Sunday in the Park with John...

John at the 25K Awards Ceremony (Photo: HMSA)

Last Sunday was one busy day in the spotlight for our John Phillips. After erecting the BCRR tent, brewing hot coffee (etc., etc.) and setting out the club porta-potties at the HMSA 25K , he masterfully emceed the event and awards ceremony. Shortly thereafter, while most of us were collapsed on one of the couches at Sue and Alan's, he appeared tailgating at Reliant Park before the Texans-Ravens game.

Watch and learn the secret of his success:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823425601/bclid769464594/bctid1898319122

BCRR Top Gun a Tight Race

Rob Walter's performance in the HMSA 25K on Sunday inched him closer to Jay Hendrickson in the race for BCRR's male "Top Gun" award. The Top Gun award is given annually to the best age graded performance in a HARRA race. Both Rob and Jay won their respective age groups in Sunday's middle leg of the HARRA Marathon Warm-Up Series. Rob's time of 1:39:43 translates to an age graded percentage of 78.89 an improvement of 0.47% over his performance in the half marathon.

Jay's time of 1:47:03 was aged graded at 78.13%, but his performance in the half marathon of 1:28:30 came out at an aged graded percentage of 79.02. How close it that? If Rob had run the 25K just 11 seconds faster (or about 0.7 sec per mile), he would be slightly ahead of Jay.

Also, in case you are wondering, Anna Helm, who blistered the half marathon in 1:30:18 leads all BCRR women in the Top Gun competition with a rating of 76.61.

We have many more races to follow and it will be interesting to track the race between Jay and Rob through next spring.

Valhalla on "Best of Houston" List!!

Once again, Valhalla - our favorite club watering hole - has made the Houston Press "Best of Houston List". This year it is recognized as the "Best Place to Lie Around Drinking Beer".

Valhalla has previously been recognized as the "Best Bar for Kids" (2002) and the "Best Place to Meet Single Women" (2004) (reviewers must have been there on a Wednesday night).

Who could have guessed that Valhalla would be the optimal place for the discerning gentleman to lie around drinking with his kids while trying to meet single women?And we thought it was just a great place to hang out after running for cheap drinks!!

Tornados join BCRR members for a fun Wendesday evening run !!!

Yesterday (10/22/08), some folks from Tornados running club joined us for a fun Wednesday evening run. It was great to see healthy camaraderie among both club members. As per Tornados reputation of being fast runners, they soon disappeared from the sight and were found early at Valhalla :)

A big thanks for Tornados club for putting a $100 tab at Valhalla. By the time everyone reached Valhalla it was raining heavily and everyone had to pack inside Valhalla. Few folks looked out from Valhalla and looked back with a big smile on their faces saying, "Ah, I can't go out in this rain. I have to drink another beer."
Soon, $100 were exhausted and Eddie was nowhere to be found for another $100 on tab.

Later in the evening, J. P. Frederickson and Steve showed some neat card tricks followed by few rounds of friendly poker game.

As usual I took some pictures which are here, :-)



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Chuck & Cheryl's b'day splash party!!!

Today (Oct 8, 2008) Chuck and Cheryl hosted a great birthday splash party at their place. We had plenty of beer, snacks, pizza and a nice pool to cater to our needs. Towards the end of the party couple of crazy runners (Cheryl, Dany, Monica, Gracilla, Rebecca and me) tried out some Salsa, swing and what not :-)

I think everyone had awesome time and I took a few photos to make it more memorable. Once again a big round of applause to Chuck and Cheryl for hosting a wonderful party.




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Maribelle's by the Bay - R.I.P.

Another sad casualty of Hurricane Ike: Maribelle's, the historic and colorful bar in Seabrook and site of the annual BCRR favorite "Maribelle's by the Bay 5K". Aerial photos indicate that the building is no longer standing. All that can be seen is the concrete foundation and the vestiges of the decks in the back. Maribelle's was one of the oldest bars in the area and was allegedly frequented by astronauts and other NASA employees in the early days of the Space Program.

Before Ike (Google maps)

After Ike

Shown here are aerial photos taken before and after the storm (M: Maribelle's; D: Deck)

Will this year's Maribelle's 5K be the last?

K.Mahon

Harra Cross Country Relay Race 2008 !!!

I will post the write up sometime later this week. Here are pictures as usual :-)



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