Thursday, January 18, 2007

11.3% of Marathon Finishers Qualify for Boston

602 of the 5,332 Chevron Houston Marathon finishers (11.3%) posted finishing chip times that meet the qualifying standards for the 111th annual Boston Marathon in April.

Please note that this does not include runners whose age on the day of the running of the Boston Marathon may be in to the next age group, which would allow them additional minutes to qualify.

The per age group breakdown is as follows:

18-34 -- 91 men, 72 women
35-39 -- 48 men, 32 women
40-44 -- 65 men, 50 women
45-49 -- 75 men, 43 women
50-54 -- 52 men, 17 women
55-59 -- 24 men, 5 women
60-64 -- 12 men, 2 women
65-69 -- 7 men, 1 woman
70-74 -- 4 men
75-79 -- 2 men (only finishers in that age group!)

Total -- 380 men and 222 women

Top 15 Men's and Women's Marathon Times from Back Corral

Back corral bib numbers for the Chevron Houston Marathon were those with the numbers 4000 to 9999.

These are the top 15 men's and women's chip times from those runners with bib numbers that were in the back corral:

Men
2:59:09 - Enrique Fernandez Reyes, 37, Mexico
3:10:31 - John Hill, 39, Kingwood
3:14:06 - Jason Johnston, 32, The Woodlands
3:18:27 - Richard MacNamee, 40, Houston
3:20:46 - Bruce Sharpe, 26, Houston
3:21:33 - Nicholas Smith, 28, Virginia Beach, Virginia
3:24:33 - Kurt Ramsauer, 26, Houston
3:25:54 - Edward Albrecht, 39, Pearland
3:26:27 - Christopher Ogolla, 36, Houston
3:29:07 - Joey Matoush, 29, The Woodlands
3:30:10 - Lee Barron, 59, Houston
3:30:59 - Andy Juneau, 47, Pineville, Louisiana
3:31:04 - Peter Kuck, 20, Oakrdige, Tennessee
3:31:43 - Mike Desa, 21, College Station
3:33:17 - Michael Heeney, 42, Houston

Women
3:23:14 - Marby McKinney, 32, Dickinson
3:30:06 - Mariam Navarro Mancilla, 37, Mexico
3:32:17 - Emily Boozalis, 15, Houston
3:35:05 - Anna Hern, 26, Giddings
3:35:41 - Carrie Duke, 33, Houston
3:36:30 - Rosa Galvan, 34, Longview
3:36:40 - Brooke Sciuto, 25, North Bethesda, Maryland
3:36:48 - Lupita Rojas, 43, Laredo
3:38:09 - Kristin Magnussen, 25, Houston
3:38:39 - Natasha Burt, 34, Houston
3:39:34 - Colleen Waymel, 38, The Woodlands
3:39:49 - Chrissy Hill, 25, Houston
3:39:50 - Laura Barbieri, 27, Houston
3:41:12 - Cynthia Medwedeff-Blake, 53, Houston
3:42:03 - Diana Smirnova, 23, Pasadena, California

There were 45 runners in the back corral who had no chip difference - meaning that their chip more than likely didn't register on the starting mat.

Of the remaining 3,443 finishers who had "back corral" bib numbers, here are the numbers of runners and how long it took them to get across the starting mat:

Less than 1 minute -- 138
1:00 - 1:59 -- 521
2:00 - 2:59 -- 857
3:00 - 3:59 -- 867
4:00 - 4:59 -- 725
5:00 - 5:59 -- 286
6:00 - 6:59 -- 21
More than 7 minutes -- 28

An estimated 1,843 finishers had "front corral" bib numbers. 48 runners did not have any chip difference. These would consist of many of the elites and/or chip malfunctions.

Of the remaining 1,794, here are the numbers of runners and how long it took them to get across the starting mat:

Less than 1 minute -- 1,127
1:00 - 1:59 -- 509
2:00 - 2:59 -- 98
3:00 - 3:59 -- 33
4:00 - 4:59 -- 21
5:00 - 5:59 -- 6
6:00 - 6:59 -- 1
More than 7 minutes -- 1

Cantu Possibly Sets U.S. Single Age Half Marathon Record

Thanks to the always perceptive Dr. Bob Hoekman, HARRA's Medical Director, it would appear that Richmond's Ino Cantu on Sunday at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon may have established a new United States single age record in the half marathon.

Cantu's gun time of 1:39:14 has possibly bettered that mark of 1:40:13 set by Fred Ely of Trenton, New Jersey in the Philadelphia Distance Run on September 18, 1988, according to RunningUSA.

HARRA has submitted an e-mail on Ino's behalf to Ryan Lamppa with Running USA's Road Running Information Center. (Update: Ryan has forwarded the information on to Andy Carr, the USATF's LDR record keeper. I received word from Andy Carr on Thursday evening and have forwarded the certification forms to Steven Karpas with the Chevron Houston Marathon.)

