Short jogs

Left over notes from the DRC Half: Women's winner Rose Kosgei ran a 4: 25.15 last year at the Lancaster Avenue Mile in Fort Worth to win the women's division. The race was the day before the DRC Half, where Rose won the women's title on Nov. 2 for the second consecutive year. She, besides winning $3,000 at the Tulsa 15K the week before this year's DRC Half, also had set a mile PR on Sept. 21 when she ran a 4:23.9 at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. Kosgei said she might return for the White Rock Half in December. She was the second female last year...While some runners in the area might not have recognized the name of Debra Tapia, the fourth-place woman at the DRC Half, it's because she usually registers as Debbie Arzola. Her full name is Debbie (or Debra) Tapia Arzola. Because she hadn't been training for a half, she just left off her last name just in case she bombed. She had planned to use the run as more of a training session, but was pushed harder than she had planned as Lisa Cron of Irving and Melissa Cook of Flower Mound were clipping off mileage about 20 seconds faster than Debbie had wanted to run. None was expected to catch leader Kosgei, but there was some decent cash on the table for the next four finishers and they were fighting for their share of that purse. Unfortunately, Debbie began feeling badly and struggled to finish behind Cron and Cook. She was sick afterward and taken to a hospital, where her blood sugar registered 317, according to her husband Troy James. That reading would reflect a diabetic condition. However, another reading later on showed her blood sugar had dropped to 81. Troy said Debbie felt fine Monday and was up and about.... Jim Nugent was one of the volunteers at the DRC Half and is one of the training partners with Ed Jackson, who turned 79 in January. Nugent said Jackson is planning to run a marathon when he turns 80, and Nugent has no doubt the determined Jackson will do it. For one thing, they let no obstacles stop their training runs. During a recent outing at White Rock Lake, where there is construction blocking some trails, they climbed over obstacles rather than go around....Marcus Grunewald, director of the White Rock Marathon, another helper at the DRC Half, said there was a runs of 1,000 entrants on Oct. 31, the last day for the cheaper fees. It was a record single-day number, except for what has been registered at the Expo. The event already has reached 70 percent of its 17,000 limit, he said....Besides Claude Hicks Jr. finishing his 100th marathon and 50th-state quest at Louisville, Ky., several other D-FW area runners spread out to compete in other marathons and at Louisville. Jack A. Becker, 62 of Dallas finished Louisville with a Boston-qualifying time of 3:33:27. At the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 26, Jeff Bennett, 41, of Carrollton was the top area finisher with a Boston qualifying time of 3:03:54, which was good enough for 207th place among the 18,219 finishers. Suzanne St Clair, 33, of Fort Worth was the top area female finisher in 3:43:58. Among other area finishers at the race in Washington D.C. was Bill Berenson, 53, of Fort Worth. He ran a Boston-qualifying 3:39:05 and said it was the fourth time in 10 marathons that he has placed in the top 10 percent. Not bad, considering he didn't begin running until he was 50 and already has participated in marathons in nine different states....On Oct. 19, Steve Isbell, 39, of Colleyville ran a 3:44:28 to finish 74th among the 271 finishers at the Wichita Marathon. At the Detroit Free Press International Marathon, Steven Money, 36, of Fort Worth ran a BQ (Boston qualifier) of 3:08:51 and was 139th of 3,515 finishers. Also at Detroit, Steven Henderson, 45, of Dallas ran a BQ 3:09:51 and was 165th, and Chelsey Hughes, 22, of Irving ran a 3:48:01. At the Denver Marathon, Richard Sullivan, 28, of Dallas ran a BQ 3:10:58 and was 67th among the 1,717 finishers. Also at Denver, Tim Harendt, 