Training Sequence

Highlights from Cowtown

Check out this video by Kelly Chinn, showing highlights from all of Saturday's races.

Ultra winners finish

In the first-ever ultramarathon for the Cowtown, Jan Prochaska, from Berlin, Germany, won the men's race. Prochaska, 41, is in town for work and decided to run in his fourth ultramarathon. "I've been running for 20 years and decided to participate," Prochaska said. "The course was good."

In the women's division, Siri Terjesen won. Terjesen won the marathon last year, but was excited that Cowtown officials decided to add the ultra. She teaches at TCU.

-- Drew Davison

Riva Graeme wins women's marathon

Riva Graeme won the Cowtown marathon for the third time on Saturday. Graeme won in 2000 and 2002, back when she went by her maiden name - Rahl. Now, Graeme is married and had a baby six months ago. "I trained for about five months and decided to run it this week," she said. "I did a strain test this week and decided to run it."

-- Drew Davison

Pierce wins marathon again

Keith Pierce of Krum, Texas won the overall marathon for the second straight year. Pierce finished with an unofficial time of 2:34.44. That didn't break his time last year of 2:30.23.

-- Drew Davison

Cowtown: Most runners since 2000

The official number of entrants for Cowtown this year is 13,739. That's a little more than 2,000 runners from last year. Officials at Cowtown are unsure if that number surpasses the record set back in 2000.

-- Drew Davison

Cowtown 5K - pair of 3-peat winners

While the 30th annual Cowtown race is finishing up in downtown Fort Worth, here’s a look at some interesting story lines from the 5K races.

 Betty Hernandez, 22, took the women’s 5K title for the third straight year with a time of 18:37.93. Hernandez is a senior on the East Central University cross country team and it has been a team tradition to run the Cowtown. “We run this race because we don’t have track in the spring,” she said. “It feels pretty good to win it the third time. I kind of just took off from the start.”

 Jenner Kizer, 17, won the boys’ 5K race for the third time. Kizer, who runs at Trinity Valley High School, has been coming to the Cowtown race since he was eight-years-old. Kizer said he is unsure if he will run at college next year, but is thinking about walking-on at Texas - if he goes there. “I got out quick and never really had any competition,” he said.

 Matt Daniels, 19, won the men’s 5K race after registering on Saturday morning. Daniels, who ran cross country at Arlington High School and a semester at Oklahoma, said he finished at 15 minutes, 13 seconds. Daniels was in town visiting family when his dad told him about the race, and it didn’t take long for Daniels to get downtown. “I’ve been training with some friends in Fayetteville [Ark.] that run at the University of Arkansas,” Daniels said. “It was a good race, it couldn’t have been better.”

 Richard Meill, 51, a dentist in Fort Worth took first in the 40-plus 5K, finishing third overall. Meill, who started running when he was 38, wrapped up several body parts just to compete. “When you hit 45, you start pulling everything,” he said. “I kind of felt like the mummy today.”

 Emily Turano, 24, of McKinney finished third in the women’s race. Turano, who is sponsored by Run On, has only been running for year. Still, that didn’t stop her from finishing with a time of 20:17. “I had a baby two years ago and just decided to start running,” said Turano, who is a stay-at-home mom. “This is my first time to run at Cowtown and I had a blast.”

 Kaili Tucker, 16, made it back-to-back victories in the girls’ 5K. Tucker is a junior at Plainview High School in Ardmore [Okla.] and has been making the two-hour drive to Fort Worth for Cowtown the past eight years. “We had seven girls from our team come down and run,” she said. “It was a smaller group because there was a dance competition this weekend.” And Tucker didn’t hesitate saying she’d much rather run than dance.

-- Drew Davison

Ready, set, go... Cowtown underway

The 30th annual Cowtown Marathon began earlier today. Hundreds of runners were walking around nervously waiting for the starting gun to go off. It was a chilly, 36 degrees when the race began and the temperature is expected to rise slightly as the race progresses. Several runners said the weather was "fine" and wouldn't play a huge factor. Check the Star-Telegram's web site for updates throughout out the day.

