Race Weekend Report

It was quite a weekend.

Saturday morning started out by going to RTW5K to volunteer. There were several of us that had the same idea as an extra volunteer crew of about 10 TWRC runners arrived to help with the 30 participants. After the race I was off to the Marathon Expo. I worked the HARRA booth for my scheduled time with Waverly Walk and saw many of my old running buddies,WoodlandsFit and TWRC runners. After hanging our club banner in Hall C, I was off to the TNT pasta party to hear my good friend Bill Crews speak. It’s interesting how things sometimes line up to make you wonder. On Thursday the closing topic at the WoodlandsFit pasta party was Hero’s. Bill’s topic was Hero’s….and his doctor who spoke after Bill…..Hero’s again. What are the chances of that happening?

Sunday morning came quickly. I met a couple people at Luke’s Locker Market Street at 4:45am and we were off to the GRB. I found a great parking spot and was at the TWRC Banner before 6am. We had about 110 TWRC members and another 110 WoodlandFit Half marathoners meeting at the banner. About 20 minutes before the start with bags all checked everyone headed out to their respective corrals. I did not get a chance to talk to Karen and later I found out that she was looking for her ipod. We had gone over a strategy the week before…she was ready to go with or without any last minute words from me.

As the runners started I made my way with Waverly and one of our Fit members, Julie Donnelly, to the 7-mile mark. Waverly continued to the mile 23 water station to work and Julie and I cheered for everyone we could spot from our group. It was an amazing thing to watch as 17,000 runners went by. We missed more than we saw. I did see Cassie….well…..she actually yelled to me first.

From the seven-mile mark we went to about the half marathon 10-1/2 mile point, which is about a quarter mile from where we were. From here I would run 50-100 yards or so with as many from our Fit group as possible. Run, jog back, run, jog back, run jog back…maybe 50 repeats of this for a pretty good workout. Somewhere here Cassie snuck by and yelled hi again.

After the last runners came through we paced in our walkers to the 12-mile mark, hugged everyone, and went to 25 to wait for Karen’s family. We were there about 30 minutes early so we just continued to cheer for the runners. Elissa Rivas with Channel 13 was pretty close to us and after talking and visiting with her some (she interviewed me a few years ago for TNT) we ended up being interviewed about our thoughts on he Houston race volunteers (who are second to none in my book). She needed some footage of us cheering and as I turned to cheer for the next runner…. Bill Crew’s is heading right for me. You couldn’t have planned it better.

After Karen’s family arrived we headed to mile 26 where we would wait to pick up Emma who would run from mile 25 to 26 with her mom. Karen has such a beautiful family and it was wonderful that they were out sharing her success.

Later Sunday evening we had the Second Annual TWRC Post Marathon Party at The Goose’s Acre. Last year we were in a little corner of the restaurant. This year we had most of the first floor. It was a nice evening with everyone sharing his or her story of the day.

Congratulations to everyone reading this who ran this weekend.

Also congratulations to Juliee – big time PR in the half. Karen – Great first marathon, Susan, Robin, Donna – a little longer than a 5K and you now know it’s doable, Althea & Debbie – you are the best, ……the list goes on and on to all the TWRC, WoodlandsFit, and TNT runners and walkers.