The massive thunderstorm that blew through Central Texas on Friday night and washed out the heat and humidity came just at the right time for the 5th annual Texas Round-Up. As about 7000 runners and walkers assembled at the start of the 5-K or 10-K at the base of the Capitol, conditions couldn’t have been more perfect: Mid-60s, cloud cover and tolerable humidity.
That is, perfect for just about everyone, except Sean Wade.
The 42-year-old Houston resident was hoping for something much hotter. "I like to race in the heat," said Wade, "and if it would have been a normal spring day, it would have given me a big advantage."
Wade didn’t need any home cooking on Saturday morning as he won the USATF National Masters 10-K Championships which started about 10 minutes before the Round-Up did on Congress Avenue. Wade waited until the final turn onto Congress before dusting Dennis Simonaitis of Draper, Utah, by three seconds to win in a remarkable 31:15.
How remarkable was that?
Wade bettered the overall winning time of 31:38 in the open race by 24-year-old Joe Thorne who ran 31:38. For Thorne, it was his second consecutive road win (he also won the Daisy 5-K), but this time he soundly beat defending champion Celedonio Rodriguez who has already qualified for the US. Olympic Trials 10,000.
But back to Wade who won his second national masters championship with his win at the Round-Up (he also won one in cross-country). He and Simonaitis duked it out up and down the big rolling hills of the Round-Up course at five-minute per mile pace as neither was willing to concede an inch.
"Dennis is very tough," said Wade, a native of Wellington, New Zealand. "I knew he was good on the hills and a difficult course like this suited him. That’s why I wanted hot weather. Once the storm came through last night, I figured that I would have to run somewhere between 31 minutes and 31:30 to win."
He was right about that. Following Wade and Simonaitis to the finish line was 40-year-old Scott Strand of Birmingham, Alabama in 31:36 and Simon Gutierrez, 42, of Alamosa, Colorado in 31:41. First local was 47-year-old Paul Zimmerman of Cedar Creek who finished sixth in 32:00.
In the complicated age-grading, Simonaitis actually came out on top as his 31:18 converted into 28:28 with Zimmerman’s 32:00 just behind in 28:34. Wade was third.
The women’s field of the Nationals was completely dominated by 44-year-old Colleen De Reuck of Boulder who was an easy winner in 34:17. Well maybe not easy. Nothing came easy on this course.
"This is a very tough race," said De Reuck, a three-time Olympian and native of South Africa. "It seemed like we were always going up or down. The mile from four to five {the quad-numbing climb up Lavaca into a persistent north wind} felt like it would never end. We just kept going up and up."
Coming in second to De Reuck was 41-year-old Jody Hawkins of Frisco in 36:26. Hawkins arrived sometime in the early morning hours of Saturday from north Texas as her trip was delayed due to the storms that battered the area. And she left Austin immediately after the race to get back home for coaching duties.
Third was Laura Haefeli, 41, of Del Norte, Colorado in 36:52, Santa Monica’s Tania Fischer, 42, was fourth in 37:12 and Austin’s 49-year-old marvel Carmen Troncoso was fifth in 37:22. "I thought some of my local knowledge of the course would help," said Troncoso. "They went out so quickly down Congress {the first mile was reached in 5:20 by the lead women} that I just felt it was too fast and the hills would catch up to them. I wanted to be a little more conservative because I know how hard the second half of this course is."
In the age-grading, 56-year-old Kathryn Martin of Northport, New York had the fastest conversion. Her 39:26 worked out to a 31:51 which bettered De Reuck’s 34:17 that converted into a 32:07.
Three Austin women (other than Troncoso) placed in their respective age divisions: 44-year-old Cindy Salazar ran 41:10 to come in fifth, 49-year-old Margo Braud had a 43:09 to finish fourth and 51-year-old Anne Flanagan ran 44:06 to place third in her age group.
A dozen other Austinites rubbed noses with the big dogs with 42-year-old Sebastian Villalva’s 35:07, in 66th, leading the way (after Zimmerman). Keith Dowland, 53, wasn’t thrilled with his 35:39, but placed second to Dave Cannon’s 34:37 in his age group. "They went out extremely fast," said Dowland, "and I got caught all alone."
Other good times posted by Austin’s finest included Michael Woo, 45, in 36:35 and Scott Birk, 45, in 36:52. Dick Wilkowski, 64, finished second in his age division with a 44:59 and 74-year-old Inocencio Cantu of Richmond won his with a time of 49:14.
"I’m glad I ran," said Wilkowski. "I knew I would be near the very end of the masters, but I wanted to give it a try. My goal was not to get lapped by any of the guys running the open race {he had a 10-minute head start} and I think only five passed me."
Thorne, Rodriguez and Josh Trevino of San Antonio, who was third in 33:24, passed Wilkowski as did Zac Foulk of San Antonio in 34:32 and Ironman Jamie Cleveland in fifth in 35:01. Michael Budde, 41, of Cedar Park, was the first master in the open race in 36:35 with Barry Trickey, 43, second in 37:05.
The old guys were led by Mike McNeal, 51, in 38:37 with Steve Jennings, 52, next in 39:45. Wish, 57, led the really old guys in 42:14, ahead of John La Claire in 43:05.
The Round-Up women’s field was paced by 37-year-old Shannon Presley who continued her winning ways (she won the Bun Run two weeks ago) with a fine 39:48, followed by 24-year-old Anna Seals in 40:07 and Anna Gaethe of Pflugerville in 40:14. First masters was 40-year-old Ashley Golliher in 41:48 with 41-year-old Catherine Barrera second in 42:04 and Cindy Schlandt, 40, third in 42:34.
In the accompanying 5-K, Justin Gabriel took home top honors with a 16:53. Kyle Hausmann, 14 and just a 9th grader, finished second in 17:48 (a week after winning a 5-K in Dripping Springs) with Eric Swann coming third in 18:10. Robert Willcox, 46, of Colorado Spring was the first masters in 19:00.
The 5-K women were led by Sara Stewart in 19:34 with 42-year-old Alicia Sankar the first masters women in 20:36.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who began the Round-Up in 2004 as a way to motivate Texans to get up and moving, ran about 48 minutes for the 10-K. He said, "We’re really proud to have had a record number of runners and walkers this morning. Everyone did a fine job with making this such a great event."
The Round-Up was the fourth of the five-event Spring Sprint Series. The final race in the Series is the Chuy’s Hot to Trot 5-K on May 10th.
