TEXAS MARATHON
1/1/11
If you want to start the year out big running a super marathon full of lots of surprises, great hospitality, good food, great fun AND the LARGEST FINISHERS MEDAL IN THE WORLD, then the Texas Marathon directed by Steve and Paula Boone on January 1st is the one to run.
Lenore and I first met the Boones when we went to Houston in 2000 to help Rick Worley celebrate the running of his 200th marathon in 159 consecutive weekends on January 16th …..and for me to run Marathon #250 in the same race. This feat put Rick in the Guinness Book of World Records, and I had been privileged to run many of the same marathons with him as he worked toward this goal.
One year Rick hit a snag when there was no marathon to run on the New Year’s weekend. His good friends Steve & Paula Boone came to his rescue and started the Texas Marathon to provide a marathon for him to run……and we’re glad that they’ve continued having a New Year’s Day marathon since then!
Lenore and I ended 2010 by flying to Houston on December 30th for our second visit with our cousin Travis Johnson. The next day the three of us drove 30 miles to Kingwood for packet pickup and a New Year’s Eve carbo dinner with our Brit friends Roger Biggs and Martin Bush and Rich, Jeanne and Kathleen Holmes from Durham, North Carolina.
The race headquarters was located in a recreational building in the park where the race started and finished, and there were stacks of “secret” boxes that contained finisher medals for the next day’s marathon and half marathon races. This time it was the year of the “rubber duck,” and we were greeted by a large duck in front of the building and numerous small ones inside.
This race has no special awards for the overall winners or age divisions. Instead, each finisher this year received a rubber duck with the number of placement on it…..and a duck cap.
On New Year’s Day we returned to Kingwood to pick up my timing chip and to visit with friends. At race headquarters Larry Macon from San Antonio was passing out “Marathon Runner” mugs and a travel bag to the late arrivals. Roger Biggs and Martin Bush were helping with packet pickup again, and Debie Johnson and her husband Claude Hicks from Fort Worth were there volunteering like they do every year at our Yakima River Canyon Marathon. AND Lenore was happy to be able to be a volunteer at a race away from home.
By 7:45 a.m. all runners were gathered at the starting line to hear instructions and announcements by Paula Boone and to listen to the singing of the national anthem. When the race started at 8:00 a.m., the marathoners with yellow bibs and the half marathoners with white bibs left under overcast skies and a temperature of 50 degrees.
For the marathon runners the course consisted of four 6.55 mile circuits on a paved trail that was flat and gently rolling. For the most part, it passed through a wooded setting and over creek bridges with two aid stations in open areas by Lake Houston. It returned by circling a small lake in a residential area and repassing the two aid stations on the way back to the start/finish (do-it-again line!) and a third aid station.
I liked this attractive course and enjoyed seeing runners I knew and getting acquainted with others. I was happy to see Black Vultures, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Mockingbirds and Cardinals that I don’t get to see in Washington.
A “surprise” on the course was the posting of personalized pink signs on trees for all runners. Mine said, “Bob Dolphin….Oldest Male?….81.” What a nice gesture!
My race went well. I was able to run the first circuit, and then I added walking as time passed. I crossed the finish line in 6:51:35 and received rubber duck #303 AND the box with my FOUR POUND blue, white and red finishers medal. It was the shape of the state of Texas with the cow logo on it and “Texas Marathon, 1/11/11, Kingwood, TX” printed on it. Lenore and Travis were waiting for me at the finish line and brought me some hot pizza and other treats.
It had been an honor to run with Rick Worley on his record-breaking day in 2000. Sadly, he died in a vehicular accident on July 15, 2010. This year’s Texas Marathon was dedicated to his memory.
We’re glad we started the New Year with this great marathon and highly recommend it to anyone wanting a fun-filled race. If you decide to be in Kingwood on January 1, 2012, sign up early. This race has a cap……and it fills up fast!!!
………………………………………..Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin
2:44:39 Daniel Lawton, 30, Cypress, TX, OVERALL WINNER, 1st in Age Division
3:36:36 Sue Wheeler, 49, Houston, TX, OVERALL WOMEN’S WINNER, 1st
3:58:16 Roger Biggs, 62, Stevenage, UK, 1st
4:18:21 Rich Holmes, 61, Durham, NC, 4th
4:25:11 Claude Hicks, 50, Fort Worth, TX
4:32:02 Brent Weigner, 61, Cheyenne, WY
4:43:19 Martin Bush, 52, Reading, UK
4:54:56 Steve Boone, 61, Humble, TX
5:05:28 Karen Berglund, 59, Kingwood, TX, 4th
5:27:12 Ron Berglund, 63, Kingwood, TX
5:52:39 Peggy Fischer, 64, Warren, OR, 1st
6:09:25 Carol Goslin, 65, Kansas City, MO, 1st
6:16:04 Yolanda Holder, 52, Corona, CA
6:17:07 Larry Macon, 66, San Antonio, TX
6:51:35 Bob Dolphin, 81, Renton/Yakima, WA, 1st
7:00:17 Judy Altman, 63, Atlanta, GA, 5th
7:15:32 Victor Bhatt, 65, Houston, TX
7:42:19 Katherine Miller, 31, Houston, TX