FEBRUARY 05, 2012
FEBRUARY 20, 2011
PRESS
Running 141 laps at sea
Published February 25, 2011
Bobbi and Craig Skrynyk are runners with a plan. Actually they have both a long-range plan — to run 50 half marathons before they turn 50 — and had a more immediate plan — to run the Galveston Mardi Gras Half Marathon as their 20th.
The Skrynyks — Craig is 39 and Bobbi is 36 — live near Calgary, Canada, and chose to run in the race because they already booked a Caribbean cruise out of Galveston returning to port Feb. 19, the day before the race.
“The fact that it was a flat course was appealing, too,” Craig Skrynyk said. “It seemed to be the perfect plan.”
But fog derailed their meticulous plans, leaving the cruise ship anchored in the Gulf awaiting clearer weather.
“The visibility was virtually zero,” Skrynyk said.
Even though they were stuck at sea while 1,200 of their fellow runners toed the starting line Sunday morning, the Skrynyks were determined to log their 20th half marathon that day.
At 7:30 a.m., the official race start time, they began their own 13.1-mile race around the track of the cruise ship, wearing shirts they had prepared for the Galveston race proclaiming “This is my 20th half marathon.”
“We checked the distance and found that it would be 141 laps around the track to equal a half marathon,” Skrynyk said.
Bobbi’s parents kept track of their laps, and their children manned a makeshift water station.
The tenacity required to run 141 laps also is useful on the couple’s home turf in Canada, where subfreezing temperatures are common in the winter.
“I train quite a bit on the treadmill, but about three weeks before the race, I went out in a blizzard and ran 12 miles,” Skrynyk said. “Bobbi is really good about going out to run.”
For most runners, the law of averages dictates we’ll eventually run a race in a downpour, on a day that’s unseasonably warm, or face other circumstances beyond our control. At times like those, we can only do as the Skrynyks did and look for the bright side of an otherwise disappointing day.
“No matter how many races we run, we’re never going to forget this one,” Skrynyk said.
Bernice Torregrossa is a five-time marathoner and a water exercise instructor at Island Wellness Aquatic Fitness. She can be reached at bernice92(at)aol.com.
Marathon returns to island
Published February 18, 2011
This Sunday’s Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon marks the return of marathoning to the island after a two-decade absence.
The race, which begins at 7:30 a.m., offers prime views for spectators along most of the course — from the downtown start near Saengerfest Park, along tree-lined Rosenberg Avenue as runners head for the beach, and along the seawall from 45th Street to Stewart Beach and beyond.
Runners from 21 states are registered for the event, and for a handful of veteran runners, it will be a return engagement.
One couple, Bob and Lynn Furman, are coming back to the race after running it in 1980 as their first marathon.
Unlike races of today with their training groups, online training plans and pace bands, the 1980 race offered few clues of what to expect.
“We had no idea how to train or what to wear, and no idea as to what time we would run,” Lynn Furman said.
Sunday’s weather should be better than it was for the Furmans’ first foray into marathoning.
“The temperature was 33 at the start and dropped to 23,” she said. “The race had a five-hour limit, and we were the last ones to finish, in 4:55. The race director was very concerned about us and was there waiting for us as we finished.”
With 31 more years of marathon experience, the Furmans expect a few changes the second time around.
“I had a double hip replacement almost three years ago, so I am no longer allowed to run,” Furman said. “Bob has continued to run, but for this marathon, he has agreed to walk together with me.”
The Furmans will be celebrating more than just finishing another marathon. Their wedding anniversary was Feb. 4, and doing the marathon together is part of the occasion.
“It is our 43rd anniversary present to each other,” she said.
Their daughter, Candice Trimm, will be joining in the celebration and completing the marathon.
Furman already sees one improvement over the 1980 race: “I am really looking forward to getting the finisher’s medal, as the last time there were no medals, only a short-sleeved cotton shirt.”
Bernice Torregrossa is a five-time marathoner and a water exercise instructor at Island Wellness Aquatic Fitness. She can be reached at bernice92(at)aol.com.
New Events Should Fill Void
Galveston To Host Marathon, Half-Marathon
The Skrynyks — Craig is 39 and Bobbi is 36 — live near Calgary, Canada, and chose to run in the race because they already booked a Caribbean cruise out of Galveston returning to port Feb. 19, the day before the race.
“The fact that it was a flat course was appealing, too,” Craig Skrynyk said. “It seemed to be the perfect plan.”
But fog derailed their meticulous plans, leaving the cruise ship anchored in the Gulf awaiting clearer weather.
“The visibility was virtually zero,” Skrynyk said.
Even though they were stuck at sea while 1,200 of their fellow runners toed the starting line Sunday morning, the Skrynyks were determined to log their 20th half marathon that day.
At 7:30 a.m., the official race start time, they began their own 13.1-mile race around the track of the cruise ship, wearing shirts they had prepared for the Galveston race proclaiming “This is my 20th half marathon.”
“We checked the distance and found that it would be 141 laps around the track to equal a half marathon,” Skrynyk said.
