Our 2008 Finish

Happy Birthday Karen!

Bill and I surprised Karen with a cake for her birthday this morning before the start of the Woodlands Fit training run.

Bellnoski, Spaulding Take on El Scorcho

Niki and Nick Bellnoski before the start of the El Scorcho 50K in Fort Worth.
Nick and Niki going strong early in the race. Nick would have to drop after about 7 or 8 legs. Niki would go on to a fourth place overall finish in a time of 4:54:16. Her last 5K was her fastest one - 26:27.
Becky Spaulding gets in a tough 25K finish after doing 20 miles on a group training run Saturday morning in Houston. She finished in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.

Battling Bloggers Fall-Winter Running Plans

Adrienne Langelier
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Barbara Boone
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Becky Spaulding
10/4/08 - Trail Twister 60K, Bryan*
10/18/08 - Palo Duro Canyon 50K, Amarillo*
11/8/08 - Rockledge 50K, Grapevine
11/16/08 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon
12/6/08 - Sunmart 50K, Huntsville
1/1/09 - Texas Marathon, Kingwood
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon
2/8/09 - Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler, Huntsville

* One or the other - or possibly both!

Cassie Mondragon
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon
2/22/09 - Run Wild Half Marathon, Houston

Christy Gonzales
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Dave Smart
8/23/08 - EMHS Varsity Alumni 3-Mile Cross Country, Edmond, Okl.
9/14/08 - TexasMan Triathlon, Denton
10/25/08 - Hi-Fi Triathlon, Galveston

Edwin Quarles
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Erin Foley
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Holden Choi
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Jeremy Webb
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Jessica Alexander
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Joe Carey
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

John Maloney
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Jon Walk
11/16/08 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon
1/1/09 - Texas Marathon, Kingwood
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon
2/14/09 - Surfside Beach Marathon, Surfside Beach

Karen Felicidario
11/16/08 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Katy Lampson
11/16/08 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon
1/18/09 - Chevron Houston Marathon

Keith Kelleher
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Ken Johnson
10/18/08 - Marathon 2 Marathon, Alpine to Marathon
11/16/08 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon
12/6/08 - Sunmart 50K, Huntsville
1/1/09 - Texas Marathon, Kingwood
2/14/09 - Surfside Beach Marathon, Surfside Beach

Manny Mondragon
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Nick Bellnoski

Niki Bellnoski

Norman Langwell

Sarah Graybeal
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Tommy Stunz
1/18/09 - Aramco Houston Half Marathon

The Battling Bloggers Can Tri

So much for running this past weekend.

Our newly-minted Austinite Jessica Alexander hit the roads on Saturday, May 17 with a pair of running personal bests, then topped it off with a season-opening triathlon on Sunday, May 18.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the inaugural Battling Bloggers were in Pearland on Sunday morning, but it was Sarah Graybeal, Cassie Mondragon and Katy Lampson who completed a triathlon as well.

Seven Hills Running Club president Niki Bellnoski, 20, was the second overall female - and 12th overall - at Katy's Sunrise Rotary 5K on Saturday, May 17. She finished in 20:56 - a 6:45 per mile pace - behind Katy Seven Lakes junior Jacqueline Alnes, 15, who won in 20:21.

In the state's capital city, Alexander posted a dazzling effort of 6:42 in the Congress Avenue Mile, good for fourth in her age group, before toeing the starting line at the untimed Lone Star 5000. She converted the rising 10:30 a.m. heat into energy to blaze her way to a new personal best of 23:16.

Now that the running was out of the way, it was "tri time".

And as the Battling Bloggers tri veteran - Graybeal - at the Silverlake Sprint Triathlon showed the two rookies how things were done.

For now, she quickly admitted after the race.

Graybeal, 30, finished third in the Athena Division -- just 49 seconds from the top spot and 22 out of second -- in 1:14:15 over the 400-meter swim, 10-mile bike and 3-mile Pearland course.

In her third triathlon of the season, Mondragon, 29, was second among TIR teammates in 1:17:16 while the true rookie, Lampson, 33, the pride of Huntsville, completed her first water-borne adventure in 1:19:18.

You can read Graybeal's race report here.
You can read Mondragon's race report here.
You can read "Buoy-to-Buoy" Lampson's report here.

