That Houston was selected to be the site for both the men’s and women’s Olympic Marathon Trials in 2012 speaks volumes about the Houston organization and the city government which has long supported the Chevron Houston Marathon. The fact that no city had ever hosted men’s and women’s Trials evidently wasn’t an issue with Houston and its can-do attitude of two races is better than one.

But Houston’s bid for the Trials was successful for two main reasons: Money and race date. Neither Boston or New York City could compete on either count. Both cities complained long and hard about the expenses of putting on the ’08 Trials and wanted USA Track & Field to absorb a significant portion of the costs for the 2012 races. In stark contrast, USATF CEO Doug Logan termed Houston’s bid as " a stand-up, big-boy, adult bid."

Translated: Unlike Boston and New York City, Houston didn’t blink at the price tag and has pledged $1.7 million to cover the cost of travel expenses, logistics and prize money. In addition, Houston’s January 14^th Trials date was much more attractive than NYC’s 2011 November date (too early) and Boston’s mid-April date (too late), relative to the 2012 Olympic Marathon on August 12^th. A minor plus for Houston is its flat, fast course is similar to London’s Olympic course and neither NYC or Boston’s is even remotely close.

Logan, who was in Houston for this year’s USATF half marathon championships, said at Monday’s press conference announcing Houston’s selection, "This is first and foremost going to be a testing ground for our best to stand on the podium in London. At the end of the day, we felt this was the best course, best race management, best environment and best time of the year."

