:00

This year on Oct. 1, Try Andy's Tri will have wave starts in a lake rather than a seeded pool swim. FC Aquatic Center is CLOSED for 2006 for rebuilding.

There will be five waves starting at 7:30am. Most likely, wetsuits will be allowed...if water temp is 77 degrees or below. There will be a full ten minutes between waves, unlike most triathlons. The waves will be in descending size to avoid congestion.

Wave 1, 7:30am, is Individual Males ages 40 and over. Wave 2, 7:40am, is Individual Females ages 40 and over. Wave 3, 7:50am, is Individual Males ages 20-39. Wave 4, 8:00am, is Individual Females ages 20-39. Wave 5, 8:10am, is Individual Males and Females ages 19 and under, and all Relay Teams.

No 300-meter swim times will be needed this year. Triathletes ages 17 and under are half-price. Field limit has been reduced to only 600. We expect to fill the race EARLY. I am hoping for an early August fill date.

Three first-timer clinics are offered for only $12 each at Finish Line Sports. 9am on Saturdays July 15, August 19, or Sept. 16.

Register online at www.signmeup.com. Race benefits Cenikor, FC Swim Team, and Fort Bend Masters Swim.

We are currently searching for a title sponsor for the event. Exclusive large company logo on the back of 800 race t-shirts. Contact Andy at 281-242-7700 if interested.

This weekend...Sat Ed Foundation Ride, Sunday Tour De Colony Run

2006-03-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

This is a BUSY weekend locally...

Saturday, March 25, at 7am at new Travis High at 11111 Harlem Rd. in Richmond, FB Education Foundation Ride, sponsored by Texas State Bank. 45 or 60 miles. Official MS 150 Prep Ride. Terrie Gorney's Ride. $30 Registration and Packet Pickup this Friday at Finish Line Sports from 10am til 6pm. Expect over 1,000 riders.

Sunday, March 26, at 6:15am at First Colony Middle School on Austin Parkway, Tour De Colony Run. House restrooms, refreshments. No fee. Various paces and distances. Maps provided. Led by Dandy Don Ruggles of FLS. Everyone is welcome, just show up. Expect at least 50 runners to run with. Fort Bend Fit will be joining us.

Weather should be nice.

Congrats Pam, Patty on Wet and Wild Tri

2006-03-19T15:26:00.000-05:00

Pam Fouries and Patty Godfrey of FLS are both new triathletes. They drove together to Corpus Christi, Pam's hometown, this weekend for the 6th Annual Wet and Wild Tri, a sprint triathlon. Both are preparing for the big Disney Half-Ironman in May. The race had 189 athletes, a small field. The day was warm, (80 degrees), windy, and humid.

Distances were a 300-yard pool swim indoors, a 14-mile double-loop bike course, then a 3.3-mile triple-loop run. Pam was SECOND in 45-49 women with a fine 1:27 and received a nice medal. Patty G was fourth in 40-44 women, almost placing for a medal, with the same 1:27 time. I raced my first tri in two years and my first race in 16 months due to injury and was 14th of 17 in my age group with a struggling 1:30. The swim took me 10:47. Ugh. Jean Leach was there to cheer.

It was good to see Candy and Ed Cheatum, top-notch USAT officials from Corpus. The post-race refreshments were not up to Aunt Jean and Jane W standards, with very green bananas being one of the few items offered. The seafood restaurant food on Water Street was much better afterwards.

I really like the city of Corpus Christi. Wet and Wild is a nice, low-key tri. I am biased though...I believe Try Andy's Tri is a far better triathlon.

Cenikor Golf Tourney Friday May 12

2006-03-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

Cenikor will hold its annual Ed Brandon Golf Tournament on Friday, May 12, 1:00pm at The Battleground course in Deer Park, near the famous San Jacinto monument. Less than 100 golfers were there last year, and we want this event to GROW. The goal is 144 golfers.

Cenikor is a drug rehab complex in Deer Park, and residents work all of FLS' races, including the Chevron Houston Marathon. They are in fact our primary race charity. The program lasts two and a half years and has a 93% success rate, changing lives!

Please help out the cause. Hole sponsorship is only $100 and FLS is in. Entry fee per golfer is only $125 early by April 12, $150 late. My Dad, Tom Stewart, goes every year. There must be some other FLS golfers out there as well.

Call Brandy Johnston today at Cenikor at 832-364-0380, cell. She will help get you involved. Tell her Finish Line Sports sent you.

Speaking at RRCA Convention this Friday

2006-03-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have been asked by the Houston Striders to speak on Race Management at 3:15pm this Friday March 10 at the Hyatt downtown at the RRCA national convention. About 250 attendees from all over the US will be there.

I am speaking with Barbara Shepherd of the Striders and Jay Lee of On The Run. My topics will be sponsors and volunteers.

Mike Hefner and I will also man an FLS booth during packet pickup for the Bayou City Classic, selling clearance items and promoting FLS races.

Come by if you get a chance.

Val THE MAN Lincecum at Blue Norther Duathlon

2006-03-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

Val Lincecum, 51, raced the Blue Norther Duathlon last weekend in Seguin and came away with second place in 50-54 men.

The course was a 5K run twice around the Texas Lutheran College campus, followed by a 14-mile bike down the highway, then a repeat of the same 5K run.

Val had a time of 1:33:01 on the tough, hilly course. His splits were 24:25/44:11/25:29. On the bike, he averaged 19.0 MPH. There were 166 finishers, and Val was 62nd amongst a stellar field.

The race was a USAT-sanctioned event.

Spring Beginner Speedwork starts...

2006-03-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

FLS Spring session of Beginner Speedwork got off to good start last night at Kempner High track at 6:15pm. We had the track to ourselves and the temp was a comfortable 60 degrees. Thirteen runners, many from Fort Bend Fit, ran four 400's in strong fashion.

Leading the way were Marshall McInnis and Jeremy Rowe with a fine average of 87 seconds. Both may run near 6 minutes in our final mile time trial on April 10. Our fastest female was Robin Coyne with an average of 1:48.

The session last six weeks and includes a consultation. The potential is there for vast improvement. Teaching speedwork at the track is always an exciting time.

The summer session starts June 5, also at Kempner.

