Lunar Rendezvous Run Recap

HARRA Member and Houston Masters Sports Association Master, Gerardo Mora, captured his fourth straight Lunar Rendezvous Run 5K Masters title with a stellar, 16:32.9 clocking, his fastest at the Lunar Rendezvous Run.

Overall titles went to Sesar Figueroa (15:02.0) and Lauren Smith (17:49.5), as over 450 runners participated in this highly competitive race at Space Center Houston, while Suni Williams captured the Female Masters title in 21:05.8.

Congratulations to all who participated.

Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon Sold Out

Click here to register for the 2010 EP5K or ABB Team Challenge.

The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon are SOLD OUT through open registration. Marathon and half marathon entries are available through the Heroes charity registration. Click here to register for the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon and become a Hero!

Houston Marathon 70% Full

Click here to register for the 2010 Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon, EP5K, or ABB Team Challenge.

As of 2:00 pm on Friday, there are a total of 13,200 registered participants in the marathon and half marathon.

Reminder that tomorrow, Saturday, July 18th at 7:30 am, is the 31st Annual Lunar Rendezvous 5K at Space Center Houston. Registration can be found here.

Tomorrow is also the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute Expo in conjunction with the Chevron Houston Marathon. There will be exhibitors, including HARRA and the marathon, various running stores, etc. The event will be held at the CityCentre Life Time Athletic Club located at 815 Town & Country Lane, Houston, 77024, from 10 am to 2 pm. There is a parking garage adjacent to the facility.

The Toxicity of this City

The realization hit me this morning, post-run, after another triple-digit burner... I am not sweating the way nature intended, I am bleeding water.

Sweat, in most livable conditions throughout this great nation, beads upon the surface of the skin and then either progresses to be evaporated in the atmosphere, or perhaps dawdles down the skin to the earth.

However, Houston has taken a life of it's own this summer, attempting to mimic life on Mercury. Is it just me, or is this the worst running summer on record?

My worst fears were confirmed when recovering one night from a day of work, life, and training, I was watching the Discovery Channel, half-heartedly, when a brief announcement caught my attention: "Houston is in peril. The country's fourth most populous city faces, heat, hurricanes and other natural disasters."

Discovery Channel's "Mega-Engineering" show focused on "The Houston Dome." Basically, Houston is becoming unlivable. With raising greenhouse gases (Houston has surpassed Los Angeles as # 1 in the country), searing heat and humidity levles oppress this city. Houstonians face extinction...

Enjoy your run, HARRA Members...

Marathon Stimulus Package: Sign Up Early

The countdown to race registration for the 2010 Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon, EP 5K, and ABB Team Challenge opens on the morning of Friday, July 17, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. (CST).

The 2010 marathon and half marathon fields have a protected cap of 22,000 participants. Of the 22,000 entries, 11,0000 entries are reserved for each the marathon and half marathon fields.

Click here for additional 2010 race updates.

3-2-1 Blast-Off

This weekend the 31st Annual Lunar Rendezvous 5K Run, sponsored by Honeywell, takes place on Saturday, July 18th, at Space Center Houston (7:30AM).

The Lunar Rendezvous Run has a very rich tradition with some very hot weather and some very hot competition. Former winners of the race include -

Men's Overall

• 15:22, David Wittman - 1999
• 15:44, Rudy Rocha - 2000
• 15:20, Luis Armenteros - 2002
• 15:27, Luis Armenteros - 2003
• 15:55, Joseph Routt - 2004
• 15:12, Luis Armenteros - 2005
• 15:49, Alan Hedengren - 2006
• 15:59, Jacob Phillips - 2007
• 15:51, John Hedengren - 2008

Women's Overall

• 19:57, Kathy Barton - 1999
• 18:59, Bridget Degan - 2000
• 18:31, Sherrie Keim - 2002
• 19:08, Kathryn Scarborough - 2003
• 17:11, Carmen Ayala-Troncoso - 2004
• 19:39, Debbie Rudisill - 2005
• 18:17, Allison Pye - 2006
• 16:59, Nichole Jones - 2007
• 17:24, Peggy Yetman - 2008

Men's Master's

• 16:22, David Washburn - 1999
• 16:19, David Washburn - 2000
• 16:27, David Dunn - 2002
• 16:15, Jon Butler - 2003
• 17:16, Joe Melanson - 2004
• 16:49, Francisco Perez - 2005
• 17:10, Gerardo Mora - 2006
• 16:46, Gerardo Mora - 2007
• 16:47, Gerardo Mora - 2008

Female Master's

• 19:57, Kathy Barton - 1999
• 20:01, Allison Willbern - 2000
• 20:25, Carolyn Parsons - 2002
• 19:20, Sherrie Keim - 2003
• 20:43, Donna Sterns - 2004
• 20:38, Liz Schwandt - 2005
• 20:42, Bonnie Jo Barron - 2006
• 20:15, Heidi Mairs - 2007
• 22:03, Donna Sterns - 2008

Houston Striders Novelty Run

The annual Houston Striders Novelty Run is set for Sunday, July 12th, at Terry Hershey Park (north side entrance), with check-in at 7:00AM and the relay start at 8:00AM.

This very creative format consists of a 4 x 1 Mile predicton relay and focuses not on speed, but about which team predicts their closest finishing time. There will be plenty of breakfast tacos and refreshments on hand.

Now, for the relay rules -

• No watches, Garmins, heart rate monitors, phones, iphones, sun dials - anything that will give a runner some idea of what pace they are running
  
• The incoming runner CANNOT see their finish time


• The outgoing runner CAN see their start time and is allowed to adjust pace accordingly - if they can

No bibs, no time recording, no age-grading, but hopefully a lot of fun and a different sort of competitive challenge and an excuse to party afterwards.