Houston Marathon and Half Marathon

No pre-race jitters for this confident group of Finish Strong athletes!

Photo: Team Finish Strong Racing Phillip DePrang celebrates finishing Houston Marathon and qualifying for Boston Marathon!

Wet roads and later rain did not deter thousands of people from participating in the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon on Sunday, January 30. Finish Strong athletes were in abundance at both events. Kudos to Phillip Deprang, Christelle Gigant, Lisa Hill, Brad Johnson, Michael Menster, Leo Morales, and Branden Sager who all qualified for the Boston Marathon!

Competing in the marathon (26.2 mile race) were Winston Cervantes (3:49:35), Casey Clark (4:08:20) and his wife Judith (4:03:36), Kristin Collins (3:53:23), Jose Contreras (4:50:43), Rich Cooper (4:53:51 - his 10th Houston marathon!), Phillip Deprang (4:00:21 qualified for Boston!), Greg Gibbons (4:03:03), Maureen Gibbons (5:11:39), Christelle Gigant (3:50:03 - qualified for Boston!), Jim Harrington (3:46:04), Lisa Hill (3:50:43 - qualified for Boston!), Brad Johnson (3:35:47 - qualified for Boston!), Michael Menster (3:12:37 - qualified for Boston!), Leo Morales (3:20:15 - qualified for Boston), Branden Sager (2:59:37 - coming in 106th overall and 23rd in his division and qualifying for Boston), and Jon Yarborough (4:50:12).

The half marathon competitors included: Manuel Abascal (1:53:36), Rodrigo Abascal (1:47:47), Mike Bard (1:56:34), Stephen Clouthier (2:03:17), Don Cole (1:35:55 - 9th in his AG and 180th overall), Chelsea Estes (1:38:18 - 12th in her AG, 47th overall), Jody Gaddy (1:42:56), Dana Lyons (1:24:08 - won his AG and 49th overall!), Gavish Mago (1:21:43 - 7th in his AG and 33rd overall!), Kim McElligott (1:44:02), Marshal McInnis (1:52:51), Chris Normyle (1:56:14), Rip Reynolds (1:34:02), Jen Severns (1:58:30), Buck Snyder (1:39:29) and his wife Kerri (1:49:37), Bill Spijkerman (2:30:57), Tommy Sustala (1:32:59 - 10th in his AG and 129th overall), and Tim Monk (1:32:38).

Well done!!

Frost Yer Fanny

Over 320 people participated in the Frost Yer Fanny duathlon held on Sunday, January 23 at Bear Creek Park in West Houston. Nineteen Finish Strong athletes braved the cold weather and started 2011 off with some brilliant finishes on the 3 mile/15 mile/2 mile course. The team raked in lots of hardware.