26 of Irving ran a 3:35:49, and Carlos Garcia, 43, of Fort Worth ran a 3:41:03. At the Columbus Marathon, where 3,869 finished, Mike Paley of McKinney was the top area finisher in 3:18:13. At marathons on Oct. 18, Jared Mann, 24, of Grapevine ran a BQ 2:47:24 and placed eighth among the 1,134 finishers at the Indianapolis Marathon. He also placed second in his age division. At the Breakers Marathon in Newport, R.I., where 610 finished, Philip Hodge, 42 of Addsion ran a BQ 3:18:27 and was 34th, and then at the Marathon 2 Marathon at Marathon, Tx., Gary Sult, 43, of Stephenville finished seventh with a 3:54:28 and Maria Burchard, 40 of Lake Dallas was eighth in 3:56:56. Eight of the 49 finishers were from Stephenville....Several Dallas-Fort Worth area runners were among the 635 Texas who finished the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12. Several came back disappointed. Kim Gray of Arlington was one of of them. Gray, who competes regularly in area road races, had hoped to run at least a 3:30 to qualify for Boston. However, she said the heat (it reached in the mid 80s) caused her to cramp ``in places I've never cramped,'' and she finished in 3:56:11. ``Several of us had trained for this and we trained in the heat,'' she said. But she said the second half of Chicago was in the sun and the heat took its toll. Among the best showings from D-FW runners included Robert Garcia of Dallas (2:57:44) and Christian Henkel of Carrollton (3:10:52).....Keith Pierce of Krum, who has won the past two Cowtown Marathons, placed second at the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pa., on Oct. 12 with a 2:23:07. Pierce won The Cowtown with times of 2:30:24 and 2:34:42, respectively...Jim Engstrom is a tough runner and one of the best in the area in the 65-69 age division. He learned much of his toughness on the wrestling mats. Besides wrestling competively, he also coached the sport and has been officiating for several years. Engstrom's feats has earned him a selection to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Texas Chapter. Engstrom is among the 2008 honorees, who include Larry Karl, Pete Grieder, Henry Harmoney, Bob Maughan and Mike McQueen. They will be honored at the Hall of Fame Day banquet on Nov. 9 at The Gateway Center at the University of North Texas in Denton. The reception will begin at 1:15 p.m. with the dinner starting at 2:15 p.m. They are being honored to recognize them for their years of commitment as positive role models to student athletes. They will be permanently recognized at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Okla.....Golden Adventures has been seleced as the Official Travel Agent for the Dallas White Rock Marathon. For room, restaurant or even massage information, visit www.GoldenAdventures.com....A couple of D-FW area runners earned Boston qualifying times at the Air Force Marathon on Sept. 20 in Dayton, Ohio. Chuck Weidner, 45 of Arlington ran a 3:07:58 to finish 46th among the 1,798 finishers, and Cecil Cooper, 46, of Fort Worth finished in 3:27:48 to come in 144th. Three other high finishers included Gregory Bastian, 46, of Aledo (4:00:36), Jordan Lynch, 29, of Fort Worth (4:02:40), and Melissa Rowe, 35, of Flower Mound (4:17:28)....If you and 11 of your friends want to participate in the 196-mile Myomed Ragnar Relay from San Antonio to Austin on Oct. 24-25, then enter by Sept. 30. This is the late entry deadline. The early entry deadline was Aug. 31. There are several divisions, and team members will run three legs from 3 to 8 miles. To read more about the relay, go to the website....The Cowtown has selected Albert O-Yurvati, DO, as Medical Director for the Fort Worth marathon and affiliated races scheduled Feb. 28, 2009. Yurvati, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon, is the chief of the department of surgery at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, the title sponsor of the event. Although not a runner, Yurvati has served previously