Courtesy of Running USA wire

HOUSTON - (January 20, 2002) - The Compaq Houston Marathon attracted almost 10,000 runners, a record number, for this year's 30th anniversary running on Sunday. More than 5,500 marathoners were joined by 3,147 in the inaugural EP 13.1-miler, Houston's first half marathon sponsored by El Paso Corporation and the debut of the Uptown Park 4, a four-mile fun run. First-time marathon runner and Compaq employee Drew Prisner, 29, of Houston won the men's division by clocking a time of 2:28:43. Becky Sondag, 32, of Casper, Wyo., finished first in the women's division in 2:50:49.

The men's race offered some excitement when hometown favorite Daniel Shaw, who led until mile 22, suffered leg cramps and was passed by Prisner. After stopping to stretch, Shaw finished in sixth place with a time of 2:37:45. In the women's division, Sondag came close to matching her personal record of 2:50:04, posted at the 1999 Chicago Marathon.

Joe Flores, 42, a Houston schoolteacher, won the men's division of the Master's competition in 2:34:54. Allison Willbern, 41, won the women's Master's by completing the race in 3:03:19, a new personal record for the chief financial officer from Houston. Ramiro Bermudez, 42, of Houston repeated last year's win in the Wheelchair division with a time of 2:01:19.

This year's race included the newly formed half marathon, Houston's first. Chrissy Nielsen-Crotta, 26, of Fort Worth clocked the best time in the women's division at 1:21:37. Justin Chaston, two-time Olympic steeplechaser, won the men's division with a time of 1:08:42.

The Uptown Park 4, sponsored by the Uptown Park shopping center, attracted almost 1,200 entrants. Sean Wade, Houston resident and a former Olympian from New Zealand, won in 19:53. Brittany Brockman, 16, of Houston was the woman's winner in 23:29.

The Compaq Houston Marathon is Houston's largest single-day sporting event and a member of Running USA, a nonprofit group devoted to improving the status of road racing in the U.S. An executive team of volunteers and an additional 5,000 volunteers who assist on race weekend administer the race.

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