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EC turns out for '08 Houston Marathon
At Sunday's completion of the Chevron Houston Marathon, two people from El Campo were celebrating a race well run. Another, who ran the Half Marathon, was celebrating her sister's life by raising money for the American Cancer Society. Samantha Wood and Paul P. Lopez both made it through the entire marathon completing the 26.2-mile course. It will still be a few days until marathon workers tally the official times, so there are some differing reports. As of presstime, the Chevron Houston Marathon reported unofficial results for Wood at a 217th overall finish and 42nd among women with a 3:11.56 time. The Houston Chronicle listed Wood as finishing 41st among women Monday. Lopez is unoffi- cially listed as 584th overall and 484th among male runners with a 3:31.01 time. The Houston Chronicle reported his time as 3:31.01 and finish among men at 484th. Marathon officials confirmed the release of final results sometime later this week, but that did not stop Wood from celebrating her finish. She said at the completion of the marathon she accomplished the goal she set. "Because it was my first marathon, I didn't know exactly what time to expect," Wood said. "Through my training, I had a pretty good guess. The conditions were perfect yesterday and I reached my goal." As most runners will attest, Wood said the end is by far the most difficult part as the body fights physical and mental barriers. "I'd say the last four miles were the absolute worst," Wood said. "It was bearable and you could kind of control your thoughts pretty well until then. After that point, for me, it was my quad muscles. They felt like they were ripping in half. "By then, you're tired and dehydrated. Even if you've been drinking, you're dehydrated. A lot of people carry gels and energy solutions. By that point, those don't even taste good any more so you don't want to drink them or eat them and that's when you need them." The temptation to slow down was great for Wood, but she ignored it and kept pressing on. "I saw some people walking at the end," she said. "I knew if I started walking, it would be harder to start running again. It was like, 'Don't walk. Just don't walk.' It was a good mantra." Thinking of the time spent working toward completing the marathon is what helped her finish with such a high ranking. "(I was) looking back on six months of training basically and knowing that this is what you've trained to do," Wood said. "If you don't do it, it's six months of a lot of work for nothing. "I think that's one of the things about the marathon that makes it such a challenge. Yes, it's far, but it's really the last few miles. If you can get past that, that's the hardest part. And then at the end because you can't walk." Polly Wilkins, who teaches fourth grade at Northside Elementary, raised $3,300 for the American Cancer Society Sunday. She and others ran the half marathon in memory of her sister, Amy, who died Oct. 27 (see related story this edition). Others throughout the county participated in the marathon as well.
The following is a brief list of the area's runners including their reported times according the marathon's Web site. "T" represents the time run, "O" is their overall finish and "G" is their finish among their gender. |
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