as the medical director of the American Heart Walk and is active in body-builder competitions and fitness demonstrations.... Red Spicer, the longtime race director of the Palo Duro Trail Run, died Aug. 22 in Amarillo. He was 76. The Amarillo resident, who had lived in Amarillo since 1960, had quite a reputation and was about as close to being a legend as one can be. He was, during his adventurous life, a bootlegger, military policeman, storyteller, owner of a pest control service, poet, practical jokester and a diehard Cowboys fan, among other things. He was known for his wry humor and sayings, such as ``I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.'' His philosophy is summed up on a plaque that friends Bill and Wynn Ross presented him: ``Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'''...Melisa Christian of Dallas was first among the women at the Nike+ Human Race 10K in Austin on Aug. 31. Despite a 6:30 p.m. start, the temperate was in the low 90s, but she still finished in 37:35 over a hilly course. She said afterward that ``It was a really tough race, but I do like challenging courses. It was a big surprise to come in first.'' Men's winner Bernard Manirakiza, originally from Burundi, Africa, won in 31:51. Dallas runners Ernesto Caballero (34:56) and William Moore (35:24) finished seventh and eighth. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished sixth in 34:54. Twenty-five cities participated in the Human Race and an estimated 750,000 registered. Austin had 13,758. ... Scott McKissick, a longtime local runner along with his wife Francis, moves into a new age division on Wednesday (Aug. 20) when he turns 60. After Sunday's (Aug. 17) Fort Worth Runners Club Watermelon Relay, a birthday party was planned for Scott (shown at right at the 2007 BG Squirrel Run in Fort Worth) at a friend's house and approximately of his friends showed up to help celebrate his birthday. Scott is hoping that one of his presents will be relief from a painful sciatic nerve problem that's been bothering him for a while....Two Fort Worth runners competed in the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Aug. 9 in Hurley, Wis., and Andrew Readinger, 24, ran a 3:57:51 to finish 102nd among the 250 finishers, and Ed Kopiak, 66, ran a 4:18 to finish 156th. By the way, the old Mid-Cities Running Club had one of its races named after the former great Finnish runner....Claude Hicks Jr., of Wautaga, finished his 100th marathon when he completed the Kilauea Volcano Marathon on July 26. The route had to be changed somewhat because the volcano was spewing sulfur and other toxins. He finished in 4:37:36. He didn't begin running until 2004. Next up for Hicks is to complete a marathon in all 50 states, which he hopes to do in October at the Louisville Marathon....The Cowboy Capital in Stephenville on Saturday (July 26) might be one of the runs being affected by higher gas prices. Participation was down by about 20 runners from last year. But for the winners, it was worth the trip as the overall male and female won $100 each and each was awarded a Serrentelli Cowboys hat. Even though about 115 (about 25 no-shows) ran the 5K, the winning times were speedy as Debbie Arzola won the women's division in 18:06.28, and Stephen Ariga won the men's division in 15:38.19.....Texas residents can enter the Texas Showdown at the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and Half Marathon on Nov. 16 and race for a $2,000 first-place prize for the men and women. To read about details, go to the website....Steve Hudgens, 52, a cardiac surgeon from Fort Worth finished the Badwater Ultramarathon (July 14-16) in 46 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds...About 400 paid their respects for Bronda Starling, a well-known triathlete, on July 14. She died on July 8 after a battle with melamona.....In the half, the top prize is $1,000. On June 21, a few D-FW runners traveled to some far reaches of the U.S. by competing in