ASICS Spring Apparel is in...

2006-02-24T12:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we received the ASICS spring apparel shipment, and it looks great! Tops and shorts for ladies are in white, blue, yellow. For men...red, blue, grey. It is a line worth checking out. Anne just hung it up on the wall.

Spring will be here soon.

New FLS Discussion Forum

2006-02-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

As of today, Sandy Lord has set up a brand-new Discussion Forum for Finish Line Sports. Upper right icon. Register today and start posting. This is a great opportunity for communication among club members. THANKS Sandy for doing this. Houston Racing and Fort Bend Fit have similar forums and it really helps.

Audrey runs Myrtle Beach Marathon

2006-02-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, Audrey Christiansen ran the Myrtle Beach Marathon in South Carolina on the coast. Her Dad was there on vacation from upstate New York to cheer. Start was an early 6:30am and temp was a nice 48 degrees. The course was flat, but crowded with only two lanes.

Audrey finished the 26.2 miles 3rd in 40-49F with a fine 3:39, a pace of 8:20 per mile.

Congrats.

Spaghetti Dinner this Friday...

2006-02-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

SL Exchange Club will hold its annual Spaghetti Dinner this Friday, Feb. 24, from 5pm till 9pm at Fluor, 59 at Hwy. 6. Cost is $12.50 at the door and kids 12-and-under are free. Over $100,000 is raised each year for 31 local charities. Wow. Doug Earle and Johnny Braswell from FLS have headed this up in the past. It is FUN with great food. Silent auction, kids' activities. We will carpool from FLS at 5pm if you want to join us. Special appearance by Aunt Jean.

Austin Half, Full

2006-02-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

Kurt Pepper, Chris Dull, Jana Yowell, and Brian Darling of FLS ran Austin Freescale Half on Sunday in freezing conditions with icy roads. Ed Sturdivant ran the marathon, his second in a week. Darwin Williamson and Karen Nelson also ran the Austin Marathon.

Kurt Pepper smoked a 1:22 at age 46, our club's fastest at the half. His pace was a 6:18. Outstanding.

Chris Dull is on a comeback from a badly burned leg in January, second- and third-degree burns. At 6' 4" and 230 pounds, he still has a Baylor linebacker build. He ran close to a PR, a pace of 7:18 for a fine 1:35. Soon he will be under 1:30.

Jana Yowell, age 34, is a personal trainer for Houstonian Lite. She does not like cold weather, but toughed it out. She ran a 1:42 in the freeze, a pace of 7:48 per mile.

Brian Darling of Sugar Land ran a 2:00, a pace of 9:10.

Ed Sturdivant ran his second marathon in 8 days. Crazy Ed, 39, came in with a near-PR 2:58. Wow.

Darwin Williamson and Karen Nelson ran together for a 3:45 training run in Austin. Both will be running Boston in April.

Any other FLS members that ran there that icy day? Email me at andystewart@bigplanet.com.

Calvo and I to speak at BicycleWorld March 4

2006-02-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday, March 4, at 8am at BicycleWorld and Fitness on Dairy Ashford just north of Memorial Drive, Dr. Dave Calvo and I will speak. The running seminar is free and will last one hour. I will talk about running gaits, shoe types, and speedwork. Dave will discuss injuries and answer questions.

Everyone is welcome.

After, we will run 30 minutes at beautiful Hershey Park. Come on out!

Feb 11 Surfside races an FLS hit

2006-02-13T13:27:00.000-05:00

FLS was well-represented Saturday at the sold-out Surfside Marathon and Half in Surfside Village. There were over 300 that ran the sand. Patti Muck, 47, of Richmond, was first among female Masters with a 4:06, half of which was into fierce 30 MPH winds. She was second female overall. Ed Sturdivant, 39, of Missouri City, was third overall male with 3:08 after taking second overall last year. Great job.

In the Half, Darwin Williamson was first male Masters with a strong 1:35, fifth overall. Terry Johnson ran 1:44, second 40-49M. Audrey Christiansen ran 1:55, third Masters female. Nina Jannetti ran 2:03, second in 40-49F.

The awards were unique, and all finishers earned a medal. BBQ was served after the races. Profits from the race go to BARRA's college scholarships this spring. Brazoswood High School honor students worked the race as volunteers, Jeremy Dye's old school.

Congrats to all finishers.

Calvo, Nelson win USAT honors

2006-02-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

Dr. Dave Calvo, Sugar Land, and Karen Nelson, Katy, of FLS were both named 2005 Honorable Mention All-Americans by USA Triathlon in their respective age groups. They were in the top percent of their groups, Dave in 55-59 men and Karen in 40-44 women. Congratulations to both! Dave's best race of the year was Try Andy's Tri, where he scored over 80 points. A number of Texans did well in the rankings at www.usatriathlon.org, including Dr. Roger Price of Houston being number one in the nation in 55-59.

Valentine's Day Feb. 14

2006-02-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

Next week, Tuesday Feb. 14, only seven days away, is Valentine's Day. A dozen roses will run about $75. Why not buy a gift certificate from Finish Line Sports for your sweetheart instead? Any denomination is available. It will go a long way with our big February SALE, with selected ASICS running shoes at 50% off retail.

Whatever you do...don't forget this day. Happy Valentine's DAY!!! :)

Mardi Gras at St. Arnold's Brewery

2006-02-06T15:58:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Feb. 23, St. Arnold's Brewery in Houston will host a local Mardi Gras celebration. Hours are 6pm till 10pm, and reservations are a must. Treebeard's will provide the proper food. There will be a Cajun band, Zydecot Dots, and plenty of great St. Arnold's beer.

Join us by calling Anne at 713-686-9494 today. $30 per person and it will be worth it. Collector stein is included. Celebrate Mardi Gras right here in Houston.

Limited to the first 200 to register.

February SALE at FLS

2006-02-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

This month we will have a HUGE SALE here at the store, our annual February clearance. We have selected ASICS running shoes, over 100 in all, for 50% OFF retail. As low as $37.50!!! Winterwear ( tights, etc.) from ASICS is also 50% off. Ladies' swimsuits from Speedo and TYR are in the $20 bin, a savings of 70%. Wow.

