Not only are the temperatures getting hot in early June, but so are the results for Spring and Montgomery County area runners and triathletes.
Five area triathletes took advantage of their qualification for the ninth annual Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco, California.
It was a road trip so not only did The Woodlands' Michael Dwyer produce another excellent result, there's certain to be a heck of travel story to boot.
The 63-year-old took second in his divsion by covering the 1.5-mile swim, 18-mile bike and 8-mile run in 3:08:22.
Seventh out of the water, the Conroe dentist leveraged the second best bike in his division (1:01:28) to be one spot behind San Francisco's Dana Krancevic - who had the division's best swim and bike - entering T2.
But Mountain View, California's Sean Kelly - who won by a minute and 12 seconds - got out of transition eight seconds faster than Dwyer and it proved to be a gap that Dwyer couldn't close during the run through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The Woodlands' Mike Novelli, 55, produced the best time among the locals in 2:57:31 with a fifth place 55-59 age group showing that included the fourth best bike and second best run in the division.
Conroe's Kent Morris, 52, was 17th in his age group in 3:03:36 while The Woodlands's Fernando Lopez, 39, and Spring's Steve Hardy, 46, had showings of 2:59:45 and 3:45:38, respectively.
Dwyer had the best swim, Lopez the best bike (58:33) and Novelli the best run from the area quintet.
What's the best way to kick off training for Ford Ironman Arizona?
How about a little sleep deprivation if you're The Woodlands' Michael Collins.
The 40-year-old, who will be aiming for his eighth Ironman Arizona finish in late November, got off the plane at 1 a.m. Sunday morning after a short vacation in San Diego with his wife, Kristin.
Six hours later, Collins was in the water at Sylvan Beach Park in La Porte for the Sylvan Beach Triathlon.
Even though he said after the race that it was right where he thought his training was at the moment, he still posted a 21st best time of 1:45:07 in and on the 1000-meter open water swim, 30-kilometer bike and 8-kilometer run.
All good enough for a second-place 40-44 age group finish.
Three locals - Magnolia's Ronnie Delzer and The Woodlands' Rip Reynolds and Joe Rivera -- stood out in the duathlon portion of the event.
The former East Carolina and Conference USA cross country star, Delzer, 31, was second overall in 1:32:55 as the duathlon replaced the swim with a 2-mile run.
The winning margin produced by League City's Stephen Milford -- between five and six minutes -- was completely on the bike.
Just three minutes behind Delzer in 1:35:23 was Reynolds, 46, who took his 45-49 age group by two minutes over Sugar Land's David Depinet.
And posting a 12-minute improvement in his time from a year ago, the 72-year-old Rivera took his division in a time of 2:18:20.
How not to get noticed too much? Run your first race of the year at an almost off-the-beaten path event on the other side of town.
Just one problem. The media decides to run that race too.
In her first race since moving back to The Woodlands in January, 40-year-old Kimberly Schultz-Hager got some pacing assistance -- legal, of course -- from Terlingua Track Club president (and Texas City resident) Dale Lee to win the women's division of the Funfest By The Bay 10K Saturday morning in Texas City.
Schultz-Hager stopped the clock in 40:00.3, while The Woodlands' Richard Mac Namee, 45, won his age group in 38:58.5.
Spring's Rebecca Patrick, 28, was second in her age group in 48:19.
Last and certainly not least, Conroe's Susan Rouse, 54, posted a marathon finish in her 44th state on Saturday at Marathon to Marathon, which runs from Storm Lake to Marathon, Iowa.
Second of eight Texans participating in the event, mostly other state chasers, Rouse ran the 17th annual marathon in an age-group winning time of 3:53:05, which was the third-best time ever in the women's 50-54 division.
Rouse was just 44 seconds out of third and finished fifth overall among 74 women and was 31st overall of 197 marathon finishers.
She is set to finish her 50-state quest at the Honolulu Marathon in early December.
Former The Woodlands Running Club president Tony Allison notched state no. 48 on Saturday as he checked off Kentucky at the very demanding Hatfield & McCoy Marathon in 4:25:41.
Allison and fellow TWRC member Geri Henry are slated to finish their 50-state effort three weeks before Rouse at the Philadelphia Marathon.
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