the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska. Sonya Garcia, 27, of Arlington finished as the 95th woman of 710 with her 4:11:37. The time was good for 312th place among the 1,282 finishers. By the way, this was one of the few marathons that had more women finishers (710) than men (572). Also, Stan Frazier, 44, of Arlington ran a 4:23:25 to finish 405th overall and 270 among the men...Jack Gray, veteran runner at D-FW races, said his racing career might be at an end because of a left knee that refuses to rehab. After surgery to repair a torn meniscus and ALC, Jack said the knee has never healed. His last race was the Cowtown 5K in February. Jack said he can run about a mile and then do another with a walk and run. But that's about it. Gray was virtually unbeatable after he turned 60 and had the fastest time at D-FW road races in 2007-08 in the 75-79 age division with a 25:09.....A couple of road-race veterans, who have been missing in action recently because of injuries, returned to the roads on Saturday, June 7, at the Colleyville Lions Club xSIGHTment 5K. Ronnie Fellers had missed about three weeks with a sore back. Though he was somewhat happy with his time, he still won his 55-59 age division in 20:50.4. Frank McGinty, a former president of the Fort Worth Runners Club, has been out of commission for almost a year because of various injuries. He said he would be lucky to beat 36 minutes, but came in with a 31:14.4 to finish second in the 65-69 age division....More D-FW area runners packed their bags for out-of-state marathons over the May 31-June 1 weekend. Some of the better finishes included John Sohel, 52, of Fort Worth. He competed in the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, Ind., on May 31 and ran a 3:58:57 to place 175th among the 465 finishers.....At the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 1, Kenneth Parisi of McKinney ran a 3:15:17 to finish 272nd among the 16,373 finishers; Suzi Tuner, 38, of Allen ran a 3:35:18 to place 838, and Amanda Williams, 26, of Addison ran a 3:37:07....Jon Bjarnason of Lewisville ran a 3:55:10 at the Newport Marathon in Newport, Ore., on May 31 to finish 284th among the 640 finishers, and at the Steamboat Marathon in Colorado on June 1, Steven McDonald, 41, ran a 4:12:12 for a 133rd finish among the 315 finishers....Benson Osoro of Dallas finished 12th and second in the men's 20-24 age division in the Green Bay Marathon on May 18. He ran a Boston-qualifying 2:43:38 in the event that had 1,523 finishers. Also, Richard Newman of Plano was 135th with a 3:17:33. Also logging a Boston qualifying time was Markie Nathan of Sherman. Markie, in the women's 50-54 age division, ran a 4:07:17....In the Sugarloaf/USA Marathon in Eustis, ME, Claude Hicks of Fort Worth ran a 3:53:55 to finish 17th in the 45-49 age division...The Dallas White Rock Marathon no longer has Wellstone as its title sponsor. So, the name for the Dec. 14 event is the Dallas White Rock Marathon presented by NexBank. There was no announcement, but expect one when/if another title sponsor is secured....Almost 2,000 runners/walkers were timed Thursday night (May 15) at the Michelob Ultra Katy Trail 5K in Dallas. Agustin Hernandez, 35, of Irving won the men's race in 16:04.80 and Becky Angeles, 31, of Nevada, Tx., won the women's title in 18:17.30. This was the next-to-last race in the Crosson Dannis series. The final race and tiebreaker was the Heartbeat 5K in Dallas on Saturday (May17)....Several D-FW area runners traveled to several out-of-state marathons over the May 3-4 weekend, and some came back with Boston qualifying times. At the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati on May 4, Leanna Jones, 37, of Frisco ran a 3:45:03, a BQ time for her age. Among others who were at the Flying Pig included former Lake Grapevine Runners & Walkers president K2 Richards, 39, of Grapevine with a 3:56:39; James Tchoukaleff, 37, of Dallas with a 3:27:02; Don Pratt, 52, of Dallas with a 3:45:03; and Jun