1 Hannah Barron 14 21:54.9(7:18)/49:38.8(18.1)/14:06.7(7:03) 1:27:27.

1 Katherine Barron 16 23:27.9(7:49)/47:29.3(19.0)/14:45.0(7:23) 1:26:47.9

6 Taylor Medina 18 23:57.9(7:59)/51:24.0 (17.5)/18:17.5(9:09)1:35:30.5

6 Jossie Velazquez 29 26:30.6 (8:50)/52:48.5(17.0)/17:24.3(8:42)1:39:05.9

8 Jackie Lewis 43 23:15.9 (7:45)/49:43.6 (18.1)/16:12.3 (8:06)1:30:42.9

2 Sharon Morin 49 21:07.2 (7:02)/50:37.2 (17.8)/14:21.0 (7:11)1:28:22.6

2 Cindy McManis 51 25:42.5 (8:34)/46:52.2 (19.2)/16:56.5 (8:28) 1:31:59.9

3 Lane Barron 12 20:50.3 (6:57)/44:48.2 (20.1)/15:14.0 (7:37) 1:22:34.0

3 Ronnie Delzer 30 16:29.1 (5:30)/40:55.0 (22.0)/10:47.3 (5:24) 1:09:19.2

4 Gavish Mago 31 17:22.3 (5:47)/39:39.2 (22.7)/12:00.2 (6:00) 1:10:42.3

10 Hector Gonzalez 32 21:10.8 (7:03)/44:19.5 (20.3)/14:32.5 (7:16)1:21:59.5

12Stephen Tschirhart 32 22:02.0(7:21)/45:46.6 (19.7)/13:54.0 (6:57) 1:23:40.7

7 David Kayda 35 17:36.4 (5:52)/42:01.8 (21.4)/11:48.3 (5:54)1:13:01.6

1 Albert Sustala 42 19:07.9 (6:22)/37:18.7 (24.1)/12:57.8 (6:29) 1:11:02.2

19 Randy Barron 41 22:28.0 (7:29)/46:46.9 (19.2)/15:36.8 (7:48) 1:27:53.1

3 Steve Hardy 45 21:54.2 (7:18)/42:24.2 (21.2)/14:34.8 (7:17) 1:20:45.0

1 Dana Lyons 53 17:34.9 (5:51)/38:12.0 (23.6)/11:54.6 (5:57) 1:08:58.1

6 Kent Morris 51 19:21.7 (6:27)/40:38.4 (22.1)/13:15.2 (6:38) 1:15:07.8

12 Chris Normyle 52 22:38.4 (7:33)/46:33.1 (19.3)/14:38.3 (7:19)1:26:47.8

Clydesdale
3 Scott Pinkston 43 22:53.5 (7:38)/44:09.2 (20.4)/15:00.0 (7:30) 1:24:07.1

Great job!!

(Photos by Cindy McManis.)

USA Fit Half Marathon

Team FSR Linda Trinkle started the year with a fabulous finish at the USA Fit Half Marathon in Sugarland, Texas on January 16. Linda won the female master's title with an overall time of 1:41. Awesome!

Christmas Day Run the Woodlands 5K

The Barron family celebrated Christmas morning by all running the Run the Woodlands 5K on Saturday, December 25.

Lane Barron – 22:02,
Hannah Barron – 23:12
Randy Barron – 23:13
Katherine Barron – 25:01
Carolyn Barron – 27:51

Y'all deserve extra special recognition for celebrating the Christmas holidays with an early morning race!

Conroe Courier Names Runners of the Year

The Conroe Courier named the top runners of the year from Montgomery County. Once again, many Finish Strong athletes were honored.

Gavish Mago won Marathon Performance of the Year with his 2:56:37 performance at Bank of America Chicago marathon.

Dana Lyons won Half Marathon Performance of the Year with his 1:21:57 performance at Aramco Houston Half Marathon.

Male Overall Runner of the Year award went to Brandon Sager.
Male Master's (40-49) went to Michael Menster.
Male Veteran's (50 and over) went to Skip Moschell.

Congratulations to all the athletes for a great year of racing!

Full articles can be found on-line at www.hcnonline.com/courier/

Woodlands Running Club Recognizes Top 2010 Performances

The Woodlands Running Club recognized top performances for the year among Woodlands Running Club members only in their latest Deer Tracks issue. Among them were many familiar Finish Strong coached athletes:

5K
1 Dana Lyons 18:11 RTW 5K
2 Michael Collins 18:18 Great Pumpkin Run
5 Skip Moschell 18:28 RTW 5K
6 Michael Menster 18:39 Bearkat Bash
10 Hanna Barron 22:55 Great Pumpkin Run
12 Susie Schreiber 23:30 YMCA Trail Run
13 Kristin Collins 23:49 Great Pumpkin Run
19 Jackie Lewis 24:41 YMCA Trail Run
21 Casey Clark 20:43 CASA - Jones Forest

5 Mile
3 Skip Moschell 32:17 Run Thru The Woods
4 Casey Clark 32:20 Run Thru The Woods
6 Kristin Collins 39:47 YMCA Jingle Bell Run
11 Jackie Lewis 40:45 Run Thru The Woods

10 K
1 Branden Sager 38:13 Lake Houston
3 Skip Moschell 38:46 Bayou City Classic
5 Susie Schreiber 48:39 Woodforest
6 Kristin Collins 49:14 Red White & Blue
9 Jackie Lewis 50:37 Rodeo Run
16 Don Cole 46:51 Muddy Trails
16 Jennifer Severns 54:44 Bolder Boulder

10 Mile
2 Michael Menster 1:02:15 10 For Texas
4 Timothy Monk 1:06:49 10 For Texas
8 Deb Lyons 1:23:36 10 For Texas
8 Susie Schreiber 1:23:36 10 For Texas
9 Rip Reynolds 1:09:30 10 For Texas
10 Casey Clark 1:10:17 10 For Texas
17 Cindy Weller 1:25:37 10 For Texas
18 Jackie Lewis 1:27:44 10 For Texas
19 Staci Bouthillette 1:28:17 10 For Texas
23 Phillip DePrang 1:18:33 10 For Texas