The sale will continue till the end of February, three more weeks, as we reduce inventory for spring shipments. Come in soon.

Calvo's Big Chill Adventure Race Report

2006-02-03T16:58:00.000-05:00

January 28-29, 2006
Bastrop and Buescher State Parks
Too Cool Racing

The monotony and boredom of winter training finally got to me, as it usually does, forcing me out of my comfort zone. From past experience, that would be challenging, if not dangerous. Witness: a Cyclocross race, two Dirty Duathlons and a New Zealand glacier lake Aquathlon in the past 3 winters.

Well, it was that time of year and time for unbridled attack on something new. I have been intrigued by Adventure Racing for a while, and have been waiting for the urge to strike to proceed.

I ran into Bob Talomini (Adventure Race Coach and personal trainer) at the Houstonian last year and bent his ear about my curiosity over the sport and, while cruising the Runtex event page two months ago, I found The Big Chill Adventure 12/24 Hour Race and decide that that was what I had been looking for. I called Bob, who eagerly lured me out to Bastrop for a day long Orienteering “lab” with map and compass, navigation skills and orientation to this “new” race format.

I contacted Rick Sanders, director of Houston Adventure Racing Team and attended 2 of their Rambo training sessions at Memorial Park and convinced him to put me on a team of newbies, two 4th year Baylor medical students. After grinding through several other folks, and thanks to Rick, we finally found our 4th person, a lady-triathlete, to makeup our 4-person coed team for the big day.

The team officially met in the wee hours of race day at the race start. We organized our transition area and equipment and developed a plan. The race involved running, trekking, kayaking, caving, mountain biking and traversing on a ropes course, all while being required to find some 25 or so “check points” utilizing a USGS map and compass, along with other orienteering skills and clues.

The race started with gear check, perfunctory rules and regs and preliminary list of coordinates to 3 check points to plot on our map where 2 double-digit numbers could be found. These, when combined and unscrambled would make a rational set of two 6- digit UTM coordinates, which, when plotted, would provide the “Northing” and “Easting” coordinates for the site where the race actually would start.

That point was where we picked up our next set of coordinates, our pass- ports with numbers corresponding to each check point, each of which had to punched by a unique punch at each check point, and clues for the run/trek section of the course. There was a short traverse that required climbing harnesses and hard-hats and we had to cross a gulch (not much of a challenge), with some hand-over-hand work to reach the other side.

We sped through that, finding all but one check point during the ensuing 4 hours, leaving it to pick up on our way back to transition, thus avoiding doubling back before the next section of the race. Oh, not to forget the “cave”, we had to locate and enter the so-called “cave”, really a 4 feet wide, 1000 feet long conduit/drainage pipe under the 4 lane freeway, where we found the check point in the pitch black hanging from the inside of the “cave”. We all had head lights but one of the teammates was claustrophobic and the race director had plans to avoid a bailout.

Each of us had an arm band for this section and “all” were required to punch the band with a punch hanging on the check point to assure that we all crawled into the damned pipe. There were a few anxious moments but we made it.

The next phase would be the kayak portion which was carried out on Lake Bastrop. Upon returning the 2 miles to the transition area we checked in and received our lake check point coordinates and ran/trekked 4 miles back to the lake where we boarded our boats and spent the next 3 hours finding the 2 check points on the lake. The tricky devils placed one at the furthest reaches of a finger of the lake and, unbeknownst to us, the topography of the lake had changed due to the 5 feet drop in the lake due to the drought.

We finally noted that there was an extension of that finger behind a land bridge and thicket, which we had to portage our 2-man kayaks over and re-launch to paddle to the “true” end of the lake. There we found the check point hanging high in a tree. That done, we found the second check point up a beautiful quiet creek with fallen trees, under and over which we paddled, laying low in our kayaks to avoid banging heads and other body parts. The way back was, of course, up-wind and in the rain with white caps breaking over the bows; we were cold and wet, now some 7 hours into what was advertised as a 12 hour race.

During these sections hydration and nutrition were of utmost importance and someone had to keep the team alert to this. That was one of my jobs. I am sure they got tired of my commanding them to eat when not hungry and drink when not thirsty. We each carried 100 ounce “Camelbacks” loaded with the electrolyte beverage of choice (mine was Hammer’s Perpetuum) and goodies, from tuna and PB&J sandwiches, to crushed up potato chips, Clif Bars and Snickers. Every chance we had we ate or drank to make sure we had the fluids and calories to do the work.

Next was the mountain bike section and the sun was getting low in the sky. We returned to transition where we changed into dry socks and shirts, whatever, and reloaded the “Camelbacks” and received our next set of coordinates. Off we went on the bikes with powerful lights ready for sundown. Then came the cold, the fog, the muddy power line right-of-ways, the grave yard in the dark, in the fog and in the cold. We trudged on, over fences, stopping to scrape gumbo mud from our tires and feet. At one point my feet looked like catchers mitts with straw attached. One of the team got bad leg-bonk (deficient calories) so the strongest member (young stud) pulled out his tow rope and towed the mate up the tougher hills. It’s called a “team” for a reason. Finally, at 11 PM we stormed (not really) into transition, not knowing if, or what, we faced next, hoping to be finished.

Well, one more set of coordinates was handed out: a night-trek/navigation section with 5 more check points. We decided, “What the hell, we’ve come this far, let’s finish”, and took off one more time into the dark with a goal of 2 hours to finish. The first two check points went as all of the others, right on, first shot. And then, at midnight, our first mistake. A two hour mistake due to a mental (tired brains) mistake that had us trekking a “power line” instead of a “pipe line”, a mile from where we belonged. We misread the map legend. That kind of broke our spirit.

We re-plotted and re-traced and re-orienteered relentlessly looking for the check point until the lights started dimming and, finally, dying. It was 1:30 AM our lights were fading fast we were cold and had resorted to our emergency Mylar space blankets for warmth (that is why they have mandatory gear checks), two of us were totally out of fluids and everyone hurt everywhere. The consensus was to bag the last three points and to go home, 3 hours into our 2 hour goal. The trip back was about another hour of hills that were not welcome at that point and we finished sometime after 2 AM in a respectable 5th place out of 7 teams. Not bad for a couple of tough med students and a pair of triathletes, huh? We hurt in places we did not know that we had, and I am still stiff all over, more than any one place. But we DID IT!