Liu, 39, of Dallas, 3:45:34. Kate Gabriele, 52, of Dallas went to the Vancouver International Marathon on May 4 to qualify for Boston with a 3:49:52. She also was second in her age division. At the Long Island Marathon in East Meadows, Douglas Jones of Dallas ran a 3:05:38 to finish 16th and second in the 20-24 age division. Jim Mayo, 58, of Coppell also ran a BQ at the Shiprock Marathon in New Mexico on May 3 with a 3:41:18. Although Karl Fescenmeyer, 54 of Fort Worth didn't qualify for Boston, he traveled to Rhode Island and ran a 4:16:22 at the Cox Sports Providence Marathon....Debra Arzola, winner of the Mayfest 10K on May 3, took third among 452 women at the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon on April 26 in Louisville, KY. She ran a 2:54:13. Also, Patricia Vargas, 35, of Ennis, who won the Texas Challenge at the Uptown Run in April, finished sixth among the women with a 3:07:47. Margie Starr Lawrence and Pamelo Poe of Dallas also finished high on the finishers' list. Poe ran a 3:38:56 to finish 26th among women, and Lawrence ran a 3:47:31 to finish 45th among women....Thousands of runners and walkers gathered in downtown Fort Worth on a near perfect Saturday morning (April 26) for the Komen Fort Worth Race For The Cure. Returning participants ran or walked a new course this year. Winning the men's 5K was John Valentine, a sophomore at Arlington Martin High School who was running in memory of his grandmother. He ran a 16:48.45. James Michael won the masters title in 18:30:65. In the women's race, Heather Adams, former Castleberry runner and now at Stephen F. Austin, won in 19:12.75. Fiona Green, who had a book-signing stop at Barnes & Nobles that afternoon, won the women's masters in 20:36.65....At the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 26, some of the top D-FW area's top performers among the 2,463 men and 1,910 women finishers included John Perry, 34, Dallas with a 3:22:45 for 191st place; Stephanie Planz Saladino, 34, of Dallas with a 3:49:36; Stephanie Crews, 28, of Dallas with a 3:57:55. At the Big Sur International Marathon in Carmel, Calif., Jay Turnage, 36, of Dallas ran a 3:51:20 to finish 450th among the 1,871 men finishers; Nicole Borman, 47, of Rowlett zipped to a 3:36:09 and was 230th overall, the 27th woman among 1,320 and was second in the 45-47 age division; and Germaine Kropilak, 47,of Dallas, with a 4:00:26, good for 152nd among women....Andrew Cook, winner of the RunOn! Dallas Challenge last Saturday, won the Buttlerfly Boogie 10K on Saturday, March 29, in Dallas with a 31:26.7. In the 10K, Melissa Cook won the women's 5K title in 16:45....In Dallas, Clint Bell of Dallas battled Kiplimo Chemirmir back and forth for about 2.5 miles before pulling away to win in 15:29 at the ESA Cancer Awareness 5K in Duncanville on Saturday (April 19). He came back Sunday (April 20) to run a more relaxed pace, but still won the men's title at the Rise & Shine in Dallas with a 17:48.25....The Zoo Run Run in Fort Worth on Saturday (April 19) reportedly had almost 5,000 participants. Some of the results, however, might not be accurate, according to competitors. For one thing, apparently there weren't enough chips and the first female to cross the finish line in the 10K was Brett Fleming-Wood rather than Cora Turner as was previously writtien here. However, Brett didn't have a chip and wasn't timed. Cora, who won the women's 10K title last year, said Brett was ahead of her and ran a sub-40 for the race. Cora was almost at 40-flat. Also, there have been questions about the 5K women's winner, who is listed as Helen Brooks, 45, with an unlikely 18:04.1 time. M.A. Deavers said that time well could be his, saying the group he finished with was at that time and there was no woman in the group. The results are in the process of being corrected, though because information was not filled out correctly on several forms, some participants' times might not be posted.....Ryan Kelly of Vera Beach, Fla., won the