The Life and Times of Sam Luna

This year marked Sarah’s twelfth Aramco Half Marathon, and it was a special one—it was Chloe’s first half marathon! Since Chloe qualified for Corral A , we all got to start together, which made the whole experience even better. We had a blast the night before, laying out all our race gear and making sure we were ready for the big day.  With an incoming Enzo cold front , we knew race day would be chilly —temps feeling like the 20s and plenty of wind to keep things interesting. Race Morning – The Early Grind Alarms went off at 4 AM , and we were up and fueling for the long run ahead. Once we took care of the essentials (yes, emptying the bladders is a must), we headed downtown, following our usual race-day routine. A quick walk from the Toyota Center garage to the GRB Convention Center landed us in the middle of thousands of nervous and excited runners. This was the moment it hit Chloe—this was a BIG deal. The night before, over our traditional pre-race dinner at Ciro’s , we came ...

  As part of the lead up for Sarah's half marathon we decided to race a 10 miler. This would give her the chance to get comfortable running a faster pace for 10 miles, and build confidence.  The course is 2 loops with rolling hills along Memorial Drive from downtown to St. Thomas High. The plan was to avg 8 min pace for the first half and then run the second half at 7:45. 7:45 pace would be an ideal day target pace for the Houston Half Marathon in Jan. The second goal was a high overall pacing. I did some research on past races and the current Houston Female competitors and felt like Sarah would have a shot at the podium. Sarah did a great job and flowed right along. we nailed pacing and Sarah picked up the overall win! I snuck into the age group awards for 3rd, M 40-49. Donuts are always a well earned treat! Full Results

  This is a HARRA staple race over the years. 4 runners, each run approx. 2 miles. I ran this back in 1998 in Sugar Land around Fluor Daniels, at Rice, Barker Cypress, the Bayou, Stude Park and now TC Jester Park. I run with the Al Lawrence Running club over the years (when I get the call for an extra runner).  This year I ran in the open category for the Mens team from ALRC. We finished 4th Overall. The course was just over 2 miles, about 2.2; and a simple loop. I was pretty consistent; running 5:53, 6:10.