Published: March 17, 2009 12:28 am      

Running the Texas Independence Relay

The 2nd Annual Texas Independence Relay was held on March 7 and 8 and several Huntsville runners participated to help celebrate Texas Independence Day. This is a 203.2-mile relay race from Gonzalez to the San Jacinto Monument. It traces the battle for Texas independence, ending at the site of General Sam Houston’s defeat of General Santa Anna.

A total of 150 teams, mostly from 8 to 12 runners each, finished the race. One team included Governor Rick Perry. Teams started with cannon fire at intervals from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 7. Each team ran as a group for little over a mile around Gonzales. Then, team members took turns to complete the 40 legs required to reach the San Jacinto Monument.

Individual legs ranged from 2.3 to 8.8 miles. The towns along the course included Shiner, Moulton, Flatonia, Columbus, Wallis, Simonton, Fulshear, Houston and LaPorte.

Huntsville runners included Adrienne Langelier, an elite runner, who was the 15th place female in the Houston Marathon in January, Norman Langwell, president of the Seven Hills Running Club, Katy Lampson, Natali Davis, a Sam Houston State University student from Gonzalez and Ken Johnson. They ran as part of a 11-member team with other runners from Spring, The Woodlands, Irving and Lufkin.

The team finished in 32 hours, 14 minutes and 5 seconds. While they finished in 115th place of 150 teams, they report that they had a great time.

Basically, runners spend the weekend in a van with virtually no sleep, irregular meals and other sweaty runners. Runners faced strong winds, heat and humidity and night runs along the highway. Langelier says, “I was thinking at several junctures how well we can actually perform, given we’ve gotten no sleep, questionable nutrition, and a van seat for a bed — but we do. I think the spirit trumps fatigue under these circumstances.” Lampson, who ran the race last year, says, “It’s sweaty, smelly and exhausting, but hands down, my best race experience. I can’t wait until next year!”



Individual results, in total miles run and time:



Katy Lampson, 33, 18.07 miles, 3:28:30

Ken Johnson, 67, 18.20 miles in 3:28:38

Natali Davis, 19, 18.51 miles in 3:24:59

Norman Langwell, 37, 21:01 miles in 4:07:25

Adrienne Langelier, 26, 21.11 miles in 2:32:12



Other race results:



Sunday, Seabrook Marathon (26.2 miles)



Ken Johnson, 67, 5:50:15



Upcoming races:

March 21 - Ronald Run for a Reason, 5K (3.1 miles) and 1-Mile Run or Walk, 8 a.m., Health & Kinesiology Center, SHSU campus.

March 29 - Run the Trails. 3.5 mile non-competitive run or walk on the trails at Huntsville State Park. 2 p.m. at the Nature Center.



To obtain more information on these races, visit the Seven Hills Running Club Web site at http://www.7hills.us and click on Race Schedule.