Run The Woodlands 5K #35

The Woodlands, TX, June 9, 2001

Allison All But Washes Away RTW #35

allison

Okay, this isn't the race, but rather kids playing on the race director's
flooded street some 16 hours prior to the race.

It hadn't happened for any of the first thirty-four Run The Woodlands 5K's. That it would sooner or later do so was inevitable. And when it finally did rain, it did so in true "Texas size" proportions.

Three days before the Saturday, June 9th scheduled race, tropical depression Allison caught most of southeast Texas, especially the resident meteorologists, by surprise and began depositing amounts of rainfall that, in some areas, would ultimately be measured in feet, rather than in traditional inches.

Beginning on that Wednesday and continuing through to the 8:00AM start of RTW #35, it rained on-and-off with wildly varying degrees of intensity. The total rainfall for The Woodlands at this writing (and it continues to rain) is somewhere in the vicinity of fifteen inches. Fortunately, The Woodlands, for the most part is on somewhat higher ground than many other communities in southeast Texas. While some localized flooding did occur (see top photo), The Woodlands remained relatively "dry." By contrast, nearby Houston, according to the main headline in Saturday morning's Houston Chronicle was "at a standstill amid catastrophic flooding."

five

The start: Russell Meyer; C.J. Stewart; John Sullivan; Len Gerlowski;
Craig Calmes

For runners living outside The Woodlands/Spring area, getting to the race was a virtual impossibility because of flooding. That left two questions: (1) would any runners from The Woodlands materialize for the race; and (2) was the course passable - other than for a biathlon?

When it was announced that "flash flood warnings" were being lifted for the immediate area at 7:00AM and a check of the course revealed that no parts of it were impassable, it was decided to hold the race as scheduled. This, of course, presumed that anyone would bother to make the effort.

At 7:27, the first runner, RTW regular John Sullivan of The Woodlands, appeared. One more runner was needed to make it official. Some eight minutes later, first-timer Len Gerlowsi, also of The Woodlands, arrived. The race was on. Ironically, by this time, the rain had stopped - at least temporarily - and with the temperature in the low 70's, the conditions were actually quite decent for a race in southeast Texas in June.

CJ Stewart in the lead nearing the mile mark

By 8:00AM, three other runners found their way to the start at the Barbara Bush Elementary School and the race went off without incident. C.J. Stewart won his second consecutive RTW 5K. His time of 16:59 was the same as it was in the previous race.

A reminder that RTW 5K #36 in scheduled for Saturday, June 23rd. Entry fee is $1.00 (yes, one dollar). Hopefully, the conditions will be somewhat drier for that race than it was for this one.

1	16:59	C.J. Stewart		M30-39	The Woodlands, TX
2	17:43	Craig Calmes		M40-49	Spring, TX
3	18:27	Len Gerlowski		M40-49	The Woodlands, TX
4	20:00	John Sullivan		M40-49	The Woodlands, TX
5	20:52	Russell Meyer		M30-39	Houston, TX

The stream by bridge #3 on the course. Normally, it is 3 to 5 feet in width.

Course Records

Division

Time

Name

Race

Overall Male

16:41

Jason Banes

#14/#15

Overall Female

19:26

Lisa Green

#23

00-12M

20:05

Michael McCulloch

#1

00-12F

26:36

Christine Steinmetz

#15

13-19M

16:41

Jason Banes

#14/#15

13-19F

20:16

Maria Esselborn

#24

20-29M

21:01

Steven Banes

#16

20-29F

21:16

Emily Deppe

#15

30-39M

16:42

Bill Schroeder

#12

30-39F

19:26

Lisa Green

#23

40-49M

17:02

Craig Calmes

#20

40-49F

19:46

Bonnie Canter

#15

50-59M

18:35

Jeffrey Walker

#11

50-59F

28:00

Angela Oltean

#14

60-69M

22:06

Edward Anderson

#5

70-79M

34:58

Donald Hansen

#4

80-89M

36:33

Bob Phinney

#28