I've also submitted information to Ken Young of the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS; arrs.net) to include Ino's performance on the all-time best in the world in this age group (70-74). His times from the past two years (2005, 1:39:45 and 2006, 1:37:30) would also make the list at the following link: http://www.arrs.net/VR7_HMar.htm.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

New Single Age Half-Marathon Records

The following runners on Sunday set Aramco Houston Half Marathon single age records:

Male
10 - Preston Pennington, Friendswood, 1:47:51
12 - Guilhem Hack, Houston, 1:41:07
15 - David Rubin, Kingwood, 1:22:02
17 - Maximo Mendoza, Pearland, 1:12:41
18 - Will Fairhurst, The Woodlands, 1:11:57
24 - Ryan Hall, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 59:43
26 - Fasil Bizuneh, Bristol, TN, 1:02:20
29 - Jason Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, MN, 1:02:51
30 - Chad Johnson, Rochester Hills, MI, 1:04:01
31 - Meb Keflezighi, San Diego, CA, 1:02:22
47 - Kris Warszawski, Northville, MI, 1:16:47
48 - Kevin Haas, St. Louis Park, MN, 1:13:27
50 - Victor Salinas, Carrollton, 1:22:47
73 - Ino Cantu, Richmond, 1:39:14
75 - Thomas Bickham, Houston, 2:03:49

Female
7 - Amy Shenk, Magnolia, 2:50:16 *youngest ever (in question according to post-race photos)
15 - Lauren Smith, Lake Jackson, 1:21:23
17 - Amie Uttecht, Houston, 1:30:48
26 - Kate O'Neill, Milton, MA, 1:11:47
27 - Zoila Gomez, Alamosa, CO, 1:13:49
28 - Ann Alyanak, Bellbrook, OH, 1:14:24
30 - Melisa Christian, Dallas, 1:17:19
32 - Rachel Kinsman, Archbold, OH, 1:15:13
35 - Elva Dryer, Gunnison, CO, 1:11:42
36 - Suzanne Weeder Einspahr, Seward, NE, 1:17:45
38 - Jenny Crain, Milwaukee, WI, 1:13:37
50 - Cynthia Woods, Bolingbrook, IL, 1:40:43
55 - Linda Kelly, Dallas, 1:38:38
59 - Phyllis Lemoncello, Houston, 1:40:52
70 - Kay Duplichan, Rockport, 2:13:39
71 - Virginia Mangum, Katy, 2:31:21
72 - Joanne McCain, Jewett, 3:26:01
82 - Wren Bump, Webster, 3:55:43 *oldest female ever

Source: http://www.runmontgomerycounty.com/aramcohalf_timesbyage.htm

A Wisconsin Thanks From Top American Men's Finisher!

A Texas-size thanks to Houston for being such a great host! Staging a marathon is no small task and you guys made it appear about as easy as Ryan Hall makes clicking off 4:30 miles look. Impressive organization and top-notch hospitality. I had a great day, and I know I couldn't have done it without all the volunteers, spectators and race staff.

My biggest impression of the Houston community is that everyone there is very proud of their city. Most people are proud of their homes I guess, but the measure of a great city in my eyes is how the people there treat their guests. And I know I can speak for the rest of the US Athlete Development Program athletes when I say that we were given the royal treatment - and y'all have good reason to be proud of your community!

And, a special thanks to ... Steven Karpas who helped get the USADP approved by the Board of Directors, Race Director Brant Koch, the elite athlete team including Madeleine Bunch, David Chester, Kate Chester, Cindy Erickson, Bert Calabro, and the Stillwells - Katrina, Tom, and Tom's mom!

Thanks again and I hope to see you again next year.

Mike Reneau

14 Qualify For U.S. Olympic Trials

Fourteen athletes qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sunday's race.

In the marathon, five men broke the Olympic A standard by running under 2:20.

Michael Reneau, 28, Houlton, WI, 2:17:46
Steve Meinelt, 23, Washington, DC, 2:18:15
Mike Smith, 26, Flagstaff, AZ, 2:19:45
Ryan Meissen, 28, Whitewater, WI, 2:19:52
Matt Hooley, 24, Madison, WI, 2:19:58

Another five men qualified by running sub-2:22, the Olympic B standard.

Sean Wade, 40, Houston, TX, 2:20:30
Matthew Folk, 30, Canfield, OH, 2:20:43
Michael Friedberg, 29, Flagstaff, AZ, 2:21:01
Robert Cannon, 23, Toms River, NJ, 2:21:24

Four women qualified by beating the Olympic B standard of 2:47.

Jenna Boren, 29, St. Paul, MN, 2:42:39
Jody Johnson, 29, Syracuse, NY, 2:44:25
Caitlin Tormey, 23, New York, NY, 2:45:02
Carly Graytock, 28, Cambridge, MA, 2:45:02

Last year in Austin, under frigid conditions, 25 of the 48 USA Athlete Development Project runners qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, according to Greg McMillan.

Monday, January 15, 2007

2008 Chevron Houston Marathon Local Invited Runners

As long as the qualifying standards remain the same (based on what is on the Chevron Houston Marathon's web site), the following individuals - based on their performance Sunday - will have earned their spots in the 2008 event:

Female

Open (3:00:00) - Sarah Yoder, 2:58:34
40 (3:15:11) - Heidy Lozano, 2:57:45
50 (3:32:11) - Carole Uttecht, 3:30:48 (ALRC)

Male

Open (2:35:00) - Matt McCurdy, 2:32:24 (ALRC)
40 (2:49:42) - Sean Wade, 2:20:30 / Todd Gilbreath, 2:47:32 (BCRR)*
50 (3:02:47) - Ted Traynor, 3:00:36 (HS)
60 (3:19:02) - Ben Harvie, 3:05:49 (HH)

Gilbreath's projection would be based that Sean Wade "earned" a spot because he was a former winner; however, this wasn't necessarily the case when the original post went up for the '07 spots and Drew Prisner was listed in the Open spot from the '06 event with an asterisk that he was the 2002 winner. If the latter is true, then Wade earns the spot.

Again, this is clearly a projection and therefore, not official.

Just missing the 70-year-old and greater standard was The Woodlands Running Club's Jim Braden. Braden, 71, ran Sunday's event in 3:41:59 and missed the qualifying standard by just 41 secodns.