Team HARTTalmo
Dave Calvo
Helena Finley
James Sander
Joey Kuebker

HARRA Spring Series

2006-02-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

HARRA has a great lineup of six races for Spring 2006. You do not have to be a HARRA member, but members do get race discounts and score points. www.harra.org.

Feb. 11 Park To Park 5-Mile, Hermann Park
March 11 Bayou City 10K downtown (6,000 runners)
March 25 Law Week 8K on Allen Parkway (hills)
April 8 Bellaire Trolley 5K (PR course)
April 19 33 1/3 Minute Track Run at St. Thomas High (great workout)
April 29 Bayou Bash Relay, 4 times 2.5 miles, Fluor at 7:30am in Sugar Land!! (fun relay with friends, 100 teams)

Certified and sanctioned races. Fun and well-run. All speeds welcome. Score some points for FLS if HARRA member.

Most have registration at www.signmeup.com or go to www.harra.org for further info.

2006 FLS race sponsors

2006-02-01T13:58:00.000-05:00

We are in the process of lining up our race sponsors for 2006 FLS races. We are down to only three...Try Andy's Tri on Oct. 1, SL Turkey Trot on Nov. 23, and 30K on Dec. 10. We are working on title sponsors for each, as well as supporting sponsors. Sandy has Aramco on board and Basil has agreed with Housewright Insurance. ASICS with Fred Hobbs will sponsor each. It will be an exciting year.

Speedo Women's Tri has been cancelled. Races need excellent support to last. That means both entries and sponsorships. If your company is interested in local exposure, please call me at 281-242-7700. I want to make the remaining FLS races as strong as possible with more great sponsors.

Thanks!

www.texasroundup.org is up and running for 2006...

2006-01-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

Governor Rick Perry, a marathoner and triathlete, has launched his fitness challenge for Texas, www.texasroundup.org, for 2006. Activity started Jan. 1 and you CAN go back. Register with Finish Line Sports as your team. We have 140 current members and can score a LOT of points.

In 2004 and 2005, Sugar Land won its category. In 2006, it will be MUCH tougher. SL is now in the 100,000-plus category, along with Austin, Houston, Dallas, etc. We will really have to step up to win. Recruit family and friends to join the effort.

Log on today and get started. Contest ends in late April. Any physical activity counts, even stretching and walking, which we all need more of. It is fun and free of charge...and great publicity for our fair city.

Happy Birthday Anne Fickel!!!

2006-01-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday today to Ms. Anne Fickel. Anne works part-time here at FLS and has been a great addition. She joined us last summer. She is married to Keith and has a six-year-old daughter, Laura. They live here in Sugar Land.

Anne is also a coach for Fort Bend Fit and ran the Chevron Houston Marathon last month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY from FLS!!!

Friday night Volunteer BBQ

2006-01-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

This Friday night in The Heights at the Lodge, 14th and Beal, Houston Marathon will have its annual BBQ volunteer dinner at 6pm. We will carpool from FLS at 5pm for those interested. Thousands attend and the food is great. Any of the Mile 23 water helpers should come. Thanks to all the volunteers!

Tuesday track moves to Clements

2006-01-24T17:33:00.000-05:00

FLS Tuesday night track has moved back to Clements High in First Colony, Sweetwater at Elkins Rd. 4400 Elkins. 6:15pm start warmup. Only $5 per workout, lasts 90 minutes. The track is in great condition now. Parking lot lights help a great deal. We have about 10 runners of various abilities.

Kempner now has soccer games every Tuesday night.

One-hour consultations at FLS

2006-01-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

One-hour consulations are available at Finish Line Sports with Coach Andy Stewart for only $35. Twenty-five years of experience coaching runners. Call 281-242-7700 for an appointment to devise a personalized running schedule.

NEW Gel-Kinsei

2006-01-24T16:11:00.000-05:00

This week, FLS received the newest running shoe from ASICS, Gel-Kinsei, months before some other dealers due to Gold account status. THREE years of development went into ASICS' most-cushioned and most-technically advanced shoe ever. Retail price is steep...$165, but FLS club members get 22% off!

This is a shoe for neutral runners and has external gel packs, called a discrete heel unit. Gel-Kinsei is pliable and has a biomorphic fit for comfort.

The shoe sizes run a half-size larger than others and fits snugly. Steve Long was our first to special order. Anne Fickel runs in them and loves the shoe.

Come try on a pair today.

First-timer Tri Clinics at FLS in July, Aug, Sept

2006-01-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

We will have three triathlon clinics for first-timers at Finish Line Sports on July 16, August 19, and September 15. All are on Saturdays at 9am and last one hour.

Teachers include Jean Leach, Michelle Haver, Brian Watson, Sandy Lord, and Dr. Dave Calvo. The cost is only $12. All clinics are the same, except for the teachers. We break into small groups of only 10. Most newbies only come to one clinic, but some come to two to ask lots of questions. We have a great staff.

Register online at www.signmeup.com. Try Andy's Tri will be Sunday, October 1, at 7:30am this year.

Why no Speedo Women's Tri this year?

2006-01-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Aunt Jean's Speedo Women's Triathlon was held each spring in Sugar Land for the past ten years. Unfortunately, the race will no longer be held, starting in 2006. Last year in May, we had only 250 entrants, our third straight year of declining numbers. We hit a high a few years ago of 400-plus.

Spring is a busy time. There are now more triathlons than ever, including a popular one in The Woodlands in May. FLS will focus on outfitting kids' swim teams that time of year.

Try Andy's Tri is still here to stay. Held Sunday, October 1, it draws a sell-out crowd. Register online at www.signmeup.com instead of Speedo this year.

Thanks for the support.

FLS Beginner Speedwork starts March 6th

2006-01-17T15:50:00.000-05:00

FLS Beginner Speedwork Spring Session will start on Mondays at 6:15pm at Kempner track and last for six weeks. Cost is only $35.

Register online at www.signmeup.com or come by the store. Coach is Andy Stewart, 27 years coaching experience. Workouts last one hour and all levels are welcome. Limited to only 30 runners. Kempner High is on Voss in old Sugar Land, near the airport.