That same morning, Alexander was making her way to New Braunfels for the 2nd annual Skeese Greets Women's Triathlon.

In the event which featured a 300-meter swim, an 11.1-mile bike ride and a two-mile run, she was 20th in her age group out of 72 finishers as she finished in 1:12:34.

Jessica's race report can be read here.

Langwell Meets The Perrys

Norman Langwell flanked by First Lady Anita Perry and the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry.

PRs, Relays and Beating the Governor

It's not every day you get to race against the Governor, but Norman Langwell, Jr., 36, took advantage of the opportunity and beat Gov. Rick Perry to the finish line of the Texas Roundup 10K on Saturday, April 26 in Austin.

And in the process, Norman was one of three Battling Bloggers to post a personal best this weekend as he finished in 47:38.15. (Norman's son, Colton, 16, finished fourth in his age group with a time of 53:39. Wife, Millie, 34, completed the 5K in 40:23 while their two girls, Chantel, 15, and Deanna, 13, both took fourth in their age groups in 32:52 and 32:56, respectively.)

Closer to home, both Holden Choi and Karen Felicidario posted 5K personal bests at Run The Woodlands 5K #199 in 23:53 and 26:29, respectively.

Two of this year's Battling Bloggers and one who will join the team in '09 participated Saturday in the last race of the HARRA Spring Series, the Bayou Bash Relay, hosted by the Al Lawrence Running Club.

Erin Foley was on the fifth place, open mixed team, "ALRC #12", that finished in 48:15.7. Two of her teammates were triathletes Sam and Mandy Luna.

Joe Carey's "Dimes and Diamonds" - a fixture of the Bay Area Running Club (BARC) - finished second in the veterans mixed category in 55:57.8.

Also on a BARC team was Sarah Graybeal as she teamed up with the "BARC Moonstones" to finish the Rice University course in 1:16:33.5.

After attending the USA Masters National 10K Championship in Austin, captain Jon Walk, 41, drove to Oklahoma City to participate in the 8th annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and came home with his fourth best marathon time (out of 18) of 5:08:30.

It was Jon's 18th career marathon and he finished a marathon in his 11th state.

Summer CPR Class / Pizza Party Planned

Bill Dwyer, the leader of our TIR Texas Tough Throwdown competition, the "Texian Road Warriors", is in the process of looking for a summer CPR class that our combined teams could attend.

Given recent events of a runner collapsing and dying after the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run and another runner going down on the course of the Chevron Bellaire Trolley Run 5K, it is prudent that we all consider taking a CPR class.

Whenever we find a suitable date, we'll also look to schedule - that same day - a combined team pizza party, picnic and family outing to celebrate the Battling Bloggers' victory with the $60 worth of pizza gift cards from Papa John's that we received from the Texas Independence Relay.

The Battling Bloggers Weren't As Busy

In fact, even some well-made plans went awry as Sarah Graybeal was signed up for Sunday's Battle of San Jacinto Triathlon. Having been sick earlier in the week, she decided instead to volunteer for the folks with Tri On The Run, who were organizing the race.

Our lead male runner during this year's Relay, Tommy Stunz challenged the Rocky Hill Ranch 50K course in Smithville on Saturday and returned to Lake Jackson with a 6:18:07 finish, good for 27th out of 72nd place. (Rich Martucci, 52, who was on the "Corpus Christi Roadrunners" during the Texas Independence Relay, finished seven places behind Stunz in 6:41:18.)

Like Stunz, Ken Johnson, 66, traveled west as well -- to the Cornerstone Cougar 5K in College Station. Running one of his better 5Ks of the spring, Ken finished in 31:47 and took second place -- out of three -- in the 60-69 age group.

Captain Jon Walk, 41, decided to adventure north instead of west to participate in four separate 5Ks in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He ran a 5K in Fort Worth Friday night, followed by races in Aledo and Pilot Point on Saturday and the Rise and Shine 5K just north of downtown Dallas on Sunday.

Bloggers in Bear Country

Edwin Quarles, Katy Lampson, Jon Walk and Norman Langwell, Jr.

Saturday, April 12, Davy Crockett Bear Chase, Groveton, TX

(Photo Courtesy of Norman Langwell via Katy Lampson)