Big D Marathon on April 6 in 2:38.39, Kara Hopkins of Wichita, Kan., won the women's title in 3:29:51. In the half marathon, Scott Brunning won in 1:21:04, and Becky Angeles won the women's title in 1:23:50. Brunning probably can thank Kiplimo Chemirmir for following the wrong course for his victory. The Kenyan had registered for the half, but race director Lewis George said Chemirmir was the only one to miss the signs and volunteers' directions and continued on in the marathon. He went through the half in 1:18:55.85 and was leading everyone. However, because he had taken the wrong turns, he had 13.1 miles to go and finished in 3:39:04 and in 36th place for the marathon....The Chevron Houston Marathon, Jan. 18, opened registration April 1, two months earlier than usual. Fee until May 15 is $90; it's $100 through June 30th, then $120 until the 18,000 limit is reached.....Attorney Alison Semrau, 31, and police officer Jerod Honrath, 34, have been chosen to represent Dallas at the 8th annual Sendai International Half Marathon on May 11 in Japan. Semrau and Honrath were selected by the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth through an application process. Dallas and Sendai have been International Friendship Cities since 1997. The event promotes international friendship and exchange through sport....The second Lancaster Mile has been scheduled for November. The first one last year produced four sub-4-minute miles from the elite men runners....Camille Riggins, 32, of Grand Prairie finished 16th among the women at the AT&T Austin Marathon on Sunday (Feb. 17). Riggins, who won the Lake Benbrook Half Marathon's women's title in 1:29:48.5 in January, posted a personal-best 3:05:36. She was 127th overall. Craig Ottman, 25, of Keller ran a 2:38:49, which was good for 18th overall. In the men's race, Jacob Frey, 26, won in a closely contested finish in 2:20:38. Just steps behind were Mike Sayenko in 2:20:42 and Joseph Mutinda in 2:20:43. In the women's race, Lucy Hassell won the women's title by more than seven minutes with a 2:36:26. Other top finishers among Dallas-Fort Worth runners included Charles Slick, 22, of Dallas, with a 2:45:18, good for 35th overall and third in his age division; Ken Hall, 44, of Colleyville, with a 2:48:08, good for 42nd overall and second in his age division; Chris Crawford, 46, of Dallas, with a 2:57:07, for 76th overall; Ben Morgan, 25, of Dallas, with a 2:54:30 and 61st overall; John Schmidt, 39, of Plano, with a 3:01:48 and 105th overall; and Jeff Bennett, 40, of Carrollton with a 3:02:05 and 108th overall. Note: All D-FW times are chip times.... Jody Hawkins of Frisco won the women's masters 8K title on Saturday (Feb. 16) at the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego on Feb. 16 with a 29:06. In the men's open division, Andrew Cook of Flower Mound finished 85th of the 162 finishers with a 39:30, and Clint Bell of Dallas finished 116th with a 41:08. Dathan Ritzenhein of Eugene, Ore., won the men's race in 35:03. Shalan Flanagan won the women's open 8K race with a 25:26. Sean Wade of Houston won the men's masters with a 25:15. The top nine in the open divisions qualified for the World Cross Country Championships in Edingburgh, Scotland, on March 30.....Fiona Green is not the only running author in the D-FW area (see above). Dallas Running Club member Tony Reed also has had a book -- Running Shoes Are Cheaper Than Insulin: Marathon Adventured On All Seven Contintents. The book is about his experiences from running over 90 marathons on all seven continents. It can be ordered from Amazon.com or he's offering a discount to DRC members. Visit the DRC website to see more details....Among some of the top finishers in out-of-state marathons over the Feb. 16-17 weekend, Mark Swanson, 46, of Arlington almost finished in the top 500 among the 1,686 finishers at the Myrtle Beach Marathon on Feb. 16 with a 3:54:24. At the 26.2 with Donna: The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on