Get a jumpstart on 2006, fitness-wise. Other sessions will be June/July and Oct/Nov. Help spread the word. Thanks.

Jan/Feb ASICS Clearance

2006-01-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

We are clearing out selected ASICS styles over the next few weeks, til the end of February only. 50% OFF RETAIL!!! Where else? 1100, 1110, Fortitude, Empire. While they last. We have Men's and Women's in a stack up front, sizes 6 to 13. Shoes as low as $37.50. We are clearing out inventory to make room for 2006 shoes.

Last year, our ASICS sales were up over 20%! Come in soon for best selection. ASICS are the best.

2006 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half

2006-01-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Jan. 15. Downtown Houston. 7am.

The temperature was a comfortable 51 degrees at the start of the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half. Mile 23 water station was again manned by Finish Line Sports and friends. (For the 16th year.) We had 75 volunteers in all, including an Honor Society group from Dulles High. THANKS for all the help, especially my brother Steve and Aunt Jean. We anxiously awaited finishers from FLS. Temps rose to a tough 70 degrees.

We did not get to see the Half. Several FLSers joined us at the water station after running 13.1 and gave us updates. Bert Molina, 41, was the fastest for FLS. He ran a PR of 1:24, a pace of 6:28. (He was co-winner of 2005 FLS Outstanding Runner Award.) Tim Willard, only 14, ran a fine 1:34 in his first half-marathon. Long-timer David Alvarado also ran a 1:34. Jana Yowell, 34, of Houstonian Lite ran a strong 1:37, a PR by three minutes. Russell Jeffcoat, 50, lost 25 pounds and ran 1:40. Audrey Christiansen ran 1:42, just behind hubby Terry Johnson in 1:41. Dr. Dave Calvo ran a PR of 1:43. It was a good day.

In the marathon, Boston-qualifying times were recorded by TEN FLS runners. Dave Depinet came in with a PR of 3:16. Just behind him was Dr. John Vanderzyl in 3:18. Houstonian Lite CEO Herb Lipsman, age 48, ran 3:21. Doug Hyde ran his first marathon in many years in 3:23. Doug Earle had 3:34. Dandy Don Ruggles finished in 3:58. All six ran BQ times. Todd Wandling ran 3:42, and Ben Hooper, another Tuesday night trackster, ran 4:27 in his first marathon. Jim Richter finished his 14th marathon in 5:22.

For the women, Jean Leach, age 40, led the way with an 8-minute PR of 3:49. Karen Nelson ran 3:52. Patti Muck ran a strong 3:53. Nina Jannetti ran a solid 4 hours-flat. All four had Boston-qualifying times. Jan Broyles ran 4:20. Terrie Gorney, FBF Head Coach, ran 4:23. Susan Wilson ran 4:53. Tessy Phillips had a 4:57. Lorrie Ellis finished in 5:25. Dianne Calvo overcame a month of shinsplits to finish her first marathon at age 55 in 5:26. FLS hand Anne Fickel ran 5:29. My sister, Lyn Stewart, had 5:56 in her second marathon, despite stomach troubles.

Thanks to the Greek Orthodox Church group for our new flags...nine in all...US, Texas, Scotland. They decorated our Scottish Hill in fine style. Our bright yellow tent was there too.

Water station volunteers have a free BBQ dinner on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6pm in the Heights at the Lodge.

Email your results to andystewart@bigplanet.com so I can post. I know we had others. CONGRATS to all! This is always the biggest running day of the year in Houston. When else are we on TV???

Greek Marathon Dinner Thursday

2006-01-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, Jan. 12, at 7:30pm at the Greek Orthodox Church on Yoakum near downtown Houston, come enjoy Athens-Houston Marathon Exchange Dinner. Pasticio, a Greek form of pasta, will be served and it is GREAT. Cost at the door is $22.50.

Elite marathoners from Athens will be in attendance. The male representative came in second overall a couple of years ago with a 2:25. We will have 30 from FLS attending, including my family, and are a sponsor. The Greeks formed a water station at the 30K last month for us, and we want to show them support.

I wish this did not conflict with the Fort Bend Fit pasta dinner the same night at Sweetwater, but we have helped sponsor the Greek dinner for 18 years.

Go FBF as well!

June 25 Tribute to the McBrayers

2006-01-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, June 25, at 7pm, we will celebrate 21 years of Finish Line Sports at the Sugar Land Community Center at 226 Matlage Way, off Hwy 90/Brooks, near Imperial Sugar. This year, we will honor Tom and Mary Anne McBrayer, two legends of the greater Houston running community for the past 35 years. Bill Hadley, Paul Cooley, Joanne Luco, and I will speak. Bro Steve Stewart will be serve as MC.

Child Advocates-Fort Bend, a great local children's charity, will receive all the funds. Cost at the door will be $20 for adults and only $10 for kids 17-and-under. Sealy's Hintze BBQ will be served, with a big silent auction afterwards headed by Patty Godfrey and Jean Leach. Mark your calendar NOW to be there. Last year we gave $5,200 to CAFB and want to even exceed that.

Come learn the story of the McBrayers, original members of the Houston Masters running club. They are a truly inspiring couple.

FLS Pasta Party went well

2006-01-09T12:55:00.000-05:00

Last night at Houstonian Lite in SL Town Square, the FLS Pasta party was held and was fantastic. Road Warrior Sandy Lord defended his pasta-eating title in amazing fashion.
He has a great finishing "kick" while eating. We gave him an FLS gift certificate for his efforts. Basil Housewright has said he wants to challenge next year. Jean Leach and Chris Pine tried but died.

Catherine Kruppa, Houstonian Dietician, spoke first. She said to increase carbs this week and do NOT get on the scale. Do not try anything new. Stick with what has worked in long-run training. Her marathon PR is a fine 3:08.

Doug Earle, 53, told an entertaining tale of his long running career in Texas and in Boulder, Colorado, including a PR of 2:52 in his third marathon. He has run Boston once, on his first anniversary with Ellen. In all, Doug has completed 34 marathons or ultras. Doug works for Mayor Bill White with the City of Houston Rec.