Bobbi’s parents kept track of their laps, and their children manned a makeshift water station.
The tenacity required to run 141 laps also is useful on the couple’s home turf in Canada, where subfreezing temperatures are common in the winter.
“I train quite a bit on the treadmill, but about three weeks before the race, I went out in a blizzard and ran 12 miles,” Skrynyk said. “Bobbi is really good about going out to run.”
For most runners, the law of averages dictates we’ll eventually run a race in a downpour, on a day that’s unseasonably warm, or face other circumstances beyond our control. At times like those, we can only do as the Skrynyks did and look for the bright side of an otherwise disappointing day.
“No matter how many races we run, we’re never going to forget this one,” Skrynyk said.
Bernice Torregrossa is a five-time marathoner and a water exercise instructor at Island Wellness Aquatic Fitness. She can be reached at bernice92(at)aol.com.
Marathon returns to island
Published February 18, 2011This Sunday’s Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon marks the return of marathoning to the island after a two-decade absence.
The race, which begins at 7:30 a.m., offers prime views for spectators along most of the course — from the downtown start near Saengerfest Park, along tree-lined Rosenberg Avenue as runners head for the beach, and along the seawall from 45th Street to Stewart Beach and beyond.
Runners from 21 states are registered for the event, and for a handful of veteran runners, it will be a return engagement.
One couple, Bob and Lynn Furman, are coming back to the race after running it in 1980 as their first marathon.
Unlike races of today with their training groups, online training plans and pace bands, the 1980 race offered few clues of what to expect.
“We had no idea how to train or what to wear, and no idea as to what time we would run,” Lynn Furman said.
Sunday’s weather should be better than it was for the Furmans’ first foray into marathoning.
“The temperature was 33 at the start and dropped to 23,” she said. “The race had a five-hour limit, and we were the last ones to finish, in 4:55. The race director was very concerned about us and was there waiting for us as we finished.”
With 31 more years of marathon experience, the Furmans expect a few changes the second time around.
“I had a double hip replacement almost three years ago, so I am no longer allowed to run,” Furman said. “Bob has continued to run, but for this marathon, he has agreed to walk together with me.”
The Furmans will be celebrating more than just finishing another marathon. Their wedding anniversary was Feb. 4, and doing the marathon together is part of the occasion.
“It is our 43rd anniversary present to each other,” she said.
Their daughter, Candice Trimm, will be joining in the celebration and completing the marathon.
Furman already sees one improvement over the 1980 race: “I am really looking forward to getting the finisher’s medal, as the last time there were no medals, only a short-sleeved cotton shirt.”
Bernice Torregrossa is a five-time marathoner and a water exercise instructor at Island Wellness Aquatic Fitness. She can be reached at bernice92(at)aol.com.
New Events Should Fill Void
Galveston To Host Marathon, Half-Marathon
By ROBERTA MACINNIS
Copyright 2010 Houston
Aug. 25, 2010
NEW RACES
A trio of distance-running events will debut this season.
What: • Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon
When: 7:30 a.m. Feb. 20
Registration: $65-$85;
www.galvestonmardigras marathon.com.
What: • RunGirl 13.1
When: • 8 a.m. Dec. 12
Where: • Alexander Deussen Park in Humble
Registration: • $65;
www.trigirlsports.com
Online registration is now open for the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon, which will debut Feb. 20 in that city. It will be the first time a marathon has been run in
While the original marathon course was primarily along the Galveston Seawall, the new double-loop course will start and end on the
The trio is also introducing a women's-only half marathon this year. The RunGirl 13.1 will be held Dec. 12 in
_________________________________________ After an absence of nearly two decades, marathoning returns to Galveston Island in February when the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon kick off the city’s 2011 celebration Feb. 20.
Marathoning to return to island
Published December 12, 2010
Registration for the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon is gathering steam, with runners from 19 states, Puerto Rico and Canada committed to the inaugural event.
Well-known race organizers Jana and Kevin Landry decided the island was overdue for a long-distance race, and saw that February offered both the opportunity to tie into one of the island’s most popular celebrations, and an alternative to the oversubscribed Chevron Houston Marathon, taking place this year on Jan. 30.
The course is designed to give visitors a look at several of the island’s favorite attractions: the historic Strand and Silk Stocking districts, the seawall and beach front, and the East End lagoons.
The race begins downtown near Saengerfest Park, heads up tree-lined Rosenberg Avenue to the beach where runners will turn west to run along the seawall to 45th Street.
After a brief inland section on Avenue T, the course returns to the seawall for 3 eastward miles and drops to the sand for a 3-mile loop through Beachtown and the future East End Lagoon Park and Nature Preserve.
The 13.1-mile course finishes at Saengerfest Park, with entrants in the marathon running the course twice.
Registration is available online at signmeup.com, with the marathon registration fee at $105 and the half marathon at $85.
Prices increase to $125 and $105, respectively, Jan. 17.
More information is available on the marathon’s website.
Bernice Torregrossa is a correspondent for The Daily News.
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