Feb. 17, Laurie Weeks, 43, of Frisco ran a 4:27:08 and was 358th among the 1,679 finishers; Anthony Reed, 52, of Dallas was 320th of 332 finishers with a 5:53:48 at the Lost Dutchman Marathon in Apache Junction, Ariz., of Feb. 17; and George Mones, 59, of Mesquite was 85th among the 176 finishers at the Washington Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt, MD., on Feb. 17....Holley Sweeney, 25, of Fort Worth, recorded a Boston Marathon qualifying time at the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 10 by running a 3:04:08. The effort was good enough for a third place finish among the 252 women finishers. Also, Ginger Trimble, 51, of Fort Worth, was there and finished in 4:48:44....Kyle Wills, 32, of Rowlett was 123rd among 980 finishers at the Bank of America Marathon in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 10 with a 3:27:44....At the Surfside Beach (Tx.) Marathon on Feb. 9, Germaine Kropiak, 47, of Dallas ran a 4:03:32 to finish third among the women. Also there was Claude Hicks Jr., 48, of Fort Worth (4:12:02). Also at Surfside, Jonathan Johnson, 28, of Dallas won the 20-29 age division in the half marathon with a 1:45:30.... What would have been the fifth annual U.S. Secret Service 5K at Las Colinas in Irving has had a name changed. The March 29 event is now the Lisa Pritchard Memorial, but still will be conducted by the Secret Service. Pritchard, a former agent, died after a bout with cancer. Proceeds from the race benefit the American Cancer Society....Three Dallas runners, Ernesto Caballero, Yolando Hopping and William Moore, placed in the top five in the masters division at the 3M Half Marathon and Relay in Austin on Jan. 27. Ernesto, 41, placed third in the men's masters with a 1:09:56 and William, 46, finished fifth with a 1:14:18.45. Yolanda, 45, ran a 1:28:04.95 to finish fourth among the women's masters...Troy Pruett, 47, of Richland Hills placed 10th overall at the Callaway Gardens Marathon in Pine Mountain, Ga., on Jan. 27 by running a 3:18:38. He placed third in his age division. Also among the 64 men and 48 women finishers was George Milton, 26, of Frisco. His 4:00:55 was good for 44th overall place and second place in his age division....Sharla Foster of Colleyville had a hot time on two cold mornings by winning three women's masters titles. On Saturday (Jan. 19) in Grapevine, she won the masters division in the Bold in the Cold 15K when temps were below 30 degrees F. Then on Sunday (Jan. 20), with the temperature again below 30 at the start, she won the masters title in the Fort Worth Runners Club's Einstein Run 3-mile, took a breather and came back to win the masters title in the 9-mile run. She ran a 1:14:57 in the 15K, then posted 22:00 in the 3-mile and 1:12:04 in the 9-mile....Top finisher from the area in the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon on Jan. 13 was Kenneth Parisi, 30, of McKinney with a 3:09:36 (chip time). Among the other top finishers from the DFW area included Shigeharu Shimada, 42, of Dallas (3:12:04); Rodney Nance, 35, Fort worth (3:17:51); Kelly Farrell, 39, Plano (3:42:00); Michelle Pelzel, 24, Plano, (3:43:52); Denice Bynum, 39, Fort Worth, 3:48:09; and Maryann Odum, 42, and Debbie Johnston, 43, both of Coppell (351:26). There were 6,453 finishers. At the Disney World Marathon in Orlando on Jan. 13, Michael Smith, 44, of Coppell was the top area finisher in 3:39:15. Others among the 12.951 finishers included Kathie Nicknish, 34,of Dallas (3:50:15), Jessica Davis, 25, of Euless (3:55:27....Did you notice the 5K overall winner at the Snowman Shuffle on Saturday (Jan. 12)? It was Jody Hawkins, who shows little signs of slowing at age 41. She ran a 17:28 to be first across the finish line at the White Rock Lake venue. The first male was Jim Wade with a 19:03....Some of the top times logged by DFW area runners at the Chevron Houston Marathon and Half Marathon on Jan. 13: marathon -- Melissa Fisher Adami, 26, Arlington, 2:41:41; Andrew