HUEW Long and Short Races Dominated by Women

By Scott Demaree

The 2006 edition of the Houston Ultra Event Weekend was a damp success. Most of the daylight hours on Saturday were plagued by a steady rain. Luckily, recent dry weather allowed the flood-prone Bear Creek Park to easily absorb the moisture. Aside from the rain, temperatures were moderate for the entire weekend.

On Friday afternoon, the 48-Hour kicked off with 8 starters. Sue Albert jumped out to a two minute lead by the two hour mark with Debra Richmeir in second. An hour later David Luljak took over second then moved into the lead by 8 minutes at six hours. David stretched his lead to nearly an hour over Debra by nine hours. He lost the lead during a lengthy break at 60 miles (14 hours). Debra carried an hour advantage until 80 miles, at which time a long break by David ended the competitive phase of this race. Debra reached 100 miles in 26 hours, and from here it would be her own drive that would determine the final results.

The Saturday morning start of the 24-Hour, 12-Hour and 100-Kilometer was greeted with the rain. With Mike Stabler running unopposed in the 24-Hour run, the focus of the 24-Hour was the Centurion Walk. Six entrants were attempting to walk 100 miles in under 24 hours, with perhaps only two of them having a realistic chance at the goal. Jens Borello (from Denmark) has accomplished this many times in Europe but failed to finish his 2004 attempt on American soil in the Ultracentric race in Addison, Texas. American Ollie Nanyes is always a threat to reach the Centurion goal. Walking 100 miles in 24 hours requires very steady pacing and affords little leeway for problems.

The 12-Hour featured the canny Blair Zimmerman, veteran of many previous HUEW races. His goal was an age group record, requiring close to 80 miles – a very formidable total in the 12-Hour. A flurry of 16 minute laps by Virginian Bethany Patters surprised Blair, leaving him nine minutes behind at the marathon point. Steady pacing by Blair brought him the lead at 40 miles. Bethany’s intent became clear when she retired at 50 miles with a fine 8:17:24. Blair remained unflappable, clocking steady laps to a clear victory with 66 miles and stopping over an hour early. Anita Bagley eventually tied Bethany at 50 miles. But because Bethany took over two hours less to reach that point, she is the female 12-Hour champion.

The real fireworks on Saturday were in the 100-Kilometer. Well-known Texans in the field included Mark Henderson and Amanda McIntosh. Additionally, multiple previous winner of the 24-Hour, Jackie O’Brian-Nolan, was stepping down in distance to try her hand at the 100-K. They would have to contend with Greg Crowther, who traveled from Washington state to try to better a personal best in the 7:20’s. If this came to pass, everyone else would be looking for second place.

Mark Henderson ran his first lap in 13:28 and found himself 30 seconds behind! He hung tough and fought back to Greg’s shoulder at 12 miles. They ran together and traded the lead a few times before Greg established nearly a minute lead at 24 miles. At 13 laps (just short of the marathon) it was Greg at 2:54:38 and Mark at 2:57:02. Meanwhile, Amanda and Jackie matched stride for stride for 10 miles, after which Amanda began to pull away. At 13 laps, Amanda had a 31 minute lead with 3:30:44.

By halfway, both male and female competitions were essentially over with Greg eight minutes clear of Mark and Amanda 41 minutes ahead of Jackie. Amanda and Greg continued recording un-pressed, precision lap times, reaching 50 mile times of 6:51:50 and 5:38:42, respectively. At the finish, Greg had a 20+ minute PR with a stellar 6:59:40. This is an event record, and I am pretty sure it is the fastest 100-Kilometer ever run on this course. Mark finished with a fine 8:09:09. Amanda was third overall in 8:36:09. Henri Girault returned again to grace us with a 100-K finish. This time he brought his wife along for a successful finish as well.

In the Centurion event, four contestants started strongly, reaching the marathon in less than six hours with Jens in the lead at 5:29. By 40 miles, Beth Katcher was the surprise, cutting Jens’ lead to 16 minutes. Jens reached 50 miles in 10:47, 36 minutes clear of Andy Cable. At 100-K, all of Jens’ opponents had taken extended breaks or retired, leaving him a considerable lead. Steady 30 minute laps for the last hours brought Jens to his first American 100 mile finish in 23:21:14.

Sunday morning dawned sunny, and the day warmed quickly. In addition to the final two walkers standing, Mike Stabler wrapped up the 24-Hour by completing a very creditable 108+ miles without competition.

With the 6-Hour start we entered the last stretch of the HUEW. Joan Messick from Delaware grabbed a one minute lead on the first lap and never let up, forging a 14 minute lead over Fransisco Galvan by 20 miles and expanding it to 100 minutes by the marathon (13 laps in 3:36:59). Her winning total of 42+ miles was a course record for females in the 6-Hour.

While Joan was running away with the 6-Hour, Debra was driving steadily toward an impressive win in the 48-Hour. Only David was able to stay close – 12 miles back. Debra’s 158+ miles was very strong and a great example of the types of performances we see year after year at the Houston Ultra Event Weekend.

Joe Sellers did another fabulous job as race director this year with major input from his wife, Hope. Former race director Wes Monteith was an essential presence the whole weekend. Students from Chris Rampacek’s classes at the University of Houston were a major source of help. With such great volunteers, this event will continue and will likely host another Centurion Walk event next year.