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1. More Houston. As a measure of just how much the city is backing the Olympic Marathon Trials, Anise Parker, the new mayor of Houston, was at the USATF announcement on Monday and many of the key city officials went to the big celebratory bash that night. Parker, who is not a runner, was also much in evidence at this year’s marathon where she touted the marathon’s $30 million annual economic impact. Parker said her support for bringing the ’12 Trials to Houston was based on the national exposure the race would provide. "We know how to do something big and it will be done cost effectively, and we will work with USATF to make sure we have proper levels of sponsorship."
2. The Trials races will be held the day before the 2012 Chevron Houston Marathon which will be the 40^th anniversary of the Houston Marathon. The Marathon Trials course has not been finalized, but the races will be held on a criterium-like course (probably along Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive) which will allow spectators to go back and forth between different spots and catch both the men and women. Should be great.
3. For each Trials race, Houston agreed to offer at least $250,000 in prize money. But Houston officials have acknowledged they hope to boost that to $300,000. The women will probably start about a half hour before the men which means the top women will finish first.
4. Last add Houston. The cost of staging the Trials races has always been a stumbling block for potential host cities, but Brant Kotch, the president of the Houston Marathon Committee, disputes that notion. "We don’t think it’s going to cost that much to product the events {the Trials races}," said Kotch. "They’ll be on a loop of approximately five miles so we won’t need a lot of Houston police and the water stations won’t be that difficult to manage. The big expenses are really the athlete expenses. Our goal is very simply to put on the best possible races for the athletes and to be the best partner with USATF."
5. The Austin Runners Club Spring Sprint Series gets underway on March 21^st with the 33^rd annual Daisy 5-K Run. The big change for Daisy, which up until a few years ago was held on Mother’s Day, is that the race has moved from a relatively flat course in east Austin to Brushy Creek Lake Park in Cedar Park. There, the race will be held on a mix of trails and a hard surface. The other races in the series are the Statesman Capitol 10,000 (April 11), the Texas Round-Up 10-K on April 24 and Chuy’s Hot to Trot 5-K on May 8^th.
6. The first running of the Dallas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon is March 14^th and the UT Marching Pep Band will greet finishers of the race. The big postrace concert act is Better than Ezra—a trio from New Orleans. There’s $12,000 in prize money and anyone who considers themselves an elite runner (men, faster than 1:10; women who can break 1:20) and wants to run, can contact me (wish@runtex.com) for a comp entry.
7. Several Austinites faired well last weekend at the Cowtown Marathon and Half Marathon, up in Ft. Worth. Michelle Frey of Minneapolis won the women’s division of the half in 1:18:26. (Michelle won the Bagelfest 5-K here two years ago.) Coming in sixth in the women’s division, was Julie Whittenburg of Austin in 1:32:25. In the men’s division of the half, first Austinite was David Vance in 10^th in 1:17:40. Nestled in third in the half was Cain Williams in 1:14:28. The former TCU great who covers Texas for Mizuno, is just starting to get his racing legs under him again after a lengthy layoff.
8. At the Conoco Rodeo 10-K in Houston last weekend, Carmen Troncoso, 50, placed second overall among the women (to Mary Davies) with a time of 37:06 which was the fastest of all the women masters runners. Catherine Barrera, 43 of Austin, continued her string of fine races with a time of 39:35 which won her age group and placed her fifth overall among the women. Austin attorney Cindy Connolly was seventh in 40:18 and Shannon Presley was the 17^th woman in 42:23. Austin men were led by Eric Hammil who was seventh in 33:55 with Chris Graves running a nice 35:39. Corey May, 39, ran 37:36 and Bill Bittner, 34, came home in 39:18.
9. BTW: Ricardo Troncoso, a native of Chile, reports that his family which still lives there was "a little shaken but not stirred" by the devastating earthquake last weekend.
10. Keith Pierce, who won the Austin Marathon in a PR of 2:20:35, has targeted the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota on June 19^th to get his Olympic Trials qualifier of 2:19 or faster. Pierce, who ran Grandma’s in 2006, couldn’t have picked a better person to get coaching advice from: Dick Beardsley. Beardsley won Grandma’s in 1981 in 2:09:37 which is still the course record.
11. Aaron Ross and Sanya Richards were married last Friday (February 26) at the Hyde Park Baptist Church. The groomsmen included Ross' NY Giants teammates Ahmad Bradshaw and Corey Webster as well as Texas Ex Tarell Brown of the 49ers. Some of the other notable guests included Roy Williams (Cowboys), Derrick Johnson and Jamaal Charles (Texas Ex who now play for the Chiefs) and Carl Lewis. Richards and Ross chose the date because it also happened to be Sanya's 25th birthday. 
12. UT will host the NCAA track prelims on May 27-29 at Mike A. Myers Track. The meet is a qualifier for the NCAAs which will be held June 9-10 at the University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field. Tickets go on sale for the UT meet on March 1.
13. Neither the UT men or women did particularly well at the Big 12 Indoor Champs last weekend in Ames, Iowa. The Longhorn men finished sixth, while the women placed seventh. Betzy Jimenez had the best meet of any of the distance runners, placing seventh in the mile in 4:45.04 (fifth fastest in school indoor history) and 13^th in the 3000 in 9:42.52.
14. If you’re running on the east end of the Lady Bird Lake trail this weekend, you’ll undoubtedly notice a gazillion rowers. More than 1000 rowers from all over the country will be competing on a 1000-meter course, east of I-35, in the Heart of Texas Regatta. Festival Beach is the staging ground for this cool event.
15. It’s a man’s world (not really). But in marathoning, women are more adversely affected by air pollution than men. A Virginia Tech civil and environmental engineer Linsey Marr (who must have a lot of times on her hands) evaluated marathon race results with weather data and air pollutant concentrations from seven marathons over a period of eight to 28 years and concluded that higher levels of particles in the air—air pollution—resulted in slower times for women. Men weren’t significantly affected. Marr says the difference in times could be due to the smaller size of women’s tracheas which makes it easier for certain particles to deposit there, cause irritation and slow times. Since runners inhale and exhale so much air during a marathon (about the same amount a sedentary person does in two days), runners are exposed to much greater amounts of pollutants than under normal circumstances.
16. What I’m listening to this morning: "Get Lucky" the great new album by Mark Knopfler.

Have any juicy news for me? (It doesn’t have to be entirely true.) If you have something, send it to wish@runtex.com