The predominant theme that we have heard is how the teams treat each other extremely well, encouraging every team (not just there own).   Several runners sent us emails detailing how they were offered food and water by teams they didn’t know and how meaningful it was to them.  We love that the event is an opportunity for the Texas Spirit to shine. The volunteer teams have repeatedly commented about the abundant thanks they receive, which helps carry them through the cold long hours they serve.  We are very proud to be a part of an event that is known for this quality.  Thank you, and great job to all of you!  We hope you have been encouraged, had a great time, and met new friends along the way.

With that, lets review the winners of this year’s relay – Here are the final results for the 2011 Texas Independence Relay!

We suspected that the TIR course record was in jeopardy of going down… did it ever.  The Fleet Feet Terlingua (of Terlingua Track Club, and captained by Jose Lara) put on a distance running clinic, clicking off 5:45miles all the way through, winning in 19:26:10.

No, this is not a typo, they bettered the previous course record by almost 2 hours.  It was business-like the way in which they hammered out impressive leg after impressive leg… lining them up, and knocking them out.  Congrats to The Fleet Feet Terlingua for a ridiculous relay win and nice re-write of the TIR course record!  Of course, it was a complete team victory, but if there was a runner of the event, it would be Sesar Figueroa.  Sesar is a 4 minute miler, and currently the top runner in Houston.  He ran ~5:15s for over 18 miles at the 2011 TIR.

Three other teams joined Fleet Feet Terlingua in finishing well below the old record.  The mixed team from Dallas, Dolls n Towel Boyz (led by Steve Henderson), took second overall, running just a smidge over 6min/mile pace for the entire distance.

For much of the race, they ran neck-and-neck with the returning champions, The Tornados (headed up by Leno Rios), before putting a little more of a gap on the Tornados as they navigated through Houston.  These two teams have battled it out against each other for two years now, trading wins over the other, and BOTH had nothing but praise to say about the other team!  They even finished up the TIR’s epilogue together.

The team, More Pain Please!! (with captain Jace Huering), also provided a remarkable effort (20:55:56 / 6:11 pace) to finish under the previous course record.  We observed all of these teams over the first several legs of the race, and they were all awesome indeed!

Speaking of rockin’ the course, the all women squad, Red Hot Chili Chicas (Kim McClintic at the helm) were true to their name as they obliterated the 3-year women’s team record.  The Red Hot Chili Chicas ran right at 7-flat pace (23:41:22), and they made it look super fun and easy every step of the way!

Finally, we tip our hats to the Corporate Cannon winner (once again, in record breaking time!) to the corporate team, Fire In The Belly, from Apache Corporation (captained by Jarrett Hubert)!  Fire In The Belly ran the excellent time of 24:40:56, putting in just over a full day’s work, literally running ‘round the clock at a 7:18 clip.

Below are the results for the top teams:

Many are curious to know how things went for the 3-person ultra team, Vida Capital, as well as for the solo runner, Dr. Chris Rampacek.  Vida Capital (Captain Jason Thomas, Dan Sheedy, and Brad Blazar) left during the tent party on Friday night to the cheers of many runners and friends (many from their old team, Dallas Rocks, who saw them off at the start) as they made the dark loop of the prologue in Gonzales.  Over the course of the weekend, they only were lost one time, which is remarkable since many of the directional cones were not placed yet.  Of course, they had more than the normal amount of  incentive to not run any extra!  Their time of 39:10:47 was another record for ultra teams.  Dr. Chris Rampacek, the solo-ist who completed the inaugural TIR had a rougher go of it this time around. He made it to mile 185 before having to drop out (primarily due to “unmanageable blisters”).  However, he unbelievably is already planning on a 2012 attempt AND finish!  More on that will be forthcoming.

On to the winning teams for spirit, team name, van decoration, and Honorary Texans.

All the race directors have to say is thank goodness the volunteers pick the winners for these awards… there are just way too many deserving teams!!!

Team Spirit

First – The Mullets (Keith Rampacek) – pictured above with Olympian Leo Manzano

Second – TFF (Cindy Taylor)

Third – Fear Me: I’m a Mother (Kendall Ramirez)

Best Name

First – SuckItSantaAnna (Mike Huggins)

Second – 2 Slow 2 Win 2 Dumb 2 Quit II  (Rick Bozanich)

Best Decorated

First – Fort Worth Piggies (Fort Worth Police team; Mary Glass)

Second – TBD by vote on Facebook (voting ends Tuesday, March 15)

Best Costumes

Rick’s Salty Mixed Nuts (Rick Tidwell)  inspired this new category which will have at least 2 places in 2012!