Finally, Bill Hadley, one of my favorite guys at age 77, told of his running career. He ran a PR of 3:34 at age 59. At age 70, his repaired knees made him regretfully retire. Bill is a retired Air Force Major. He has directed the 25K for 20 years and has helped me with the 30K mile callers. At the end last night, the crowd of 60 runners gave him a standing ovation!

Bert Molina won 2005 FLS Outstanding Runner Award, Herb Lipsman won Most Improved Runner, and Jane Wagenaar won Outstanding Service Award and were presented plaques.

It was a night to remember.

(photo courtesy of Keith Fickel)

FLS Mile 23 Water station at Chevron Houston Marathon

2006-01-07T15:09:00.000-05:00

FLS will again man Mile 23 Water Station on Sunday, Jan. 15, from 8am till 1pm at the Chevron Houston Marathon. Location is Allen Parkway at Tirrell, just past Shepherd, same location as the past 16 years. We need 100 eager volunteers to help and cheer. We will have a sound system with music, as well as a bagpiper. Cenikor-Knock Out Drugs, Dulles High, and Clements High will be there.

Thanks in advance. Tell friends and family to meet there to watch and CHEER! We want to be the center of the action. In the old days, 10-15 years ago, Allen Parkway was dead. Not now! We have a very lively section at a much-needed time in the race. Fatigue Time. Houston Racing Tri Club is just down the street. Come help make Allen Parkway and Mile 23 THE place to be January 15. We will stay till 1pm.

Happy New Year! FLS Jan/Feb SALE begins...

2006-01-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

Happy 2006!

Thanks for record sales at FLS in 2005. FLS RC and Fort Bend Fit are responsible for our good fortune. We are off to a flying start to 2006.

For the next seven weeks, till the end of February, we will have our annual store clearance on selected ASICS running shoes, as well as apparel and swimsuits. Best prices of the year. At least 35% off, and more, off retail.

The $20 bin at the front of the store is full! Stock up. Some shoes are as low as $49.

FLS Marathon Spaghetti Dinner Jan. 8

2005-12-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday, January 8th, one week before the Chevron Houston Marathon as always, FLS will have our annual Marathon Spaghetti Dinner at beautiful Houstonian Lite in SL Town Square. Be on time. In the brand-new spinning room upstairs at 6:30pm, will be the Spaghetti Eating Contest, featuring defending champ Sandy Lord. He vows to repeat! Competing against him will be Mean Jean Leach and Chris Pine, a U of H runner. It should be a battle...with no hands allowed.

After that, at 7pm, we will serve spaghetti from Corelli's upstairs in the club lobby. The club will also supply music and coffee. At 7:45pm in the new exercise room upstairs, we will have prize drawings and three more yearly awards, then our three guest speakers will talk marathon running. Catherine Kruppa will lead off with nutrition. Doug Earle will then talk Boston. Finally, Bill Hadley, 77, will talk marathon experiences. Start off the marathon week off right. We will conclude about 9pm.

RSVP to 281-242-7700. Desserts are welcome additions. No charge for the event. Renew your 2006 FLS membership now for only $20 for individuals.

2005 FLS Award Winners announced

2005-12-20T12:51:00.000-05:00

The award winners for FLS for 2005 were announced at the Christmas Party Sunday night...

Outstanding Runner Award went to Audrey Christiansen, age 44, a leading point scorer in HARRA for our club, along with Karen Nelson. She had a fine PR of 2:28 at the 30K,a pace of 7:58. Audrey serves as Treasurer for HARRA. She is close to the level she was 25 years ago running in college.

Most Improved Runner Award went to Tessy Phillips. Tessy had a PR at every race in 2005. At the SL Turkey Trot, she had a five-minute PR of 45:05. She has been a regular at Tuesday night track. Tessy serves as Red Coach for Ft. Bend Fit and is an inspiration to many, including my sister.

Outstanding Triathlete Award went to Dr. Dave Calvo. He was as happy as med school graduation. Dave is a force in 55-59, making honorable mention All-American in USA Triathlon. His high point of the year was Try Andy's Tri, a time of 55 minutes matching his age. Dave was hurt twice in bike crashes at races this year, including Worlds, but nothing stops him. Diane was happy for him.

Remembering Irma Award, an award of special service, went to Meanne Jeanne Megna. Her nickname should be NeverMeanne Jeanne. She is a cheerleader extradinaire, dispensing Pepto, Tylenol, whatever needed at water stations. I have never seen anything like it. Her purse must be BIG. Jeanne is another FLS/FBF dual member.

We had seven plaques to give out. Three more will be given Jan. 8 at FLS Pasta Dinner to several who could not make it. It was a special night, as our Christmas Party always is.

FLS Christmas Lights Run Tuesday night

2005-12-19T17:12:00.000-05:00

Dandy Don Ruggles will again have his FLS Christmas Lights Run on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 7pm from Sweetwater Country Club on Palm Royale. Distance is six miles and pace is slow. No charge for the event.

Merry Christmas!

FLS Gift Certificates

2005-12-18T16:19:00.000-05:00

Gift certificates are available from Finish Line Sports in any amount and never expire. These make an EXCELLENT last-minute Christmas gift. Hint, hint. Thanks for your continued support of our run shop, as we head into our 21st year.

FLS Hours this week...

2005-12-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Finish Line Sports will be open this week Mon-Fri 10-6, then 7-3 on Sat, Christmas Eve. We will reopen on Dec. 26 at 10am. Fort Bend Fit will run from FLS this Saturday with 150 runners. It is an official training long run and FLS runners are welcome to join in. Long runs start at 6:00am, 10 or 12 miles, from our parking lot through the Sugar Creek neighborhood.

Afterwards, at 7:30am, FLS will serve hot chocolate and breakfast tacos from Bravo's. Get Christmas Eve started off right.

FLS Christmas Party and Pot Luck Dinner this Sunday

2005-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

At 6pm this Sunday, Dec. 18, FLS will host our annual Christmas Party and Pot Luck Dinner in front of the store. Dress warmly and festively. (I know Terry Johnson will.) There will be campfires, prize drawings, great food, and yearly awards. The Academy Awards, I mean FLS Awards, start at 7:30pm. The entire family is welcome.