BitMansour, 37, Dallas, 2:42:27; Becky Angeles, 30,Nevada, Tx., 2:49:13; John Borders, 46, Colleyville, 2:58:57; William Ibrahim, 48, Arlington, 2:59:27; Roger Clifford, 41, Plano, 2:59:37; Lisa Cron, 29, Irving, 3:00:52; Phillip Dow, 29, Irving, 3:08:16; Dave Emerson, 49, Coppell, 3:08:20; Tim Olson, 39, Fort Worth, 3:12:29; Michelle McGoldrick, 36, Dallas, 3:12:46; Terry Dill, 44, Plano, 3:13:06; and Cameron Bryan, 39, Southlake, 3:19:28. In the half marathon, Andrew and Melissa Cook posted fast times; Andrew, 26, a 1:06:35 to finish 22nd and Melissa, 28, a 1:13:54 to finish 64th overall and 14th female. Also, Jim Bookout of Dallas ran a 1:17:40; Ben Morgan of Dallas ran a 1:22:40 and 15-year-old Connor Adams of Flower Mound finished in 1:25:27. And Sheila Natho of Dallas, as mentioned above, ran a 1:27:54 to place third in the masters division.... Results for the Metroplex Half Marathon Challenge have been posted on the Dallas Running Club's website. The winner of the challenge, which combined times from the DRC Half and the Wellstone's White Rock Half Marathon, is Pedro Oretga with a combined 2:35:37. Sarah Griffin is the first woman with a combined 3:01:55. See the results at www.dallasrunningclub.com....Eric Newfarmer, 42, of Fort Worth was the top D-FW area finisher at the OC Marathon in Newport Beach, Calif., on Jan. 6. He finished in 3:54:46 (3:54:24 chip time) and was 196th among the 1,040 men finishers....While some of us were shivering the past few days in late December as the temperature dropped into the 40s and below, Fiona Green of Keller and her husband headed to the warmer climes of Florida. She was there partly to compete in the Manatee River Run 5-Miler on Dec. 29, a race designated as the state championship while Mirek scouted the restaurants, looking especially for the perfect pancakes. Fiona placed seventh among the women and won her 40-44 age division with a 34:29.74. The post-race menu included pizza, bagels, meatballs, cookies and fruit. '' You name it, they had it,'' Fiona said. She said Mirek found a quaint family restaurant to add to his list of favorite breakfast places. Since returning from Flordia, Fiona has won overall women's titles at the FWRC New Year's Day 4-Mile, and in both the Resolution 5K and 10K in Addison....Claude Hicks Jr. of Fort Worth said he needs to finish marathons in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Arkansas and Kentucky to complete his goal of running a marathon in 50 states. He said his goal is to run the 50th in Louisville, Ky., on Oct.19. He was going to make it his 100th, also, but he finished that feat on July 26th in Hawaii. It was an event that he was particularly looking forward to. He said the Volcano Marathon is described as the world's toughest measured marathons. To cap 2007, he ran his first ultra, a 50-miler in Florida -- the Star-Lite Luna Trail Run, on Dec. 30. He finished in a respectable 12:02, and rested from that feat for all of two days. Then on Jan. 1, he ran the Texas Marathon in Kingwood and finished in 4:26:04....Also at the Texas Marathon, James Michael, 45, of Fort Worth finished fifth overall with a 3:08:26, and Chris Crawford, 46, of Dallas was sixth with a 3:09:55. Jennifer Blake, 34, of Denton was the third woman finisher with a 3:36:15, and Marian Severn, 41, of Denton was sixth among the women with a 3:43:24. Jon Walk, who writes for Inside Texas Running, said Jennifer qualified for the Boston Marathon and probably set a PR. He said she also was cheering on other runners while zipping to the finish. Finishing right behind Severn as the 31st overall finisher was Bob Payne, 43, of Carrollton with a 3:43:34. Ed Kopiak, 65, of Fort Worth placed second in the 65-69 age division with a 4:08:53. Other area finishers include Karl Fescenmeyer, 54, of Fort Worth (4:12:57), Jay Teinert, 45, of Bedford (4:19:54), Angela Tortorice, 40, of Dallas (5:14:42), and Jill Dicks, 26, and Rhia Johnson, 31, of Dallas (both 6:54:14). There were 245 finishers.