Honorary Texans

National Guard Warriors (Chase Duarte)

Brief Recap of the Weekend:

The Party in Gonzales, sponsored by Lone Star Beer, was attended by a truly eclectic mix of runners who did share the common goal of getting their participant bags as early as possible.   They enjoyed visiting with Olympian Leo Manzano, choosing their rivals for the race, and partying, (a few runners made us concerned that the tent may actually come down as that primary support post was used to support more than just the tent, but, fortunately, the tent stayed up)!   We were a little concerned when our 9 year old son enjoyed dancing with the Mullets and The Athletic Girls Next Door so much, but we’re pretty sure no permanent damage was done.

Having Leo Manzano at the TIR was exquisite!  His generously gave inspiration and encouragement, and he was always available to talk.  He was an exceptional start line host, calming nerves, posing for pictures, and setting off the cannon a few times!  At one point, Joy was re-stocking the toilet paper for the portables at the start line, and someone starting helping her as she was picking up rolls that spilled out on the ground.  Looking up, she was surprised to see it was Leo!  An Olympian and now TIR TP picker-upper (yes, when it comes to the critical aspects of the TIR, it’s all hands on deck)!   The Texas Dream Mile with Leo Manzano (the kids; mile at 12-noon) was fantastic – Leo is wonderful with children and a super ambassador for the sport!  He led stretches and plyometrics, directed them where to stand for the photo, raced, and then talked to each one individually.  We were personally very pleased that our own children were able to have this experience.  Because of his running accomplishments, the formidable work ethic (consistency with tenacity) it takes to get to his level, and the obvious courage he demonstrates in his races, we were already Leo fans.  BUT, now, after having gotten to know Leo a bit better…  we are HUGE fans.  Leo is hosting the Manzano Mile on April 2 in Austin.  We’ll be there for sure.  Thanks for joining us at the TIR, Leo!

The weather was interesting this year.  Some say it was the worst of the 4 TIRs, and others say it was the best!   It was completely comfortable at the party, but a cold front arrived in the very early morning hours before the race (4ish). It brought a good bit of rain, chilly temps, and a lot of wind.  The rain did stop around 6am (very nice), but runners with early starting times huddled in groups behind trees hoping for some relief from the wind!  The high winds did make legs 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 much more challenging (the timesheets prove it!). When the wind died down in the evening, the temps were very cold for volunteers and spectators,  but pleasant for runners.  We discovered that plastic bags in clothing do not warm you up.  They just make you clammy.  Then, on Sunday, the sun definitely came out as teams journeyed through Houston, and it felt pretty warm.  Was it windy, calm, cold, drizzly, warm, sunshiny??  Yes, it was all of these!

In the coming months, we look forward to rolling out fun videos, pictures, and team stories that all come together to tell the 2011 TIR story in greater detail than this wrap-up.  For the time being, though, you can get a bit of the flavor of the event by visiting the Texas Independence Relay facebook page and reviewing the comments (thank you for your encouragement).  One memory that sticks out… and this is really random… was the skunk (a real one) on leg 25 that got road killed (really road killed) around the 2.25 mile mark, causing a putrid experience for all leg 25 runners.  It was bad even when in a car passing by relatively quickly, so it must have been totally awesome for the runners!  Maybe I should have tried to do something about it, but instead I was irrationally perturbed at the team named Somethin’ Skunky for somehow contributing to this travesty!

Below are a couple of blogs that recount the 2011 TIR experience from a couple of different team’s perspectives. The first is from Larry Ketchersid, a professional author who ran with the team Most Likely to Secede.  The second is a 3-part blog from Texas Skate Mom who ran for Mad-Dames.

Most Likely To Secede – Larry Ketchersid

Mad-Dames – Texas Skate Mom – Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

As you know, the volunteers at the TIR are exemplary. A few days beforehand, one of them said, “yeah… it’s a long time, so you know anyone who is out there volunteering at the TIR really cares about the runners.”   That says it all.