-- Drew Davison

Cowtown races starting to finish, Pierce leads marathon

The winners are piling in. Here’s a look at the winners at Cowtown.

5K – Men: Matt Daniels, 19, finished with a time of 15 minutes, 13 seconds.
Women: Betty Hernandez, 22, took first with a time of 18:37.93.

10K - Men: Colby Lowe, 18, from Southlake.
Women: Emily DeWald from Bloomington, Ill.

Half - Men: Todd Blanchard, 38, of Dallas.
Women: Kris Lawson, 28, of Parker, Colo.

Leading the men’s marathon is Keith Pierce. Pierce hit the 16-mile mark at an hour, 25 minutes. He has an opportunity to set a new course record.

Race Day is mere hours away ...

The forecast is calling for 41 degrees and sunny, with a 5 mph wind at the start of today's Cowtown Marathon.

So - what should you wear? Here are suggestions, thanks to the "What to Wear" application at Runner's World:
 

       

Hat with visor A hat with a visor serves not only to keep the sun out of your eyes, but also to shield them from blowing snow and rain on the run. A lighter-colored hat helps to keep your head cool on warm days.

       

Winter cap A warm hat that covers your ears is a must on cold days, especially windy ones, and can be one of the best steps you can take to keep warm. Thermastat or other technical-fiber hats are available at specialty running stores.

       

Short-sleeve shirt Or singlet, or for women, as little as a jog-bra. The minumum upper-body coverage. While this may look like a classic T-shirt, a runner is actually best-off with a technical fabric like CoolMax which will pull sweat away from the skin, instead of absorbing it like cotton. This added comfort, combined with sun protection, can make a technical T-shirt a better choice than no shirt at all.

       

Shorts The basic element of any runner's wardrobe. Usually a nylon or technical fiber.

       

Long-sleeve shirt A long-sleeved shirt made of high-tech polyester will pull moisture away from your skin, keeping you from getting clammy and cold on a cooler day.

       

Pants Extra insulation and protection for your legs. Running pants, usually a loose-fitting technical-fiber blend rather than the chilly nylon warmups you may be thinking of, are one option here; snugger running tights are another. In extreme cold, tights under pants is a good layering strategy.

       

Thermal On very cold days, this thermal layer provides warmth between your wicking base layer and your wind- or water-resistant outer shell.

       

Tights The first level of insulation for your legs. "Classic" tights are generally a polyester and Lycra® blend. Looser running pants (also stretchy, but not as form-fitting as tights) are another option here. In extreme cold, tights under pants is a good layering strategy.

       

Vest Essentially a jacket without sleeves, a vest provides the wind-blocking and water-resistant functions of a running jacket, but only for the body's core, leaving the arms uncovered - warm, but not too warm.

       

Jacket A jacket, usually a polyester blend, serves to keep you warm, keep off wind, rain, and snow, and manage your perspiration. It's an essential piece of equipment on cold, windy and/or rainy days.

       

Gloves To keep your hands warm on a cold day. Mittens keep your hands warmer when temperatures drop below 30? When in doubt, better to take your gloves with you. They're easy to tuck in your shorts or tights.

       

Sunglasses By keeping the sun out of your eyes, a good pair of sunglasses can save you energy by allowing you to relax your face (no squinting). Though their uses are obvious on sunny summer days, they're also useful on bright winter days, or any other time when glare is likely to be an issue.

If you prefer to be hotter or colder than normal when you run, you may want to check out the application yourself for more apparel suggestions.

-- Keeli Garza

Cowtown 5K or Bust! We're halfway there!

It's been a long four weeks, but you've made it to the halfway point of the Cowtown 5K or Bust! training program.

The hardest part is still ahead, but we're here to help.

Have a question about training? Need some encouragement? Want to brag about your accomplishments so far? Leave us a comment below and we'll help you out!