Half Marathon
1 Dana Lyons 1:21:57 Aramco Houston
2 Michael Collins 1:26:28 Missoula
3 Gavish Mago 1:26:51 Delhi, India
7 Brandon Sager 1:32:40 Houston
8 Michael Menster 1:32:40 Houston
10 Kristin Collins 1:48:46 Missoula
13 Susie Schreiber 1:51:18 Aramco Houston
21 Deb Lyons 1:54:42 Run Wild
25 Cindy Weller 1:57:26 Aramco Houston

25 K
1 Branden Sager 1:43:43 HMSA Classical
2 Skip Moschell 1:45:24 HMSA Classical
4 Mike Menster 1:49:40 HMSA Classical
5 Don Cole 1:56:27 HMSA Classical
15 Rich Cooper 2:29:32 HMSA Classical

30 K
2 Brandon Sager 2:09:30 Finish Line Sports
3 Michael Menster 2:10:19 Finish Line Sports
7 Rich Cooper 2:58:21 Finish Line Sports

Marathon
1 Gavish Mago 2:56:37 Chicago
2 Buck Snyder 2:58:55 Chevron Houston
3 Skip Moschell 2:59:16 Chevron Houston
6 Brandon Sager 3:09:00 Prairie Fire
7 Don Cole 3:09:27 Chevron Houston
9 Kristin Collins 3:49:24 BAA Boston

Olympic Distance Triathlon
3 Michael Collins 2:18:42 Clearlake
5 Buck Snyder 2:24:21 Gateway to the Bay
6 Steve Hardy 2:31:54 Clearlake
7 Casey Clark 2:34:03 Houston
7 Carolyn Barron 2:59:26 Houston
10 Phillip DePrang 2:54:33 Houston

Half Ironman
1 Dana Lyons 4:31:38 New Orleans 70.3
3 Buck Snyder 5:02:02 Redman
5 Don Cole 5:25:42 Lone Star
6 Casey Clark 5:29:29 Ironstar
9 Steve Hardy 5:38:24 Lone Star
10 Carolyn Barron 6:44:17 Ironstar

Ironman
1 Buck Snyder 10:34:31 Austria
2 Michael Collins 11:10:22 Arizona
5 Steve Hardy 11:55:12 Florida
6 Don Cole 12:23:51 Austria
10 Michael Collins 14:28:24 St George

Conroe Courier Names Triathletes and Duathletes of Year

Finish Strong Racing Athletes shine in The Conroe Courier first annual Triathlete awards for Montgomery County posted by Jon Walk on January 4.

Finish Strong Racing athletes enjoyed wins in many categories. Dana Lyons won Male Triathlete of the Year. Jon Walk writes, "The 52-year-old from The Woodlands posted the best half Ironman in the area of the year with a 4:31:38 at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans in April, then followed it up with an overall sprint win at Gateway to the Bay in April and a masters sprint win at The Woodlands’ CB&I in early May." Dana also captured the Male Duathlete of the Year, too.

Buck Snyder claimed the best male Ironman Performance of the Year with his 10:34:31 finish at Ironman Austria on the Fourth of July, a 32-minute personal best.

Ed York won the Half Ironman Performance of the Year. Ed was the only area triathlete to post a pair of sub five-hour half iron distance showings with a 4:50:14at Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake followed by a 4:42:07 at Ironman 70.3 Austin.

Finish Strong also posted a number of Age group Triathletes of the Year including Youth (18 and under) Lane Barron and Hannah Barron, Open (19-39) Buck Snyder, and Veterans (50-over) Kent Morris.

Congratulations Team Finish Strong athletes!! To read the entire article, go to http://www.hcnonline.com/courier/sports/article_0c6ce8bb-443e-5dd8-809e-3f12bdf41be4.html#user-comment-area

New Year's Day Metric Century Bike Ride

About 50 people gathered together at 9:30 on New Year's Day to bike 100 kilometers (62 miles) including part of the IM Texas bike course. Finish Strong Coach Dana Lyons organized the event. Everyone who participated enjoyed starting the new year with a great bike workout!

(Photos compliments of Cindy McManis. Thanks, Cindy!)