Personally, I look forward to this party all year. The spirit of Christmas is here. We have been holding these since 1985, within a week of Christmas. Try to come even though I know you are busy. It is a great way to get to know our running club members. And we have a great running club.

Houstonian Lite 30K ROCKS

2005-12-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

It was a perfect day for the Houstonian Lite 30K. Forty-one degrees, clear, and no wind at the start. We had 1,100 runners this year and many ran PR's. A record number of volunteers, 350, were on hand to help, the largest group being from Fort Bend Fit.

Start/finish at SL Town Square is a beautiful location with the Christmas tree, and Mayor David Wallace spoke and fired the starter's pistol. Our fabulous Title sponsor was Houstonian Lite, along with top-notch Gold sponsors Sugar Land Surgical Hospital, Methodist Hospital-Sugar Land, SL Town Square, and City Plaza condos. This kept the entry fee at only $30/$35 and enabled us to give each finisher a quality medal.

Spectators lined the Palm Royale loop much more than in years past, lending more excitement. Manry had a sound system there, and Calvo had his boom box. Each of the three water stations was huge with 25-50 loud volunteers.

The FLS race crew started working at 2am that morning, along with help from Cenikor. Jeremy Dye and Mike Hefner served as assistant directors.

Top performances by FLS runners were...Ed Sturdivant in 2:01, Kurt Pepper in 2:04, and Herb Lipsman in PR 2:05 for the men. Ed was 4th in his age group. For FLS women, Karen Nelson at 2:22 was our fastest, then Audrey Christiansen in PR 2:28, and Mean Jean Leach in PR 2:37. Karen was 4th in her age group. It was a fast day.
My sister Lyn cut 14 minutes off her PR. Herb is CEO of Houstonian Lite and wore number 1 proudly.

Volunteer groups included: Fort Bend Fit, Finish Line Sports, Cenikor, Houston Masters, Houston Striders, Clements High, Dulles High, U. of Houston, Greek Orthodox Church, Bolivian Consulate, Aramco Services, Houstonian Lite, and HARRA. Now THAT is a lineup.

Post-race emails were positive and full of praise. It looks like each year we will have a conflict with SunMart Ultra in Huntsville, second weekend in December. I was glad to see so much local support as a result. Terrie Gorney and Tessey Phillips went beyond the call of duty by racing 50 miles and 31 miles on Saturday, respectively, then leading FBF volunteers early Sunday at the 30K.

Were are already making plans for next year to make the race even better. Hard to believe, but this was our 18th 30K for FLS to manage. Thanks to all involved. Cenikor, our primary charity, received several thousand dollars as a result.

The event was a success!

FLS OPEN this Sunday 11-2

2005-12-10T13:53:00.000-05:00

The shop will be OPEN this Sunday, Dec. 11, from 11am until 2pm after the HL 30K run. Johnathon Hay and Anne Fickel will man the place. Anne is running the 30K and Johnathon is working it. Last year after the race, FLS was busy with Christmas shopping. Come by and let us know what you thought of the race. We are normally closed on Sundays, except after FLS races. We appreciate all the business.

Late Registration/Packet Pickup for Houstonian Lite 30K

2005-12-06T15:36:00.000-05:00

Houstonian Lite 30K Late Registration/Packet Pickup is...Thursday from 10-7 at Houstonian Lite in Sugar Land Town Square, Friday 10-7 at FLS, and Saturday 10-5 at FLS. Patrick Nelson will again be handling it. Houstonian Lite, a great club, is on City Walk near the race finish, upstairs in Suite 200. After the race, Sicily's Pizza will be served there at 11am for runners and volunteers.

For the 30K, the FLS tent will be up at 5am as team headquarters and for massage. Wear your yellow FLS singlet and be sure to be current with HARRA dues at www.harra.org for club points. Our leading scorer this fall season is Bert Molina of Sugar Land.

We can use any interested volunteers at packet pickup, or at the race. The more volunteers, the better the race. We have almost 300. The weather forecast looks great...a PR 50 degrees at 7am start. Many are even staying at SL Marriott for $79.

Thanks for supporting our 30K on a busy race weekend in Texas. SunMart Ultra is in Huntsville and White Rock Marathon is in Dallas. We look for a huge crowd of 1,300 runners here! Five causes are benefitting, including Cenikor.

Audrey second at Jingle Jog

2005-12-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Audrey Christiansen, age 44, ran the Jingle Jog 10-miler in Pearland on Saturday, Dec. 3. The field was only 100 runners on a warm, humid morning and started late. Audrey nonetheless ran a one-minute PR of 1:18 for second female overall, a solid pace of 7:49.

The course was two loops through the nice Silverlake subdivision and was chip-timed. Complete results at www.runnertriathletenews.com. Lots of opportunity for placing.

Congrats to one of our strongest FLS runners this year.

'05 Trot a record-setting event

2005-11-26T11:33:00.000-05:00

2005 SL Turkey Trot, our 20th annual edition, drew a record crowd of 816 on Thanksgiving morning in Sugar Creek. Southern National Bank was again our title sponsor, with Aramco Services and Housewright Insurance bronze sponsors. The temp was 60 degrees on a nice day for running. An impressive 146 registered race morning with Pat Nelson and Bob Bilski. Vince Ramos provided the sound for the 20th year. Over 100 kids 12 and under ran the Sean Scroggins Kids Mile at 8am. At 8:30am the chip-timed five-miler included 610. Over 100 then walked the 2.8-mile family walk 20 minutes later. Something for everyone.

Charites included Cenikor, who provided 22 volunteers at 5:30am. MD Anderson Brain Tumor Research Fund received monies from the kids mile in memory of Sean. Runners brought an entire truck-load of clothing, shoes, and acanned goods for East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry in Stafford. Suellen Ruggles volunteered on behalf of Cenacle Retreat House in Houston and Peter Manry for Jacob's House in Rosenberg. Thanks for your support of these fine causes!

Winners included young Ryan Teel, age 11, first boy in the Sean Mile in 5:58 and Jordan Hancock, also 11, first girl in 7:10. Few adults can run these times for one mile. All kids received a colorful ribbon after running through the loud funnel of love at the finish. Sean's mother Charlotte and brother Nick were there to watch.

