It isn’t called the Hot to Trot race for nothing. Chuy’s 25th annual 5-K certainly lived up to its name (and reputation) on Saturday as one of the hottest races in town. That is, it was warm and muggy as usual but this year with a new, much flatter course in south Austin, the times were hot as well.
Hottest runners of the day were Bernard Manirakiza, who was the overall winner in 14:56, and Liz Shelton, who took the women’s division in 18:32.
Manirakiza showed up at the new Chuy’s Restaurant off William Cannon on Saturday morning, just to watch some of the gang from Gilbert’s Gazelles run. "I really didn’t plan on running," said the native of Burundi, "but I warmed up with my guys and thought I might as well run. Why not?"
Why not indeed. Manirakiza, who won the Bun Run a month ago in 15:09, had Chuy’s all to himself. He opened with a 4:45 mile on a gentle incline up Convict Hill (into a slight headwind) which discouraged anyone from even challenging him. Only Victor Viesca, a 40-year-old from San Antonio, had him within sight. Manirakiza followed with a 4:48 for the second mile that took him to William Cannon where he cruised in from there.
"I’ve never run the Chuy’s race before," said Manirakiza, "so I can’t compare this with the other course. But I do some of my tempo runs on this trail {The Arbor Trails that surrounds Chuy’s and the Costco complex}, so I know the area. It was a good race for me, but it was very warm out there."
Yes, it was. Even though there was a cloud cover which provided some protection, the temperature and humidity soared by the 8:15 a.m. start (an hour earlier than last year) which effected almost every one of the 3000 runners and walkers.
Still, the new course was considerably faster than the prior course on the west Austin hills that Chuy’s had used for five years.
"It is a better course," offered Kenny Hausmann who ran 19:15. "Obviously, it wasn’t as hilly as the other Chuy’s course. This new one had very few turns and had some nice, long straightaways. I liked it."
So did Liz Shelton. The former UT runner hasn’t raced much lately and had her hands full on Saturday as she had to deal with long striding Anna Seals. Seals, who inherited her long legs from her father--veteran Austin road-racer Paul Seals--is still a relative newbie to the wiles of road-racing. Although she ran track at Austin HS, Seals was primarily a volleyball and basketball player.
During college at St. Mary’s of San Antonio, Seals only played volleyball and is still getting her sea legs on the road. Her inexperience showed on Saturday as she may have taken the pace out a hair too quick in the first, slightly uphill mile which she went through in 5:50.
"I could see Anna up ahead," said Shelton after posting a four-second victory. "For the first two miles, she was at least 50 yards in front of me. She really took it out hard."
But on the nearly mile-long straightaway down William Cannon back to Chuy's, Shelton began to make up some ground on Seals. Finally, just before the turn back into the Arbor Trails Shopping Center, Shelton went by Seals.
"I never saw her," said Seals who had never broken 19 minutes before Saturday. "I didn’t even know I was leading."
After scooting by Seals, Shelton cruised to the finish outside Chuy’s for her first road-race win in some time. "Mostly I’ve been running with my dog," she said. For her efforts, Shelton earned a $100 gift certificate at RunTex and three dinners at Chuy’s.
But what she really wanted was the distinctive hand-painted Chuy’s fish that was awarded to all the age-group placings (as well as Chuy’s gift certificates).
"Anna was awesome this morning," said Shelton. "She ran a great race."
Seals, a teacher at Matthews Elementary School, ran a terrific 18:36 with Rachel Downey third in 18:56 and Lucy Rojas fourth in 19:27.
Following Manirakiza to the line, were Viesca in a superb 15:38 and Joe McCellon in 16:10. James Jackson, 41, came all the way down from Denton to place fourth in 16:25 with Dawit Seyfu fifth in 16:30.
Four out of the first 10 were masters. After Viesca and Jackson, came Travis Russell, the 46-year-old from Hutto, who was seventh in 16:53 and Michael Budde, 41, of Cedar Park in 10th who ran a masters PR of 17:17.
Keith Dowland, 53, led the 50-54 in 17:27 with 51-year-old Greg Baxter second in 19:00 and Hausmann third in 19:15. The 55-59s were paced by John La Claire, 56, in 19:43 with Wish, 58, second in 19:45 and John Reinschmidt, 55, third in 20:05. The really old guys (60-64) division was won by 64-year-old Dick Wilkowski in 21:22 with Peter Boulette, 60 of Temple, next in 21:35 and The Judge—62-year-old Jon Wisser—third in 21:58.
Alicia Sankar, 42, dominated the women masters in 20:25. Becky Shirley, 48, was second in 20:58 and Anne Flanagan, 50, was third in 21:03 with Cindy Samok, 48, fourth in 21:08. Debby Harkness of Leander won the 55-59 in an exceptional 21:42.
The Chuy’s Hot to Trot was the fifth and final race in the Spring Sprint Series. Final results will be available next week.