Marking the course, and putting out the cones and flags all over Texas with excellence was Coach David Mohre, Jay’s high school coach who flies down from Michigan each year to help, and Daniel Garces, a high school teammate of Jay’s.  Coordinating the exchange volunteer teams like the pros they are was Ben Finklea, Jason Crouch, and Bill Peek.  They have done this for several years and have excellent knowledge of exchange stations!  Taking care of the sagwagon responsibilities (which is no small task) was Jim Hilscher, Austin Hilscher, and Delmar Smedshammer.  After the race, we noticed that Jim wore dress shoes for the entire event!  BAM!!!  How you like us now?!?! Sagwagoning AND looking good doing it!  The omni-present Rule Patrol was Kay and Kim Chandler… they were boo’d (a good natured booing… we think), but they liked it whether it was true vitriol or not.  Donna Maloney and an army of Clear Falls High School ROTC cadets (and parents) were a tremendous help at the finish line along with Yolanda Griffin and her daughter and nephews. Matt Manley, Will Hilscher, Laura Knapp, Karol Curran, and Grace Hilscher helped with check-in and at the finish line as well as lending a hand with setup and teardown.

Finally, you know how the exchange volunteers were there all the way through.  The exchange teams (with lead volunteers) were as follows:

1 – Round Rock-ers (Kori Yoder)

2 – Meet The Robinsons (Kim Robinson)

3 – Texas Running Company (Mike Olague)

4 – Terlingua Track Club (Victor Aguirre)

5 – UT Horns – (Kristin Walsh)

6 – The Tornados Running Club (Ruth and Pedro Ramos)

7 – Jack McClintic and team (Jack McClintic)

8 – Whit Anderson / Elaine Hilscher, Don Hilscher, Mackie, and Eva / Apache Corporation (Debra Carter)

9 – The Fearless Freeman Freaks (Melissa Freeman) / FMCTI

10 – Gordon and Brendan of Teen Mania (Gordon Wright)

11 – Texian Volunteers (Mark Huggins)

12 – Motley Schu (Kelly and Chuck Schumann)

13 – TIR Leaders from Aggieland (Cassandra Behr)

There were also several on running teams who helped out.  Kristin Collins and Mark Staudt sent newspaper articles / pictures about the TIR that we wanted but had no way of getting.  Vida Capital put the water out on leg 3.  Steve Brammer and Phil Trumbly played an important role of keeping up with the Fleet Feet Terlingua as they started to outstrip our exchange teams near the end.  And, Wesley Jordan, owner and lead developer at Mach 1 Web Solutions set up our website so that we could have the twitter feed going throughout the event, which was a lot of fun and a cool addition to the TIR this year!  Thanks!!

Additional help that truly is above and beyond includes Lance Phegley of Raceshots.net (purchase some TIR pictures!), Rory Lakind who coordinates all the security as the event crosses Houston, Ian Supak, the voice of the TIR, DJ Johnny and Julie Loco Martinez who bring the music, and Toni Crippen of First Medical Response (would you believe that there was not one instance in which the EMS was called for dehydration, a twist of an ankle, or anything over the entire event except for a bystander who got overheated at the finish?!  That is amazing!).  All of these individuals have done a terrific job for the last three years, and we highly recommend all of them.

Of course, the towns that put their best foot forward to welcome the participants of the TIR, ought to be commended.  After starting in Gonzales, the race goes through Shiner, Moulton, Flatonia, Schulenburg, Weimar, Borden, Columbus, Eagle Lake, Wallis, Simonton, Fulshear, Katy / Cinco Ranch, Houston, Deer Park, and La Porte!

Finally, the sponsors for the TIR this year were tremendous, and the TIR could not be done without this support!  A special thank you is in order to Apache Corporation who stepped up to be the presenting sponsor, and we saw the Apache Corporation CEO, Steven Farris, at the finish, celebrating the Apache teams’ accomplishments.  During the race, he played a supportive role for the teams!  Awesome!!!

Thanks again to all of you for running, volunteering, and sponsoring the TIR!  Though we have enjoyed the satisfaction along with you of another finish, we are starting to turn our sights to the 2012 edition, which will be the 5^th, and we believe a very big year!

Registration will open on April 1, and for the first two weeks, the absolute best price will be offered.

Also, we do look forward to highlighting many teams throughout the year with a little more depth.  We believe every team has their own great story!  So, if you could please send 5 of your best pictures to us at JoyHilscher@gmail.com, we would appreciate it.