Five-mile winners were JP Machemehl of Texas A and M and Sugar Land, repeat champ in a near-record 25:09, and 43-year-old Nikki Rafie, winning our race for the first time in a strong 31:56. Nikki recieved a $150 FLS certificate and JP's was thrown into the prize drawings per NCAA rules, much to the delight of the crowd.

Top FLS member performances were...males...of course JP with his overall win (he is A+M's number one cross country runner); Chris Pine, 19, of UH Cross Country, with a 30:40 and 2nd in AG; Doug Hyde, 6th in 40-44 with 31:36; Herb Lipsman of Houstonian Lite, 1st in 45-49 with a PR 31:49; and youngster Tim Willard, my best friend's son, 2nd in 14-and-under boys with a huge PR of 31:50. All five of these had a pace of 6:22 or better.

Terry Johnson, Dr. Dave Calvo, Wade Miller, and Dandy Don Ruggles all placed top three in their age groups.

Top times from our female FLS runners were...Veronica Rodriguez, freshman Cross Country runner at Texas State and FLS employee, 1st in 15-19 with a PR 35:50, a pace of 7:10; Allison Thummel, 30, 2nd in 30-34 with a fine 36:51; Audrey Christiansen, HARRA Treasurer, 2nd in 40-44 with 37:17; Jane Wagenaar, 3rd in 40-44 with 37:30 after helping set up refreshments; Jean Leach, 4th in 40-44 with a one-minute-plus PR of 37:42, and Patti Muck of Richmond, 1st in 45-49 with a strong 37:52. Tessy Phillips, FBF red coach, had a five-minute PR of 45:05, a pace of 9:01.

Complete results can be found at www.runnertriathletenews.com.

Thanks for all the local support. We had almost 90 volunteers. Jeremy Dye and Carlos Franco set up the course. Dulles High sent a group of students. FBF, as always, was a big help with Vince and Nadine Lewis directing traffic. The postrace party was huge!

It takes a lot of effort on a holiday. It made for another great Thanksgiving in Sugar Land. This race, the Sugar Land Turkey Trot, was voted Best FLS race of all time earlier this year as part of our 20-year anniversary. The event exceeded expectations and may draw 1,000 next year, hard to believe when you consider there are now FOUR Turkey Trots in the Houston area on Thanksgiving morning. (We gave birth to three others.)

Happy Thanksgiving holiday!

30K special rates at Marriott Town Square

2005-11-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

ROOM RATES
Sugar Land Marriott Town Square Hotel is pleased to confirm a very special guest room rate for the Houstonian Lite 30K Race Weekend in Town Square Friday, December 9 to Sunday, December 11, 2005!

$79.00 Single or Double Occupancy* per night (a significant discount off current rates during that time, $99-$179!)

*This rate is applicable for guests & participants of the Houstonian Lite 30K Race event only.
*All room rates are subject to tax, currently 13%.
*All reservations are subject to availability.

RESERVATIONS
Reservations may be made directly with Sugar Land Marriott Town Square at (281) 275-8400, through our Worldwide Reservations office at (800) 228-9290, or conveniently on-line at www.slmarriott.com (enter group code: houhoua). When making reservations please ensure that callers identify the group “Houstonian Lite 30K Race”, to receive the special group rate. Any reservations made at other rates cannot be adjusted.

All reservations must be guaranteed by major credit card, personal check or money order. In the event a traveler needs to cancel a confirmed reservation, a call must be placed direct to the hotel, to Marriott’s toll free number, or to the travel agent by 4:00pm on the date of arrival. Once a cancellation number has been received, the reservation is officially canceled. Failure to notify hotel of cancellation of a guaranteed reservation prior to 4:00pm day of arrival will result in a no-show bill in the amount of one night’s room and tax charges. The remaining nights of the stay will automatically be canceled.

CHECK-IN: 4:00PM CHECK-OUT: 12:00PM

BILLING/CREDIT AGREEMENTS
It is understood that all guests will be individually responsible for payment of their own room, tax and incidental charges. Hotel policy requires a credit card imprint upon check-in for these charges. If the guest does not have a major credit card, a full amount cash deposit (room, tax and $50.00 incidental deposit) will be required at check-in.)

Kim A. Brooks
Director of Sales & Marketing

Sugar Land Marriott Town Square
~ Awarded Marriott's 2004 Hotel Opening of the Year ~

16090 City Walk Sugar Land, Texas 77479-6539
direct: (281) 275-5971 sales fax: (281) 275-5941
www.slmarriott.com

A fresh new destination . . . a lasting impression!

Dec 3 Jingle Jog in Pearland

2005-11-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

The Jingle Jog will be Saturday, Dec. 3, in west Pearland. Events include 1-mile fun run/walk, 3-mile chip-timed run, and 10-mile chip-timed run. Proceeds benefit helmets for kids program and Pearland schools. Contact is Kathy Smith at Fitness Solutions, phone 832-736-9700. This is the fourth year of this event and Pearland is a short drive from Sugar Land.

Dec 1 Christmas Run

2005-11-25T12:26:00.000-05:00

Andy – please post the information below inviting FLS members to participate:

Next Thursday, December 1 is the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting at the Sugar Land Town Square. Who's in for a Christmas Run centered around this event? Here's the plan.... Meet in the parking lot of Fort Bend ISD (corner Lexington/Austin Parkway - use the parking lot on the Lexington side) for departure at 6:15pm. I'll have a 4.25 mile route planned. After the run, we'll head over to the Town Square for the festivities. Bring jackets, dry shorts, dry shirts - whatever you'll need. Your family and friends can meet you at Town Square for the planned events (see below). Reply to this message if you'll participate. From Sugar Land Town Square Web Site: Mark your calendars today for the biggest event in Fort Bend. The annual Christmas Tree Lighting event will be an event for the ages. There will be snow for the kids to play in, Santa Claus pictures, performances by area dance and singing groups and much more. The event will be highlighted by The Flying Santa Claus and the lighting of the Christmas Tree. So don't miss out on the fun.

Tessy Phillips
Landmark Graphics
tphillips@lgc.com
(713)839-3142 office
(281)782-1055 cell