If toughness counted, Houston runs with best
Houston Chronicle, April 2001

I was recently perusing the Web site of Runner's World, the most prominent national publication for runners and joggers. A usually credible magazine, I was disappointed to see that Houston failed to rank in its listing of the 10 best running cities. The list supposedly gave readers of the Web site America's 10 best places in which to not only run, but also to live as runners. Boulder, Colo., landed first place--followed by Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sacramento, Calif., and a few other frou-frou parcels of pricey real estate. As a proud Houstonian, I couldn't let this egregious oversight go unchecked.

Don't get me wrong, Colorado's scenery (and altitude) can be breathtaking. And Silicon Valley can make for an especially groovy job, with its challenging obstacle course of discarded Starbucks cups and speeding repo trucks. The problem I have with the Runner's World ranking is that it judged the running environment itself, and not the runners that he environment creates. Using the metric of how fast and tough the runners actually are, I'm confident with Houston's chance of taking an easy first place. Face it--anybody who voluntarily goes running in Houston is tough.

It's not that Houston is an especially dangerous place (per capita). It's just that joggers of Houston roads and trails are subject to a broader spectrum of adversity than most. In Memorial Park, for example, hundreds of joggers daily enjoy the lush landscape and positive karma of one of Houston's most enjoyable parks. But slow your pace or stop paying attention and you'll quickly find yourself under the business end of a dirty Nike, the random target of a golfer's frustrated slice or the unfortunate victim of a K-9 based land mine. Houston's Terry Hershey Park on the west side regularly prunes out its runners with a prolific population of speed-crazed mountain-bikers.

Environmental and wildlife issues also contribute to the toughening of Houston's road warriors. Those jogging on the east side must continuously monitor air quality, lest they suffer the ill effects of its shimmering sea of petrochemical plants. Cattle-size mosquitoes have been known to consume many a jogger in a single slurp--Walkman and all. And while the heat and humidity are status quo for its denizens, Houston's native climate often keeps out-of-town runners sprinting away even after they've passed the finish line.

But all this strife makes for a tough bunch of runners. And the proof is on the pavement. Houston runners regularly travel across the state, nation and world to compete--and win--against the world's best. Around 500 runners from Houston usually compete in the prestigious Boston Marathon. The world's fastest marathoner, Morroccan-born Khalid Khannouchi, is a Houstonian. And the Bayou City itself hosts some of the most pain-worthy running events you could shake a sneaker at. Houston is home of the Compaq Houston Marathon, the Conoco 10K and the Bayou City 10K. We have a run just for lawyers. We have a run just for eye doctors. We have a St. Patrick's Day run, a Christmas run (complete with jingle bells) and my personal favorite--the Turkey Trot, a fantastic chance to work off Thanksgiving Day decadence.

Houston's passion and panurgy for pavement pounding is evident. Each day, multitudes of marathoners can be found swimming through the morning steam at obscene hours--sometimes even before my Chronicle hits the doormat. So don't let anyone tell you that Houstonians aren't among the nation's best runners. Its runners, and citizens in general, are a tough bunch.

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