Neff wears emotion during marathon win
THE WOODLANDS – As he reached the final stretch of the race and the winner’s ribbon was brought out, Cal Neff wore his emotion on his sleeve.
The 33-year-old slapped hands with spectators before bursting through the ribbon and winning The Woodlands Marathon on Saturday morning.
Neff, who lives in Katy, was hit by a truck and broke his leg in November while training for the Houston Marathon. That, paired with his desire to run for Alex — his brother and a graduate of The Woodlands High School who can no longer compete due to injuries — made Saturday an emotional race.
“It was really just kind of a comeback race for me,” Neff said after crossing the finish line in two hours, 30 minutes and 15 seconds. “Winning was just an unbelievable icing on the cake for it.”
Neff ran in The Woodlands Marathon for the first time Saturday. The local tie to his brother and it being just his third competitive race since the November accident made Saturday special and emotional.
“That’s just the way I race, with a lot of passion,” he said. “This is kind of like my art form. This is the way I express myself. When I get to race, it’s my time.”
Neff is an ultra-marathon runner and said Saturday was part of training for an upcoming race in South Africa.
The women’s winner Saturday completed the first leg of her own extra-longdistance race Saturday.
Camille Herron, 36, planned to fly from Houston to New York for a race on Sunday. After wintry weather in the northeast delayed her flight, Herron found herself in a scenario she had thought about before.
“I’ve always wanted to do back-to-back marathons on back-to-back days,” she said Saturday. “This feels like destiny. I felt like I paced myself well today and I’m not felt too sore or anything. I’ll probably do a little jog here before I leave.”
Herron ran the first of her two marathons Saturday and was the first woman to finish in 2:52.39. At the awards ceremony after the race, it was announced that Herron, who also won The Woodlands Marathon in 2012, is the first twotime winner. She was also a runner-up in 2013.
Herron, also an ultramarathoner, said her postrace plan was to fly to New York in the afternoon.
“This is a little speed work for me,” she said. “I woke up yesterday and had no idea I was going to be running a marathon today. I’m pumped up.”
NEW WOMEN’S CANADIAN RECORD; LOCAL WINS MEN’S HALF MARATHON
Storylines were plenty in the half marathon Saturday.
College Park High School graduate Geoff Speelman, 25, won the men’s race in 1:09.24. Less than a second later, Rachel Cliff, 29, was the first woman to finish.
Cliff’s time, 1:10.08, was announced as a new Canadian record for a women’s half marathon. The Vancouver native came to The Woodlands with hopes of re-writing the record books.
“That was the goal,” Cliff said of breaking the record. “We know I was fit enough to do it on the right day, but being fit enough to do something and actually doing it are very different things. It feels good to have it done. Everything that could’ve gone well went well, so that was perfect.”
Cliff added that the conditions — temperatures were in the 50s most of the morning — helped her break the record.
“It was perfect,” she said. “Coming from Vancouver, we’ve actually had snow the past week. I was a little nervous about the heat, but it wasn’t too hot. It was perfect.
Speelman was happy to win the race in his home town.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “My hard work’s paid off.”
About midway through the race, the 25-year-old realized the race was his to lose.
“I was out in the front for the majority of the race,” he said. “Somewhere around the sixth or seventh mile, the [lead] motorcycle took a break and it was dead silent.”
LOCAL 5K CHAMP
The day began with the marathon and half marathon, but the 5K race was the first to finish.
James Gilreath, 28, was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he did so in 16:07.
Gilreath is from Tennessee and currently resides in The Woodlands. He is the sprints coach for Team Green Running, a 501(c)(3) developmental running club based in The Woodlands.
A multiple-time Big 12 champion while he ran at Baylor, Gilreath using the 5K as training for the 2020 Olympic Trials. He qualified and participated in the 800-meter trials for the 2016 Olympics.
“You always know there’s going to be good competitors, but I expected to place well,” Gilreath said. “It feels good to come out here. I always like to run in the hometown where I train.”
LOCAL TOP FINISHERS
Numerous Montgomery County residents participated in The Woodlands Marathon, and a few placed high.
According to the results on mychiptime.com, there were five Montgomery County runner sin the top 50 finishers of the full marathon.
Anthony Serrano, in 13th place, was the highest with his race of 3:02.14. In 21st place, The Woodlands’ Bryan Alsdorf ran a 3:04.56.
Two Conroe residents – Elias Sosa and Wheeler Sexton – placed 29th and 36th, respectively. Sosa ran a 3:09.33 and Sexton came in at 3:13.06.
The Woodlands’ Geoffrey Zubay ran a 3:17.29 and placed 49th.